Bios

Palestinian Jerusalemites have made myriad and diverse contributions to their city’s history and community fabric. Here we profile some of those people—past and present; famous and obscure—whose lives and work and stories have helped shape the larger Jerusalem Story over time.

Representation Raghib al-Nashashibi

A controversial long-running mayor of Jerusalem who opposed the Zionist agenda while maintaining close ties with British Mandate authorities

Representation Faisal al-Husseini

A leader, activist, and diplomat affectionately referred to by his community as the Lion of Jerusalem

Who Are the Palestinians of Jerusalem? Mahmoud Abu Zuluf

Founder of al-Quds Arabic newspaper, one of the most ubiquitous and influential Palestinian publications in Jerusalem’s history

Find alphabetically by first letter of last name

Culture, Art, and Heritage Jamal Badran

One of Palestine’s foremost visual artists, sculptors, and calligraphers who also the restored al-Aqsa Mosque’s precious Islamic art after an arson

Khalil Beidas

An influential scholar, educator, journalist, and author and a prolific translator of Russian literature into Arabic

Culture, Art, and Heritage Nahil Bishara

One of the few female artists who depicted Jerusalem in the mid-20th century

Issa Boullata

An accomplished scholar of Arabic and Islamic studies and award-winning translator who traced his creative talent to his Jerusalem childhood

Kamal Boullata

A renowned Jerusalemite artist and art historian who was exiled in 1967 and spent the rest of his life creating art that would convey, and lead him back to, the city of his birth

Fatima Budeiri

An Arabic-language teacher and media personality who became the first Palestinian woman to work as a radio broadcaster