The Arab College in Jerusalem was the first, and for quite some time the only, secondary school for Arab students in the British Mandate of Palestine. The Arab College lasted from 1918 until 1948, when it was swept away in the 1948 Arab–Israeli War. The British administration began an education system in the former Ottoman lands which consisted of primary schools in the largest towns and a boarding secondary school, the Government Arab College, in Jerusalem. The chief role of the Arab College was to train teachers for the primary schools, which were gradually being added to smaller towns and villages.[1] For a time its principal was the influential Ahmad Samih Khalidi, father of Walid Khalidi and Tarif Khalidi.[2] By the time of its demise, the Arab College had become the most prestigious school for Arab students in Palestine. The buildings were used as UN headquarters for a few years after the war.