These photos capture scenes of everyday life in Palestine before the 1948 Nakba (the “Catastrophe,” referring to the displacement of 750,000 Palestinians). They show villages, towns, markets, families, and traditions, providing a visual record of a time that is deeply cherished.
Countering displacement and loss
For many Palestinians who were displaced from their homes, these photos are among the few remaining links to their past. They serve as powerful reminders of their ancestral lands and their cultural heritage.
Preserving collective memory
These photos are not just personal mementos; they are part of a shared collective memory for Palestinians, helping to maintain their identity and connection to their history despite the challenges they have faced.
Therefore, old Palestinian photos are more than just images; they are powerful symbols of memory, identity, and resilience, playing a vital role in preserving Palestinian history and cultural heritage.
Portal, Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Jerusalem, 1844,’ A daguerrotype by Joseph-Philibert Girault de Prangey. (Bibliotheque nationale de France/Metropolitan Museum of Art via JTA)
The period surrounding the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, known to Palestinians as the Nakba (“Catastrophe”), is a pivotal point in Palestinian history. It’s crucial to understand the context before, during, and after this event to grasp the ongoing Palestinian-Israeli conflict.
Pre-Nakba Palestine (Before 1948)
A diverse society: Palestine was a multi-ethnic and multi-religious society, with a majority of the population consisting of Muslims 85.5% and Christians 9.2%, alongside a Jewish minority(3.2%).
Ottoman rule and British Mandate: For centuries, Palestine was part of the Ottoman Empire. After World War I, the League of Nations granted Britain a mandate to administer Palestine. The Zionist movement rose in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the Zionist movement, which advocated for the establishment of a Jewish homeland in Palestine, gained momentum. This led to increased Jewish immigration to the region, causing growing tensions with the Arab population. Growing Arab nationalism: Alongside the Zionist movement, Arab nationalism also grew in Palestine, with Palestinians seeking self-determination and independence. The United Nations proposed a plan in 1947 to partition Palestine into separate Arab and Jewish states, with Jerusalem under international control. The Zionist leadership accepted the plan, while Arab leaders rejected it. Outbreak of war following the UN Partition Plan, erupted between Arab and Jewish forces. The 1948 Arab-Israeli War ensued, resulting in the establishment of the state of Israel. Mass displacement ensued during the war, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians were displaced from their homes, becoming refugees in neighbouring countries and within the remaining Palestinian territories. Many Palestinian villages and towns were destroyed during the war, further contributing to the displacement and loss of Palestinian cultural heritage. Palestinians lost significant amounts of land and property as a result of the war and the establishment of Israel.
Post-Nakba (1949-Present)
Many Palestinian refugees were forced to live in refugee camps, where they continue to reside today. The Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) was formed in 1964 to represent the Palestinian people and their aspirations for self-determination. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict has continued since 1948, with further wars and periods of tension. Israel occupied the West Bank and Gaza Strip in the 1967 Six-Day War. Various peace initiatives have been attempted over the years, but a lasting solution to the conflict has yet to be achieved. Ongoing struggle for self-determination continues to strive for self-determination, statehood, and the right of return for refugees. The Nakba is a central event in Palestinian history, shaping their national identity and their ongoing struggle for their rights. Understanding the events of this period and the context surrounding it is crucial for understanding the complexities of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict today.
Pre Nakba – 1948 (Photos)
Photo by Khalil Raad/BMJ
The photograph above shows a Palestinian mother cradling her child, in the late 1920s. She wears traditional Palestinian garments. The photo was taken by the famous Palestinian photographer Khalil Raad.
Photo from G Eric and Edith Matson Photograph Collection, Library of Congress/BMJ
Palestine was part of the Ottoman Empire for about 400 years from 1516 until 1918. This photo, taken around 1910, depicts a street scene outside Jaffa Gate in Jerusalem. The ancient walls of Jerusalem tower over the people going about their lives – two men talk next to a herd of heavy-laden donkeys and horses and buggies seem to be idling, waiting for the next customer. Someone walks towards Jaffa Gate with a white parasol for protection from the sun.
