British Mandate

Blog Post A Fascinating Biography of Jerusalem Tracing Its Evolution into a Global City

This scholarly yet accessible biography describes Jerusalem’s rise to eternal symbol for the three Abrahamic religions. A book review.

Personal Story Falling Leaves Turn Back to Their Roots

The author reflects on growing up in al-Baq‘a during the British Mandate and her family’s experience of the Nakba.

Photo Essay King David Hotel, a Focal Point in British Mandate Jerusalem Whose Bombing Was a Watershed Moment

For Palestinian Jerusalemites, the city’s first luxury hotel will always be linked to a terrorist act that signaled the end of their lives in Jerusalem.

Photo Jerusalem Municipality Staff, 1934

A glimpse back into days when all of Jerusalem’s population had electoral representation 

Bio Abd al-Hamid al-Sayih

A religious and legal scholar and nationalist who was the first Palestinian Israel exiled from Jerusalem in 1967

Photo Three Jerusalemite Boys Posing on a Road with Their Arms Linked

A glimpse of boyhood in British Mandate Palestine

Bio Musa Kazim al-Husseini

Musa Kazim al-Husseini, the “undisputed leader of the Palestinian Arabs,” held important political positions in Jerusalem until his death at age 81

Short Take Amin al-Husseini’s Dream Home, Karm al-Mufti: An Elegant Residence during the Mandate Bulldozed by Israel

The mufti’s luxurious home in Sheikh Jarrah is a microcosm of the city’s rich and vibrant Palestinian past—and of its erasure by Israeli authorities.

Bio ‘Abd al-Hamid Shuman

A committed Arab nationalist who founded the Arab Bank in Jerusalem in 1930 and led much of Palestine’s banking activity