Mustafa Kabha


Mustafa Kabha is a Palestinian historian, philologist, and professor of modern Middle Eastern history. He is widely recognized for his work on the history of Palestinian society, Arabic journalism in Palestine, and oral history as a source of historical knowledge. Kabha is considered one of the leading scholars of Palestinian historiography and memory studies.
Kabha is the President of Academy of the Arabic Language in Israel.

Academic career

Kabha received his academic training in Arabic language, history, and philology. He completed his doctoral studies at Tel Aviv University, specializing in modern Middle Eastern and Palestinian history. He serves as a faculty member at the Open University of Israel, where he teaches courses on Arab society, historiography, and modern Middle Eastern history.
Kabha's work focuses on the cultural, intellectual, and social history of Palestinians, with particular emphasis on the development of Arabic press in Palestine and the use of oral history in reconstructing collective memory. His studies have contributed significantly to understanding how Palestinians preserved historical knowledge under colonial, nationalist, and post-Nakba conditions.

Research and contributions

Kabha has published extensively on:
His work bridges historical narrative, philological analysis, and ethnographic documentation, and he has participated in various interdisciplinary projects focused on the preservation of oral testimonies and endangered linguistic traditions in rural Palestine.

Selected publications

  • Kabha, M.. The Palestinian Press as Shaper of Public Opinion, 1929–1939: Writing Up a Storm. Tel Aviv: Resling.
  • Kabha, M.. The Role of the Arabic Press in Palestine: Social and Political Change in the Late Ottoman and British Mandate Periods. In *Palestinian Social History and Culture*, ed. R. Kanaaneh and I. Rabinowitz.
  • Kabha, M.. Palestinian Collective Memory and Oral Histories: Between Myth and Document. *Jerusalem Quarterly*, 42, 34–47.
  • Kabha, M.. Between Tradition and Modernity: Arabic Journalism and Cultural Change in Palestine. *Middle Eastern Studies*, 49, 213–230.

    Public engagement

Kabha is frequently invited to public forums, academic conferences, and media programs to discuss Palestinian history, identity, and the role of historical memory. He is involved in cultural initiatives to preserve Palestinian heritage and traditional storytelling practices. His public work emphasizes the importance of indigenous knowledge production and decolonial perspectives in historiography.