Nakba 1948 (Photos)
Palestinians, carrying possessions on their heads flee from an unidentified village in Galilee some five months after the creation of the state of Israel, in 1948-Reuters
1952 – United Nations file picture shows Palestinian women carrying their belongings in the Naher al-Bared refugee camp near the port-city of Tripoly in northern Lebanon-Reuters
1967 – United Nations file picture shows Palestinians refugees crossing the King Hussein Bridge (Allenby Bridge) to Jordan in 1967-Reuters
Post Nakba (Photos)
Israeli soldiers shoot at Palestinian youths during protests in the West Bank town of Hebron Friday, March 21 1997. The clashes erupted during protests by Palestinians over the construction of a new Jewish settlement in Palestinian villages-AP
Palestinian Photographers
- Karimeh Abbud (1896 – 1940)
She was one of the first woman photographers in Palestine and the Middle East.
Karimeh Abbud was born in Bethlehem.[3] Her father Said Abbud, was working as a teacher in Bethlehem, after the family had moved from Khiam, in South of Lebanon to Palestine.[4] At the turn of the century, he became pastor of the Lutheran church for the following five decades. Karimeh was the second of six children. She completed her elementary education at “Talitha Koumi” school. Her mother, Barbara Badr, was also a teacher.She first began to take an interest in photography in 1913, after receiving a camera from her father as a gift for her 17th birthday. Her first photos were of family, friends and the landscape in Bethlehem and her first signed picture is dated October 1919. While studying Arabic literature at the American University of Beirut in Lebanon, she took a trip to Baalbek to photograph archaeological sites there. In 1929, she married a merchant from Marjayoun with whom she had a son, Samir.
- Najib Anton Albina (2 January 1901 – 23 July 1983
From Left to right: Jamil Albina, Najib Albina, and Lewis Larson developing motion picture film in the American Colony, Jerusalem. Circa 1934. Source: Library of Congress
Najib was born in Jerusalem to Palestinian Catholic parents Anton Albina and Victoria Safieh. He reportedly claimed distant descent from Italian merchants. He was one of three brothers and one sister. His father, Anton, went missing in action in 1918 during World War I in an unknown front . Najib grew up in Musrara and attended the Ratisbonne School.Before 1930, he married Adele Morcos (1911 – 1965[3]), a Christian Palestinian from Jericho. She bore them eight children between 1930 and 1950. The family were forced to leave Musrara in the 1948 Nakba and relocated to Bethlehem.[2]
By Khalil Raad – Institute of Palestine Studies, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=35388518
By Khalil Raad – http://fai.cyberia.net.lb/Photo/Petit/0069fa00017p.jpg, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1800339
Raad was born in 1869 in Bhamdoun, in modern-day Lebanon. His father, Anis, had fled from the family’s village of Sibnay after converting to Protestantism from the Maronite faith. During the 1860 sectarian strife afflicting the mountain regions, Raad’s father was killed. Following his death, Raad’s mother took him and his sister, Sarah, to Jerusalem where they resided with relatives. Raad first studied photography under Garabed Krikorian [he], an Armenian-Palestinian graduate of a photography workshop established by Issay Garabedian, the Armenian Patriarch of Jerusalem. Raad opened his own studio on Jaffa Road across the street from that of his former teacher in Jerusalem in 1890, engaging in direct competition with him. After Garabed’s son John assumed control of his father’s studio in 1913 and married Raad’s niece, Najla, known as the “peace bride,” the two studios worked in partnership.
Photo shows signs for “J. Krikorian” and “C. Raad” photo studios, next to each other on the left. Source: Matson Photo Service, Library of Congress
Garabed Krikorian (1847-1920) was an Armenian who came to Jerusalem from Anatolia, possibly Izmir. He was first based at the Church of St. James compound in the Old City of Jerusalem, where the Armenian Patriarch, Issay Garabedian, was offering photography lessons to youngsters who would later go on to practice professionally and lead the local photography scene. Garabedian played a pivotal role in the expansion of photography throughout the Ottoman Empire in the nineteenth century.6 He came to Jerusalem around 1844 and started photography in 1857. He traveled frequently to sharpen his skills and learn of new developments in photography, and spent twenty-eight years of his life conveying this knowledge to younger generations. His goal was to use photography to educate Armenians about the holy sites as well as the architectural and archaeological heritage in Armenia.
The story of the competition between Garabed Krikorian, the teacher, and Khalil Raad, the student, is perhaps the most well known of the former’s legacy. Khalil Raad, who is credited as being the earliest Arab photographer in Palestine, learned photography at the hands of Krikorian. A few years later, in 1890, Raad opened a studio next to Krikorian’s on Jaffa road in Jerusalem, starting a chapter of ferocious competition between the two commercial studios (figure 1) that ended with Krikorian’s son, Johannes, marrying Raad’s niece.
