Women From The Past: Sulafa Hassan Taher Hijjawi
CrossFireArabia- July 5, 2026
Creative Palestinian Women
Poet and Researcher Sulafa Hassan Taher Hijjawi was a formidable Palestinian woman born in Nablus in 1934. She received her secondary education at Al-Aishiya School, then traveled with her family to Iraq, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in English Literature from the University of Baghdad in 1956.
However, she made a complete turnaround in 1987 and received a MA degree in Political Science.
She taught Political Science at the University of Baghdad for several years before resigning to join the Palestinian National Leadership institutions in Tunisia, where she became a political advisor to President Yasser Arafat.
After graduating, she married the Iraqi writer and poet Kadhim Jawad and became involved in Iraqi cultural life during the 1960s, working in research and translation.
She began her literary career early, publishing her poems in the Lebanese magazine “Al-Adab” (Literature).
Her activities include:
- Editor of the Journal of the Center for Palestinian Studies, published by the College of Political Science at the University of Baghdad.
- Joining the ranks of the Palestinian National Liberation Movement (Fatah) in 1968.
- She co-founded the Palestinian Writers Union with the writer Jabra Ibrahim Jabra.
- She established a branch of the General Union of Palestinian Women in Baghdad.
- She represented the General Union of Writers and Journalists at the General Union of Journalists.
- She was a member of the General Secretariat of the General Union of Palestinian Writers and Journalists.
- She has been the Director of the Palestinian Planning Center since its establishment in 1991.
Her works include:
- Palestinian Songs – a collection of poems.
- Ships of Departure – a collection of poems.
- A Dream, Poetry for Children – a collection of poems.
- Soviet Jews – a study of social reality.
- On the Political History of Palestine – Palestine the Place.
Her translations include:
- Poetry of Resistance in Occupied Palestine
- Lorca: The Lyre of Granada
- The Creative Experience – a study in modern literature.
- Edgar Alan Poe – His Life and Works
- What is Criticism? – a collection of philosophical essays.
- Zionist Conceptions of Return
- Friends – a Japanese novel for young adults.
