1948, Jerusalem, Palestine 🇵🇸 Shrine of Our Lady Queen of Palestine, founded 1927.

1929, Jerusalem, Palestine 🇵🇸 A Palestinian Nashashibi family wedding. Back row, from left to right: Mrs. Joseph Albina (seated), Fakhri Nashashibi (standing), Ibrahim Nashashibi (standing), Raghib Nashashibi, Fahmia Nashashibi, Joseph Albina, Miss Albina (Joseph Albina’s niece), and Ismail Nashashibi. Front row, from left to right: Emily (daughter of Madame Nashashibi from a previous marriage in Turkey that ended in divorce), Azmi Baker Nashashibi (cousin of Raghib Bey), and Madame Nashashibi.

1901, Jaffa, Palestine 🇵🇸 Salim Zarifeh.

1900s, Jaffa, Palestine 🇵🇸 Badia Zarifeh.

1910, Jaffa, Palestine 🇵🇸 Salim & Badia Zarifeh with their son Jean.

1920s, Jaffa, Palestine 🇵🇸 The Zarifeh Children; Jean, Emilie, Alice & Rose.

Jan 1935, Jaffa, Palestine 🇵🇸 Marika Ghanim holding her daughter Laila.

Awni Abd al-Hadi was a prominent Palestinian nationalist, lawyer, diplomat, and one of the most influential Arab political figures of the first half of the 20th century, born in 1889 in Nablus, Palestine 🇵🇸 His wife was Tarab Abd al-Hadi, a Palestinian nationalist and feminist. He began his secondary education in Beirut, where his father was serving in the judiciary, and completed his high school studies in Nablus, graduating in 1907. His father then sent him to Istanbul, where he enrolled at the Malakiyya College. In 1909, he participated in founding the Literary Club (al-Muntada al-Adabi), an organization that opposed policies of Turkification and defended Arab political and cultural rights within the empire. In 1910, Abd al-Hadi moved to Paris to pursue legal studies at the Faculty of Law, from which he graduated in 1914. While in Paris, he emerged as a key organizer among Arab students. In 1911, he helped establish the secret nationalist society al-Arabiyya al-Fatat (the Young Arab Society) and was elected to its first executive board. He also served on the committee that called for the First Arab Congress, held in Paris in June 1913 under the presidency of Abd al-Hamid al-Zahrawi, in cooperation with the Ottoman Party for Administrative Decentralization based in Cairo. Between 1918 and 1920, he accompanied Prince Faisal ibn al-Hussein to Paris and London as an adviser and returned with him to Damascus in early 1920. There, Abd al-Hadi joined the Arab Independence Party, the public political arm of al-Arabiyya al-Fatat. By late 1921, he returned to Jerusalem and resumed the practice of law, while remaining engaged in nationalist causes, including membership in the Central Committee for the Relief of Syrian Victims formed after the Syrian revolt of 1925. His prominent role in the Palestinian national movement began after the 7th Palestinian National Congress held in Jerusalem in 1928, where he was elected to the Arab Executive Committee. In this capacity, he joined numerous Palestinian delegations abroad and testified before British commissions of inquiry, including the Shaw Commission (1929) and the Peel Commission (1936). The British authorities arrested him following mass demonstrations in Jaffa in October 1933, he was released after a brief detention. After the Peel Commission recommended the partition of Palestine in 1937, Abd al-Hadi represented the Arab Higher Committee in Baghdad, Geneva, and later Paris, arguing the Arab case before the League of Nations. Barred from returning to Palestine, he settled in Cairo, where he worked tirelessly to mobilize Egyptian political support for Palestine. He was a member of the Palestinian delegation to the London Round Table Conference in 1939. In 1941, King Abd al-Aziz of Saudi Arabia entrusted him with a diplomatic mission across Arab countries to promote the creation of a Pan-Arab body. He returned to Palestine in 1943, focusing on reorganizing the Independence Party and defending Palestinian land rights against Zionist expropriation. In 1948, he briefly joined the All-Palestine Government before resigning and devoting himself to diplomacy and writing. From 1951, Abd al-Hadi served the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan as ambassador to Cairo, a member of the Jordanian Senate, and foreign minister in 1956. In 1964, he moved permanently to Cairo after being appointed Chairman of the Permanent Legal Committee of the Arab League, a position he held until his death. Awni Abd al-Hadi died in Cairo on 15 March 1970, where he was also buried. Remembered for his sharp intellect, diplomatic skill, and personal charm, he is regarded as one of the most significant Palestinian nationalist leaders of the Mandate period and a lifelong advocate of Arab unity, independence, and justice for Palestine.