Hanna Safieh was born in Jerusalem in 1910 to a Palestinian Arab family. Shortly after starting work as a photographer, Safieh found employment at the American Colony photography department. This department, one of the earliest photography establishments in Palestine, was founded in 1898 to meet the growing demand for pictures from the Holy Land. It was at the American Colony that Safieh met and assisted the Swedish photographer Eric Matson (1888-1977). Safieh worked with Matson, documenting the country, until the latter left Palestine in 1946.
By ForPalestineArt – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=39691982
Alshaibi was born in Basra in 1973 to an Iraqi father and a Palestinian mother. She moved to the United States with her family in 1986. Alshaibi’s mother, Maha Yaqoubi was born in Jaffa in 1946. The Yaqoubi family were relocated to Iraq around 1949, as a result of the 1948 Palestinian expulsion and flight.[8] The family settled in Baghdad and where the artist’s mother married Alshaibi’s Iraqi father, Hameed, in 1968. Sama Alshaibi and her siblings, including Usama Alshaibi, and parents fled Basra, Iraq in 1981, during the Iraq-Iran War. They lived in Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and Jordan before moving the United States in 1986. Her story of leaving Iraq is told in her films Goodbye to the Weapon and Where The Birds Fly.
By Nidaa Badwan – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=52079585
Nidaa Badwan (born 17 April 1987) is a Palestinian artist who was born in the United Arab Emirates. She moved to Gaza when she was in sixth grade, and spent a year working in Amman after completing her fine arts degree at a Palestinian university.
By Juan García – Institut Valencià d’Art Modern, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=101259536
Rula Halawani (born 1964) is a Palestinian photographer and educator who lives and works in Jerusalem. Halawani’s photography is focused on Palestinian life and the political conflicts of the area. Emmanuel d’Autreppe, writing for AWARE Women Artist, suggest Halawani’s “first works reflect the weight of everyday life and the inequity of restrictions as well as the state of siege, its large-scale consequences and its media coverage, both local and international.”[6] She documents experiences of Palestinians with checkpoints and X-ray scanning machines through projects such as The Wall (2005) and The Bride is Beautiful, But She is Married to Another Man (2016).Halawani experiments with infrared filters and X-ray technology in her works to create effects of distortion.
Emily Jacir won the Venice Biennale’s Gold Lion in 2007, and the Guggenheim Musuem’s Hugo Boss Prize in 2008. Photo: John McRae, courtesy of the artist.
Emily Jacir grew up in Saudi Arabia and attended high school in Italy. She graduated with a degree in art from the University of Dallas, Memphis College of Art. She divides her time between New York City and Bethlehem. Jacir is a multidisciplinary artist whose primary interest lies in transformation, resistance and silenced historical narratives. She works in a variety of media including film, photography, installation, performance, video, writing, and sound. She draws on the artistic medium of concept art and social intervention as a framework for her pieces, in which she focuses on themes of displacement, exile, and resistance, primarily within the context of Palestinian occupation.
By Yann merlin – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=141859479
She is a Palestinian photographer, and was born in Shibli-Umm al-Ghanam, in Occupied Palestine. Her work explores themes of home and belonging and documents the life of Arabs in villages unrecognized by Israel in the Negev and northern Galilee regions.
- Mandy & Lara Sirdah (1976)
By Abd Rabou, et al. – (2023). “Checklist of the Birds of the Gaza Strip—Palestine”. Open Journal of Ecology 13: 155-182. DOI:10.4236/oje.2023.133011., CC BY 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=139686849
Mandy Sirdah and Lara Sirdah are Palestinian twin sisters known for their work in wildlife photography and birdwatching in the Gaza Strip. They aim to document the wildlife and raise awareness of the biodiversity in Gaza.
Hakim is an award-winning Palestinian American documentary photographer, artist and activist based in San Francisco. His work primarily focuses on social justice.
https://www.jaffaorangephoto.com/Projects/Palestine-Diary
By Danni Sabic – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=47296967
Laura Boushnak is a Kuwaiti-born Palestinian photographer whose work is focused on women, literacy, and education reform in the Arab world. For her ongoing documentary project “I Read I Write” she photographed girls and women changing their lives with education in Egypt, Yemen, Kuwait, Jordan and Tunisia.
