Nahed Thabit Salman al-Rafati
Nahed al-Rafati (Nahiḍ al-Rafātī) (ناهض ثابت سلمان الرفاتي) was a Hebrew language instructor in the Department of Arabic, Faculty of the Human Sciences at al-Azhar University in Gaza City, and served as an Assistant to the Chair of the department from 2001 onward. Al-Azhar University, established in 1991, offers undergraduate degrees in more than seventy academic specializations, Masters in 26, and PhDs in Chemistry and Water Technology. Al-Rafati’s education included a diploma from the Institute of Research and Arabic Language in Cairo, 2005, a BA in the Social Sciences from the Open University in Jerusalem, 1999; and a two-year diploma at the Teachers’ College in Gaza, 1983.
He completed many Hebrew-language courses as part of the Continuing Education program at his university; these were preceded by advanced courses between 1982 and 1987 at the School of Hebrew Language in Gaza. In 2012, al-Rafati was appointed as a member of a committee in the Palestine Ministry of Higher Education in charge of preparation of the Hebrew curriculum for grades nine and ten.
Al-Rafati’s life was ended on 25 October 2023, together with his wife’s, Um Thabit. It was the third week of Israel’s invasion of Gaza that began with airstrikes on the seventh of that month. Born 10 June 1961 in Gaza City, he was 62 years old at the time of his death that was caused by an airstrike on his family home in Gaza City. It is unclear from the available information what the raid did to other members of the family. A post on X by an anonymous person reads: “Nahed al-Rafati was like a father for his students, kind and good-hearted, and generous with his counsel.”
(Al-Rafati and his wife, Um Thabit)