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.
Fatima Budeiri

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

Tawfiq Canaan

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

Georgette Rizek

An activist who lived through the Nakba and founded and directed the Infant Welfare Center, the first medical center in the Old City of Jerusalem

Find alphabetically by first letter of last name

Muhammad Issaf Ibn Othman al-Nashashibi

An erudite man of letters and a master of the classical Arabic language who was fondly called “the foremost Arabic scholar” during his lifetime

Zahiya Nashashibi

A Jerusalemite who helped to found one of the oldest women’s movements in Palestine in 1929, and remained in a leadership role in it until her death

Sari Nusseibeh

An academic and political maverick who participated in the First Intifada and the Madrid Conference, held the Jerusalem portfolio, and led Al-Quds University