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.

Education Elizabeth Nasir

An educator and social worker who founded a school for destitute girls and was fondly recalled as the “patron of us poor people”

Suhail Khoury

A musician with a passion for Mozart and Palestine

Jumana El Husseini

A Jerusalem artist in exile whose predominant themes revolved around depicting the city of her birth

Find alphabetically by first letter of last name

Health and Health Care Amin Majaj

A Palestinian physician and public servant who was the “father of pediatrics in Jerusalem”

The West Side Story Betty Dagher Majaj

A nurse from Lebanon who married a Jerusalemite and moved to the city right before the Nakba and embraced the responsibilities thrust upon her for caring for the sick, wounded, and disabled of the city over decades

Said Murad

Composer, oud player, and founder of the band Sabreen, which revolutionized Arab music and the Jerusalem music scene