Forced out

Abdel Mohsin Al-Qattan is born in Mandatory Palestine, under British rule. In 1948, his family, along with hundreds of thousands of other Palestinian Arabs, are forced to flee Palestine during the first Arab-Israeli war, and to start over in neighbouring countries. Deeply influenced by his teacher Khalil Sakakini, Al-Qattan realises the power of education and sets out on a journey to create a better future not just for his family but for Palestine and the wider Arab region.

"They planted and we harvested, we plant and they shall harvest. "

KHALIL SAKAKINI

Abdel Mohsin Al-Qattan was born in 1929 in the port town of Jaffa, in what was British-ruled Palestine, to parents of humble means. His father, Hassan Al-Qattan, made his living as a barber and occasional orange salesman, while his mother family had earlier emigrated from Egypt, fleeing the forced-labor camps set up for the construction of the Suez Canal, and his mother, Asthma had been born in Lydd. Although barely literate, they nonetheless recognised the importance of educating their children and ensured they went to school.

Al-Qattan first attended the Ayyubid School in Jaffa before joining An-Nahda College in Jerusalem under the tutelage of the renowned educator, writer, and Arab nationalist, Khalil Sakakini.

Landing place, Jaffa. [between 1898 and 1914] / Matson photograph collection

People packing Jaffa oranges, likely for export. 1920s. Matson photograph collection

Lighters loaded with orange boxes for shipment. Matson photograph collection

Arab demonstrations on Oct. 13 and 27, 1933. In Jerusalem and Jaffa. Demonstrators facing police baton charge. In the Jaffa gate [Jaffa Square]. Matson photograph collection

Khalil Sakakini

Planting for the future

Khalil Sakakini (pictured, left) pioneered a progressive approach to education that was rare in the region – and the world - at that time. He eschewed grades, prizes, and punishments in favour of music, education, and athletics. He also introduced new methods of teaching Arabic.

Al-Qattan flourished under Sakakini and missed no opportunity in his adult life to remember his old teacher and the influence he had on him as a young boy, regularly citing the educator’s famous saying: "They planted and we harvested; we plant and they shall harvest."

“He was deeply influenced by Sakakini, about that there is no doubt,” says Ziad Khalaf, the founding CEO of the AM Qattan Foundation, which Al-Qattan would go on to set up later in life.

“He would often tell a story about how his teacher had asked him his name in class, and when he replied ‘Abdel Mohsin’, Sakakini had responded by saying ‘from now on, your name will be Mohsin only, you should not be anybody’s slave (“abd” in Arabic). “This was a moment that truly stuck with him,” notes Khalaf.

A view of Beirut in 1940, likely taken from the American College (now the American University of Beirut). The image shows the city's buildings and coastline. Matson Photo Service

In 1947, after completing high school, Al-Qattan set out into adulthood and began studying political science at the American University of Beirut, full of hope for his future in a post-WWII world.

But for the people of Palestine there was little peace and in 1948, just months after Al-Qattan had moved to the Lebanese capital, began the Nakba (“catastrophe” in Arabic), the violent expulsion of approximately three quarters of all Palestinians from their homes during the establishment of the State of Israel.

Al-Qattan’s parents and wider family were among hundreds of thousands of Arab Palestinians uprooted with little more than the clothes on their backs, forced to find refuge in neighbouring countries, suddenly stateless. Around half settled in Jordan, including the Al-Qattans.

This was a pivotal moment for the young Al-Qattan. “When I was a first-year student at the American University of Beirut, my family was forced to flee from our hometowns of Lydd and Jaffa,” he recalled in an interview published by Alliance magazine in 2011. “We lost our land, our home and our money. I realised then that the only asset that cannot be taken away is education, and I am thankful to my family that they gave me a good education.”

Determined to support his stateless family, Al-Qattan changed his major to business studies, and when he graduated in 1951, found a job as a teacher in Amman.

“The years that followed the Nakba witnessed a series of moral and material defeats for the Arabs, which relegated us to an age of darkness and ignorance,” Al-Qattan later noted, when he looked back on his early years of adulthood.

“Our people had only one option left: redemption through knowledge and education. My wife Leila and I both started our professional careers as teachers, and it soon became apparent to both of us that if there were to be no quick solutions for improving our current social situation, then the only way to encourage change would be to work for a better future.”

1929

1948