Ibrahim Abu-Lughod; Political Science Scholar Voiced Arab Concerns

Ibrahim Abu-Lughod, 72, a professor and vice president at Birzeit University on the West Bank of Israel, died May 23 at his home in Ramallah.

A former head of the political science department at Northwestern University, Abu-Lughod was one of the small group of Palestinian academics in the United States to articulate the Palestinian cause in the 1960s, ‘70s and ‘80s.

“He was one of the two or three most important Palestinian voices in the United States for decades and was one of the first Arab American scholars to have a really serious effect on the way the Middle East is portrayed in political science and America,” said Rashid Khalidi, director of the Center for International Studies at the University of Chicago.

Born in Jaffa before it became part of Israel, Abu-Lughod earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Illinois and a doctorate from Princeton. He became a U.S. citizen in 1975. In 1992, he chose to return to the West Bank to help rebuild social institutions there.