The Ramallah Friends School () is a private school in

West Bank The West Bank is located on the western bank of the Jordan River and is the larger of the two Palestinian territories (the other being the Gaza Strip) that make up the State of Palestine. A landlocked territory near the coast of the Mediter ...

Palestine Palestine, officially the State of Palestine, is a country in West Asia. Recognized by International recognition of Palestine, 147 of the UN's 193 member states, it encompasses the Israeli-occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and th ...

with campuses in the

twin cities Twin cities are a special case of two neighboring cities or urban centres that grow into a single conurbation – or narrowly separated urban areas – over time. There are no formal criteria, but twin cities are generally comparable in stat ...

Ramallah Ramallah ( , ; ) is a Palestinians, Palestinian city in the central West Bank, that serves as the administrative capital of the State of Palestine. It is situated on the Judaean Mountains, north of Jerusalem, at an average elevation of abov ...

and

al-Bireh Al-Bireh, al-Birah, or el-Bira (; also known historically as Castrum Mahomeria, Magna Mahomeria, Mahomeria Major, Birra, or Beirothah) is a city in the central West Bank, north of Jerusalem. It is the capital of the Ramallah and al-Bireh Gove ...

. The Friends Girls' School was inaugurated in 1869; the construction of the Friends Boys' School began in 1901 and the school opened in 1918.Michael Dumper, Bruce E. Stanley and Janet L. Abu-Lughod (2007) ''Cities of the Middle East and North Africa: A Historical Encyclopedia'' ABC-CLIO, p 310 The Schools were run by American

Quakers Quakers are people who belong to the Religious Society of Friends, a historically Protestantism, Protestant Christian set of Christian denomination, denominations. Members refer to each other as Friends after in the Bible, and originally ...

.Sa’ed Atshan, Queer Palestine and the Empire of Critique (New Texts Out Now)
" ''Jadaliyya.'' 22 December 2021. Both campuses are now co-educational and divided into Senior and Junior sections; a Meeting House was built in 1910. The Swift Building, located in the upper School and named after Sara Swift of New England, was made the home of the Friends International Center in Ramallah after restoration work was completed. During the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, the Boys' School was commandeered by Ottoman troops for use as a hospital during Allenby's assault on Palestine. The school is currently headed by former student and teacher Rania Maayeh who is a member of the

Friends United Meeting Friends United Meeting (FUM) is an association of twenty-six yearly meetings of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) in North America, Africa, and the Caribbean. Its home pages states that it is "a collection of Christ-centered Quakers, em ...

Background

The Friends Girls' School was originally opened as “The Girls' Training Home of Ramallah” and was renamed "Friends Girls' School" in 1919. Elihu Grant was the principal between 1901 and 1903. Both the Boys' and Girls' Friends Schools were designed and built by Dahoud Saah of Ramallah. The Lower School serves grades Pre-Kindergarten to fifth grade; the Upper School serves grades six to twelve. The school was first in the

Mutasarrifate of Jerusalem The Mutasarrifate of Jerusalem (, ; , , ), also known as the Sanjak of Jerusalem, was a district in Ottoman Syria with special administrative status established in 1872.Büssow (2011), p5Abu-Manneh (1999), p39Jankowski & Gershoni (1997), p174 T ...

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

. It later was under the

Occupied Enemy Territory Administration The Occupied Enemy Territory Administration (OETA) was a joint British, French and Arab military administration over the Levantine provinceswhich had been part of the Ottoman Empire for four centuriesbetween 1918 and 1920, set up on 23 October ...

, the British Mandate of Palestine, the

Jordanian annexation of the West Bank The Jordanian administration of the West Bank officially began on 24 April 1950, and ended with the decision to sever ties on 31 July 1988. The period started during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, when Jordan occupied and subsequently annexed the ...

(1948-1967), and the

Israeli occupation of the West Bank The West Bank, including East Jerusalem, has been under military occupation by Israel since 7 June 1967, when Israeli forces captured the territory, then ruled by Jordan, during the Six-Day War. The status of the West Bank as a militarily oc ...

(1967-1993), before being in the State of Palestine.

