This photograph shows Palestinian resistance leader Abdel Qader al-Husseini and his wife, Wajiha, whose paths were closely tied to the early Palestinian struggle. While Abdel Qader led on the front lines, Wajiha played a quiet but significant role in supporting the revolutionary movement.
Wajiha al-Husseini was born in Jerusalem in 1908 and married her relative Abdel Qader al-Husseini in 1935.1 Together, they had four children: Musa, Faisal, Ghazi, and Haifa. Coming from a wealthy family, Wajiha inherited a significant fortune from her father, which she invested wholeheartedly in the Palestinian revolution against British and Zionist forces. She helped arm the fighters and was personally involved in cleaning and storing weapons. She even sold furniture from her home and her personal jewelry to support her husband’s efforts on the battlefield. Her revolutionary spirit extended beyond material support; she made direct contributions to the war effort with both labor and leadership, transforming her home into a makeshift hospital to treat wounded fighters.
With her children, Wajiha moved between Palestine, Iraq, Egypt, and the Hijaz while her husband was convalescing from war wounds, fleeing British forces, or in detention. Due to her activities, she stood trial before an Iraqi court, charged with aiding and sheltering revolutionaries and encouraging them to fight. She was sentenced to house arrest. During her husband’s imprisonment in Iraq for two years in the early 1940s, she contacted high-ranking state officials in the region and successfully advocated for his release from Iraqi custody.2
Wajiha passed away in Tunis on Monday, May 30, 1983, after a long illness. She is remembered not only as a mother and wife, but as a defiant fighter in her own right.