1943, Jaffa, Palestine 🇵🇸 Palestinian members of the Antonine Club in the prestigious Ajami neighborhood. Bottom row: Odette Jallad, Fournier Habra, Marie Saad. Middle row: Sylvie Finan, Victorine Jallad, Sylvie Bitar, Doreen Yousef, Raymonda Bitar, Nadia Mantoura. Top row: Emilie Talmas, Rosine Talmas, Alice Jabbour, Layla Gharghour, Hilda Frouhi, Nina Ishaq.

1944, Jaffa, Palestine 🇵🇸 Palestinians enjoying a day at the beach. Standing from left to right: Aida Mushabak, Vera Mushabek, Tina Shammas, a friend, Zakia Jabre, Alfred Farraj, and Linda Farraj. Front row: Saba Shammas, Afif Jabre, Mary Mushabek, and Elias Mushabek.

c. 1903, Jerusalem, Palestine 🇵🇸 A Palestinian Muslim Band playing near the Jaffa Gate.

1940s, Jaffa, Palestine 🇵🇸 Dr. Hassan Pharaon, a Palestinian pediatrician, in front of his clinic.

Ufemia Rizk (née Jabaji) was born in 1943 in Jaffa, Palestine 🇵🇸 Among her earliest memories is the Mediterranean Sea, that childhood ended abruptly in 1948 during the Nakba, when her family was forced to flee their home. They found refuge in Beirut, Lebaon. Rizk received her early education at the French boarding school Le Bon Pasteur, as well as Collège Saint-Joseph, before continuing her studies at the BLTC and completing a first year in Arts and Sciences at the AUB, and later studying French literature at the Sorbonne University Paris. During her youth, while still in high school, she unexpectedly entered the world of international pageantry. While spending her Summer in Jordan, she spontaneously participated in the First Miss Jordan contest and won the title at the Hotel Philadelphia in Amman. Determined not to miss school in Beirut, she had her official photographs taken at 5 a.m. so she could catch a 7 a.m. flight and return to boarding school in time. She later traveled to London to participate in the 1959 Miss World pageant. She married the Palestinian businessman Rizk Rizk in Egypt in 1961, and the couple resided there throughout the 1960s, a period during which she discovered the richness of Egyptian civilization that later played a role in her artistic life. In the late 1960s they moved to Jordan and in 1976 Ufemia became a member of the Royal Fahrelnissa Zeid Institute of Fine Arts in Amman. In 1979, she was invited to exhibit at the renowned Galerie Katia Granoff in Paris—her first international exhibition. This was followed by her participation in the prestigious Salon d’Automne at the Grand Palais in Paris in 1980. These milestones opened the door to her subsequent international exhibitions worldwide. Rizk later moved to Montreal in 1993, where she studied at Dawson College. There, she trained in fine arts. Her artistic philosophy centers on the creation of an inner world through art as a means of exploring the mysteries of the universe. Her paintings, primarily geometric abstractions, seek to capture cosmic forces and translate them into visual form. Her work is held in museums and private collections internationally. In 1984, she became a sociétaire of the Salon d’Automne at the Grand Palais. Throughout the 1980s, she received numerous distinctions across Europe and Asia. Among her awards are the Medal of the Salon de Paris at the 3rd International Festival of Graphic Art in Osaka (1980), the Médaille Vermeille at the Grand Concours International of the Académie Internationale de Lutèce (1981), and the Gold Medal at the 5th International Festival of Graphic Art in Osaka (1982). That same year, she also received a Gold Medal at the Grand Concours International of the Académie Internationale de Lutèce. In 1983, she was awarded the Gold Medal for Best Foreign Painter in Fénétrange, another Gold Medal from the Ligue pour l’Éducation Sociale in Paris, and First Prize at Europe Art in Malmort. In 1984, she participated at the first Biennale Mondiale d’Art Moderne in Lyon, France where she was awarded with the "Oscar of the Art World" including the Golden Medal. In 1993, she displayed her art at the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Montréal in the Summer Exhibition, and in the same year in Milan at the Michele Nocera Gallery. She is also mentioned in the archives of Larock and Granoff by the art historian Clotilde Scordia, who referred to “la Palestinienne Ufemia Rizk,” highlighting her Palestinian heritage and connection to the Fahrelnissa Zeid Royal Institute of Fine Arts in Amman. A life that moved from Jaffa to Beirut, Cairo, Amman, and Montreal, Ufemia Rizk developed a distinctive artistic voice shaped by displacement, education, and global cultural exchange. Her geometric abstractions reflect a lifelong search for harmony and meaning—transforming personal memory and cosmic imagination into a universal visual language. To view her extraordinary art visit ufemiarizk.com

1910, Jaffa, Palestine 🇵🇸 The wedding of Salim Habaib, a Palestinian from the city of Acre and one of the largest citrus merchants of his time, and Laila Habaib from Jaffa.

