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.

Khalil Raad

A prolific photographer whose body of work documented daily life in Jerusalem over six decades

Nahil Bishara

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

The West Side Story Hanna Safieh

Among the first Jerusalemites to use a camera professionally to document key historical events as well as everyday life in pre-1948 Palestine and beyond

Find alphabetically by first letter of last name

Health and Health Care Tawfiq Canaan

An epidemiologist, ethnographer, and institution builder who made foundational contributions to medicine and health care in Jerusalem and Palestine

Henry Cattan

A Jerusalemite jurist and lawyer who wrote widely on the status of Jerusalem and the Palestinian claim to Palestine