Dr. Ibrahim Abu-Lughod

Born in 1929 in Jaffa, Ibrahim Abu-Lughod graduated from Ameriyyah School in 1948 when he and his family took refuge in Nablus and then Amman. In 1950, he came to the United States where he received his bachelors and masters degrees from the University of Illinois. In 1957, Ibrahim received a Ph.D. in Political Science from Princeton University. He began his career with UNESCO and directed its social research department in Egypt. In 1961, Ibrahim joined the faculty at Smith College and then at Northwestern University. He resigned from Northwestern in 1992 and returned to Palestine where he joined Birzeit University as its vice president and professor of international relations.

Professor Abu-Lughod published dozens of books and articles where he documented, assessed and articulated the dispossession of the Palestinians. His many books include The Transformation of Palestine; Palestinian Rights: Affirmation and Denial; Profile of the Palestinian People; Two Stories on the Palestinians Today and American Policy; and The Arab-Israeli Confrontation of June 1967: An Arab Perspective. Along with his close friend and colleague, Dr. Edward Said, Ibrahim was the founding editor of Arab Studies Quarterly, and helped to found the Association of Arab-American University Graduates in 1968. Dr. Abu-Lughod also served on the National Advisory Board of the Palestine Solidarity Committee in the 1980's. His plan - The Development of the Palestinian Curriculum - laid the foundation of the current Palestinian policy on curriculum.

Many Chicago activists had the opportunity to meet or hear Dr. Ibrahim Abu-Lughod during his lengthy tenure as Chair of the Department of Political Science at Northwestern University. A gifted and eloquent speaker, he frequently spoke out at events, forums, rallies, and demonstrations throughout the Chicago area. As one of the few members of the Palestine National Council in the US (along with Edward Said) Dr Abu-Lughod constantly sought to educate North American progressive activists about the Palestinian experience and promote concrete solidarity for the Palestinian struggle . While we mourn his passing, his many friends and associates in Chicago can take consolation in knowing that after years of exile, Ibrahim Abu-Lughod finished his life doing what he loved most, teaching,
writing and working with Palestinian young people - at home in Palestine.

Dr. Abu-Lughod is survived by three daughters and a son: Leila, Mariam, Dina and Jawad. According to his wish he will be buried on Friday in his beloved hometown of Jaffa.


- I am from There: -

I come from there and remember,

I was born like everyone is born, I have a mother
and a house with many windows,

I have brothers, friends and a prison.

I have a wave that sea-gullls snatched away.

I have a view of my own and an extra blade of grass.

I have a moon past the peak of words.

I have the godsent food of birds and an olive tree beyond the ken of time.

I have traversed the land before swords turned bodies into banquets.

I come from there. I return the sky to its mother when for its mother the sky cries, and I weep for a returning cloud to know me.

I have learned the words of blood-stained courts in order to break the rules.

I have learned and dismantled all the words to construct a single one:

Home

-Mahmud Darwish
Palestinian poet