Personal Info
- Country of residence: Palestine
Information
Born in Jaffa in 1888. He studied at Les Freres Chretiens, and then worked on his father's orange groves in Jaffa to save money to study at the University of Geneva in Switzerland. At Geneva he studied Economic and Social Sciences. He excelled at his studies and was awarded a scholarship to study for a Masters degree. When Jabr returned to Palestine he first devoted his energies to education. He taught at the Dusturiyyah School in Jerusalem founded in 1909, and named after the Ottoman Constitution promulgated in 1908. It was a private school, which was founded by Khalil Sakakini (Jabr was a good friend of Khalil Sakakini - they were part of the Party of the Vagabonds, the Sa'aleek group.) The school stressed a secular curriculum and served as the prototype for Palestinian schools. He also taught at the Salahiyya College until 1918 with Sakakini and others. In 1918 he married Marie Sidawi and they had 3 children, Daoud (1919-1998), Afif (1921-1984) and a daughter, Zakia (1923-). Between 1918-1921 he was Deputy Director of the Education Department. He assumed the chair of Economics and Political Science in the Law Faculty in Jerusalem in 1923. Between 1921 and 1924 he participated in two major conferences on “ancient Archaeology” in Cairo. From 1923-30 he was delegated by the Islamic Higher Council to perform various missions in Egypt. He also served as custodian for the Islamic Museum and the Al-Aqsa Mosque Library. In 1929 after the “al Buraq” uprising Jabr became an editor for Al Hayat newspaper. After being an editor (the newspaper went bankrupt), he became a member of the Jerusalem Municipal Council. While on the Municipal Council, he drafted a proposal for a federated binational state in 1940-1941. In May 1948 when he was driven away from his home in the German Colony, he settled in Heliopolis near Cairo, where he and Sakakini became members of The Arabic Language Academy. On the 1st September 1951 he was appointed to the upper house of the Jordanian Parliament by King Talal. Jabr died in Jericho from a heart attack on December 19, 1953. His publications include a pamphlet he translated on “The Spirit of Nationalism” by Max Nordor which was published in the daily Lisan Al-Arab edited by Ibrahim Salim Najjar. He also published a tourist brochure about the Cave of Patriarchs in Hebron and a historical guide to Al-Aqsa based on the work of George Antonius.
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