Badr Lama stands as one of the most influential pioneers of early Arab cinema, a Palestinian artist whose legacy helped shape the foundations of the Egyptian and regional film industries. Badr Lama was born to Abdallah Ibrahim al-Aʿma, a Palestinian from Bethlehem who had emigrated to Chile in 1890 as part of a wider wave of Levantine migration, and to Liza Khalil Bishara Sara, also a Palestinian immigrant from Bethlehem. The family name “al-Aʿma,” meaning “the blind man,” was altered to “Lama” due to the difficulty Spanish speakers had in pronouncing the Arabic letter ʿayn (ع). The couple had three sons; Issa, Ibrahim, and Badr, who grew up within a household shaped by migration yet anchored in Palestinian heritage. While still in Chile, Badr and his brother Ibrahim developed an early fascination with photography and moving images. Badr worked as an assistant director on two short films, gaining practical experience at a time when cinema itself was still a new and experimental medium. In 1924, the two brothers decided to return to Palestine. Their journey, however, took an unexpected turn when their ship docked in Alexandria. Captivated by the city’s cosmopolitan energy, they chose to disembark and settle there, an unplanned decision that would place them at the forefront of Egypt’s emerging film industry. In Alexandria, the Lama brothers began working as photographers and joined Ansar al-Suwar al-Mutaharrika (the Champions of Moving Images Society), which later evolved into the production company Mena Films. Seeking greater creative independence, they broke away in 1926 to establish their own company, Condor Films; an enterprise that would become one of the most significant forces in early Egyptian cinema. Their first production, Qubla fi-l-Sahraʾ (A Kiss in the Desert, 1927), was shot in a modest makeshift studio inside a private bungalow in Alexandria’s Victoria neighborhood. Inspired by the desert epics of Italian actor Rudolph Valentino, particularly The Son of the Sheikh (1926), Badr and Ibrahim adapted the story into an Arab context, creating one of the earliest action-adventure films with a romantic narrative in Arab cinema. Starring Badr Lama and actress Badriyya Raʾfat (born Josephine George Sarkissi), the film is widely regarded by historians as one of the earliest Arab silent films and was screened in Alexandria and Beirut. The success of A Kiss in the Desert helped establish Alexandria as a serious competitor to Cairo in filmmaking. The brothers set up a studio inside their own home and continued producing ambitious works, including Fajiʿa fawq al-Haram (1928), directed by Ibrahim and starring Badr alongside Fatima Rushdi, and Muʿjizat al-Hubb (1930), an outdoor-shot production considered among the earliest Arab musicals. The latter was screened in Haifa, Jaffa, and Jerusalem; cities that underscored the Lama brothers’ continuing connection to Palestine and the wider Arab world. In 1930, as the Egyptian film industry became increasingly centralized in Cairo, the Lama brothers relocated there and established Studio Lama in Hadayek al-Qubba, the first full-scale film studio in Egypt. Their films during this period blended Bedouin themes, desert landscapes, and heroic narratives, drawing inspiration from American Westerns while infusing them with distinctly Arab and Oriental aesthetics. By the mid-1930s, they shifted toward melodrama, producing films steadily through World War II and contributing ten feature-length productions during this era.

Gargour & Fils (TGF) was founded in 1928 in Jaffa, Palestine, by the late Tawfiq Gargour and was later joined by his four sons, Nicolas, Habib, Hanna, and Allenby. In its early years, TGF focused on trade, dealing in products ranging from Jaffa oranges to steel, foodstuffs, and other essential commodities. The company partnered with some of Europe’s largest industrial firms, including Salzgitter. A pivotal moment came in 1936, when TGF approached Mercedes-Benz in Germany. Rather than paying in cash, the agreement was concluded through a barter arrangement involving shiploads of Jaffa oranges, approximately 500 boxes per vehicle. This unusual exchange marked the beginning of one of the longest-standing partnerships in the automotive industry and established TGF as the first importer of Mercedes-Benz in Palestine, and later in Lebanon, Jordan, Syria, and Iraq. Over the following decades, TGF developed into a multimillion-dollar business group. By the 1960s, it had expanded into shipping and trading operations across fifteen countries, including several in Europe and Canada. TGF also played a notable role in regional maritime history, serving as the agent for the first vessel to dock at Aqaba Port in 1953. The group later owned and operated a fleet under the name Associated Levant Lines, consisting of twelve refrigerated cargo vessels that maintained regular routes between Europe and the Levant from the early 1960s until the late 1990s. Today, TGF is a leading regional player in shipping and logistics, with a modern network of offices in Amman, Aqaba, Tartous, Lattakia, Baghdad, and Basrah. The group also serves as the official agent in Jordan, Lebanon, and Palestine for renowned automotive brands, including Mercedes-Benz, Chrysler, Jeep, Dodge, Fiat, Alfa Romeo, and Maserati.