Location

The Lower School campus and kindergarten (Formerly Friends Girls' School) is located near the centre of the Old City of Ramallah on Hal Tabqa Sadik Street. The Lower School campus is located at The upper School campus (Formerly Friends Boys' School) is located along al Nahdha Street,

The Upper School campus is located at

Curriculum

The Friends Schools have offered, in both Arabic and English, various educational curricula. As of 2011, they only offer the IB curriculum, optionally IB-no exam for those who wish to take the American

SAT The SAT ( ) is a standardized test widely used for college admissions in the United States. Since its debut in 1926, its name and Test score, scoring have changed several times. For much of its history, it was called the Scholastic Aptitude Test ...

examination, but those students will have to apply through the

AMIDEAST Amideast (the America-Mideast Educational and Training Services) is a United States, U.S. non-profit organization that works to strengthen mutual understanding and cooperation between United States, Americans and the peoples of the MENA, Middle Ea ...

as it is no longer provided to students. The schools used to offer local governmental examinations: ‘ Tawjihi’. The school was certified to provide the IB curriculum in 2001 by the

International Baccalaureate The International Baccalaureate Organization (IBO), more commonly known as the International Baccalaureate (IB), is a nonprofit foundation headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, and founded in 1968. It offers four educational programmes: the I ...

organization. During the

first Intifada The First Intifada (), also known as the First Palestinian Intifada, was a sustained series of Nonviolent resistance, non-violent protests, acts of civil disobedience, Riot, riots, and Terrorism, terrorist attacks carried out by Palestinians ...

, the Friends School was closed by the Israeli authorities—as was the case with all schools in Ramallah—during the years of 1988 and 1989, but it was reopened after the intifada.

Swift House

The Friends International Center regularly hosts meetings with other NGOs such as the

Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions The Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions (ICAHD) () is a group opposed to Israeli settlements, which describes itself as "an Israeli peace and human rights organization dedicated to ending the occupation of the Palestinian territories ...

and the Christian Peacemaker Teams.Ramallah Quakers
Friends International Center in Ramallah January - February 2009 Newsletter (Vol. III No. 1)

Notable alumni

Issam Abdulhadi Issam Abdulhadi (1928–16 August 2013) was an award-winning Palestinian women’s rights activist. She was elected as the President of the General Union of Palestinian Women in July 1965. Early life Born in Nablus in 1928, she was educated a ...

, women's rights activist *

Hanan Ashrawi Hanan Daoud Mikhael Ashrawi (; born 8 October 1946) is a Palestinian politician, activist, and scholar. Ashrawi began her career at Birzeit University. Beginning in the 1990s, Ashrawi was a member of the PLO's Leadership Committee, serving as t ...

, politician and member of the

Palestinian Legislative Council The Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) is the Unicameralism, unicameral legislature of the Palestinian National Authority, Palestinian Authority, elected by the Palestinians, Palestinian residents of the Palestinian territories of the Wes ...

* Jaweed al-Ghussein, civil engineer and philanthropist * Amaney Jamal, dean of the Princeton School of public and international affairs * Rami Kashou, fashion designer and first runner-up on Season 4 of ''

Project Runway ''Project Runway'' is an American reality television series that premiered on Bravo on December 1, 2004. The series focuses on fashion design. It was created by Eli Holzman and was hosted by Heidi Klum from 2004 to 2017. It has a varied airi ...

'' * Widad Kawar, folklorist of Palestinian costume * Ibrahim Muhawi, professor, folklorist, translator and writer * Georgette Rizek, philanthropist and activist * Serene Husseini Shahid, writer and historian of Palestinian arts and culture *

Farouk Shami Farouk Shami is a Palestinian-American businessman and founder of the hair-care and spa products company, Farouk Systems located in Texas.

, CEO of Farouk Systems, Inc., an American hair care products company; 2010 Democratic candidate for

Governor of Texas The governor of Texas is the head of state of the U.S. state of Texas. The governor is the head of the executive branch of the government of Texas and is the commander-in-chief of the Texas Military Forces. Established in the Constit ...

in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

* Raja Shehadeh, attorney, author, and activist; founder of the human rights group Al-Haq * Henriette Siksek, writer and radio personality * Khaldoun Al Tabari, Jordanian Businessman

References

External links

Ramallah Friends School
{{Authority control Quaker schools International Baccalaureate schools in Palestine Educational institutions established in 1869 Organizations involved in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict Buildings and structures in Ramallah Schools in the West Bank 1869 establishments in the Ottoman Empire Buildings and structures in Al-Bireh Primary schools in Palestine High schools in Palestine