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 Yusuf Diya’ al-Khalidi

A prominent Ottoman politician who served as mayor of Jerusalem and Jerusalem representative and was a prolific writer, talented linguist, and scholar

Education Hind Taher al-Husseini

A formidable figure who dedicated her life to the care of orphans, education of girls and women, preservation of Palestinian culture, and social service

Representation Raghib al-Nashashibi

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

Find alphabetically by first letter of last name

Wasif Jawhariyyeh

A musician and diarist who created an invaluable account of life in Jerusalem from the late Ottoman to the British Mandate periods

Bandali al-Jawzi

A Palestinian scholar, historian, professor, and linguist who made significant contributions and prolific translations into Arabic and articulated and reformulated Islamic principles in a revolutionary manner

Salma Khadra Jayyusi

A poet and anthologist who spearheaded a massive effort to make Arabic literature available to English-speaking readers

Nazmi Jubeh

A historian, archeologist, and expert on Palestinian cultural heritage and its preservation, with special expertise on Jerusalem, Bethlehem, and Hebron