Top Ten Strong and Most Influential Palestinian Women You Should Know About

1. Fadwa Tuqan

Fadwa is the first Palestinian poet who fought with her words and poems for the freedom of Palestine. Her family believed that female participation in public life was unacceptable. Because of this, she educated herself with the help of her brother, also a poet, Ibrahim Tuqan.

2. Karima Aboud

Karima is the first Palestinian Christian photographer. She opened a studio to film and take pictures of women. She brought the art of photography into the small society of Palestine during a time when most families saw this invention as something strange.

3. Mai Ziade

Mai is the first orator in the Arab world. She took the audience’s heart with her voice and words. She published many articles in Arabic newspapers. She published thirteen books, and died in 1941.

4. Rim Banna

Rim is a Palestinian singer, composer, arranger and activist who is most well known for her modern interpretations of traditional Palestinian songs and poetry.

5. Hiam Abbass

Hiam Abbass is one of the Arab world’s most famous actresses with major roles in Hollywood-produced pictures as well as in the local film industry.

Abbass picked up the best actress award at the 2008 Asia Pacific Screen Awards for the film The Lemon Tree.

6. Annemarie Jacir

Annemarie Jacir has written, directed and produced over fourteen award-winning films including Salt of this Sea and When I Saw You. She is the only Palestinian woman who had not one but two films as official selections of the Cannes Film Festival. Founder of her own production company Philistine Films, her film When I Saw You was noted for being entirely financed by Arab funds, with an almost entirely Arab cast and crew. She continues to break new ground for Arab directors having recently won Netpac’s Best Asian Film at the Berlin International Festival.

7. Hind Al-Hussinie

Hind is the first Palestinian woman who established an orphanage after the 1948 War. She collected fifty-five orphans who lost their parents in the massacre of Deir Yassin, and established an orphanage with only 138 Palestinian pounds.

8. Queen Rania

Rania al Yassin was born on August 31, 1970 in Kuwait. Her parents Faisal Sedki al-Yassin and Ilham Yassin are from Palestine. Because of the first Gulf War, Rania’s family had to flee to Amman, Jordan. She later married the King of Jordan, King Abdullah, and she became one of the most visible and important first ladies in the Arab world. She plays an active role in promoting education and youth, highlighting the importance of women’s leadership and speaking up for refugees.

9. Hind Khoury

Hind is a Palestinian economist. She was the Delegate General of the Palestine Liberation Organization in France from March 2006 until June 2010.

Khoury also worked for a number of years with UNDP/PAPP, before she took up the position of Palestinian National Authority Minister of State.

In 2005, she held the prominent cabinet position of Minister for Jerusalem Affairs, where her responsibility was mainly handling the very sensitive issue of the final status of Jerusalem. Minister Khoury was also an active civil society leader for many years focusing on development, religion and women’s affairs.

10. Huwaida Arraf

Born in the U.S. from Palestinian origins, Arraf is a human rights activist, lawyer and co-founder of the International Solidarity Movement, a Palestinian-led organization focused on assisting the Palestinian side of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict using non-violent protests.

Arraf was the chair of Free Gaza Movement, the organization behind the Gaza Freedom Flotillas. She was aboard the 2008 Free Gaza boats as well as the 2010 flotilla that was raided by Israeli commandos.