13 insightful photos of early 1900s Palestine taken by engineer Nasri Fuleihan


Alexandra Chaves
  • English
  • Arabic

A new digital collection of historical photographs offers glimpses of Palestine during the end of the Ottoman rule and the period after the First World War.

The Nasri Fuleihan Collection comprises more than 350 photographs by Nasri Fuleihan, who worked as an engineer in Palestine and helped exploring for oil in the Middle East.

His photographs, taken between 1912 and 1924, can be viewed online thanks to Akkasah, NYU Abu Dhabi's (NYUAD) Centre for Photography, which digitises photos from the region that documents day-to-day life. The collections are shared on the centre's website for the public to browse and for researchers to use as resources.

Born in 1891, Fuleihan was a Cypriot of Lebanese descent who studied Civil Engineering at Purdue University. After graduating in 1912, he traveled to Jordan, Palestine and Egypt and worked as an engineer in Southern Palestine at the Levant Producing Company.

During that period, Palestine was under Ottoman rule, which lasted until 1917. In one photo, the Ottoman flag can be seen on a boat sailing along the coast of Jaffa.

A studio portrait of a woman. The text on the reverse side reads "Ramallah girl". Gail O'Keefe Edson. Courtesy of Akkasah Centre for Photography
A studio portrait of a woman. The text on the reverse side reads "Ramallah girl". Gail O'Keefe Edson. Courtesy of Akkasah Centre for Photography

Fuleihan was able to capture everyday life in Palestine, as seen in his photographs of women grinding wheat outside of a building or a priest praying in a grotto in Jerusalem. He also documented the lives of workers involved in his infrastructure projects.

He was inspired by Palestinian photographer Khalil Ra'd, whose studio he visited in Jerusalem.

The engineer also worked for the American company Standard Oil, which explored the area for oil deposits even before the war.

The company eventually ran into conflict with the British Mandate, which controlled Palestine from 1920 to 1948. Fuleihan returned to the United States in 1924, where he worked on projects such as the Holland Tunnel and George Washington Bridge. He died in New York in 1959.

Akkasah’s collection came out of a collaboration between the collection owner Gail O'Keefe Edson, Fuleihan's granddaughter, and librarian Guy Burak from the NYU Elmer Holmes Bobst Library in New York. The photographs were loaned to the library and digitised there, while the Akkasah team researched and catalogued the digital images.

Jasmine Soliman, an archivist from Akkasah who conducted research on the photographs, said: “Fuleihan's photographs tell the story of his life and career among the Middle Eastern diaspora in the United States; beginning with his time studying alongside classmates from as far afield as Japan and the Philippines and later returning to the Levant.

"There he carved out a successful career and developed a network among leaders in Palestinian society, including Selim Ayoub and Ismail Bey el Husseini, officers of the Jerusalem Chamber of Commerce and Commercial Society of Palestine Bank.”

Currently, Akkasah has 33,000 photographs in its archive, with more 10,000 images digitised and available to the public on their website.

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Director: Jon M Chu

Starring: Constance Wu, Henry Golding, Michelle Yeon, Gemma Chan

Four stars

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Tightening the screw on rogue recruiters

The UAE overhauled the procedure to recruit housemaids and domestic workers with a law in 2017 to protect low-income labour from being exploited.

 Only recruitment companies authorised by the government are permitted as part of Tadbeer, a network of labour ministry-regulated centres.

A contract must be drawn up for domestic workers, the wages and job offer clearly stating the nature of work.

The contract stating the wages, work entailed and accommodation must be sent to the employee in their home country before they depart for the UAE.

The contract will be signed by the employer and employee when the domestic worker arrives in the UAE.

Only recruitment agencies registered with the ministry can undertake recruitment and employment applications for domestic workers.

Penalties for illegal recruitment in the UAE include fines of up to Dh100,000 and imprisonment

But agents not authorised by the government sidestep the law by illegally getting women into the country on visit visas.

Nepotism is the name of the game

Salman Khan’s father, Salim Khan, is one of Bollywood’s most legendary screenwriters. Through his partnership with co-writer Javed Akhtar, Salim is credited with having paved the path for the Indian film industry’s blockbuster format in the 1970s. Something his son now rules the roost of. More importantly, the Salim-Javed duo also created the persona of the “angry young man” for Bollywood megastar Amitabh Bachchan in the 1970s, reflecting the angst of the average Indian. In choosing to be the ordinary man’s “hero” as opposed to a thespian in new Bollywood, Salman Khan remains tightly linked to his father’s oeuvre. Thanks dad. 

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Dust and sand storms compared

Sand storm

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Dust storm

  • Particle size: Much finer, lightweight particles
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World Cup final

Who: France v Croatia
When: Sunday, July 15, 7pm (UAE)
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Asia Cup 2018 final

Who: India v Bangladesh

When: Friday, 3.30pm, Dubai International Stadium

Watch: Live on OSN Cricket HD

Abu Dhabi GP schedule

Friday: First practice - 1pm; Second practice - 5pm

Saturday: Final practice - 2pm; Qualifying - 5pm

Sunday: Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix (55 laps) - 5.10pm

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  • Priority access to new homes from participating developers
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1. Fasting

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Three ways to limit your social media use

Clinical psychologist, Dr Saliha Afridi at The Lighthouse Arabia suggests three easy things you can do every day to cut back on the time you spend online.

1. Put the social media app in a folder on the second or third screen of your phone so it has to remain a conscious decision to open, rather than something your fingers gravitate towards without consideration.

2. Schedule a time to use social media instead of consistently throughout the day. I recommend setting aside certain times of the day or week when you upload pictures or share information. 

3. Take a mental snapshot rather than a photo on your phone. Instead of sharing it with your social world, try to absorb the moment, connect with your feeling, experience the moment with all five of your senses. You will have a memory of that moment more vividly and for far longer than if you take a picture of it.

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Courtesy: Carol Glynn, founder of Conscious Finance Coaching

Brief scoreline:

Manchester United 0

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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Women’s World T20, Asia Qualifier, in Bangkok

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