Personal Info
- Country of residence: Australia
Information
Jamil Issa Hashweh 27/11/ 1903 – 07 /1982 Jamil Issa Hashweh was born in Gaza on November 27, 1903. He was the second child born to Issa Hanna Hashweh and Shafiqua Masaad. Jamil Hashweh grew up in a big household amongst 10 siblings- 5 brothers and 5 sisters. During the first decade of the 1900s, Beer-Sheeba, in southern Palestine was experiencing a major revival and many Gazan families were heading east to the city. Amongst them were two merchant brothers, Daoud and Issa Hashweh and their families. Jamil was barely five years old at the time. In addition to their trading activities, his father and uncle were granted influential positions in the city council. While Daoud was elected Mukhtar (head of the Christian Community), Issa was a member of the city council. During Jamil's childhood, a blinding eye disease pandemic hit the area and unfortunately Jamil was infected. Due to poor and limited medical services, he lost his eyesight. His father, Issa, decided to register him in a German boarding school (Schneller) in Jerusalem where he graduated with honors and mastered Arabic, German, and English languages. After graduation in the 1920s Jamil Hashweh was appointed as a teacher at the American School in Beer-Sheeba. This school was reputable and Jamil helped produce many successful graduates. It also belonged to the Christian and Missionary Alliance and Jamil became the First Elder of the church. He also volunteered his time as an interpreter for the American preacher and the Arab attendees. Jamil was a strong Christian believer and extremely spiritual and equally worldly and open minded. At the end of 1920s, Jamil moved to Jerusalem and set up a translation office. In 1932, Jamil established the Arab Organization for the Welfare of the Blind with his friend Sobhi Al Dajani. A AUB Graduate himself, Al Dajani and Jamil devoted themselves and their services to the blind cause. The organization was located on Jaffa Gate on the border between East and West Jerusalem on Jaffa Road. The aim of the organization was to enhance and improve the lives of the blind by providing manufacturing jobs to them. The workers made wooden brushes and brooms as well as cane wood stools in the factories. Most of the equipment was designed by Jamil Hashweh himself. Due to the 1948 war, they were forced to flee and leave all their assets behind. They restarted from the ground up again in 1950 as the Arab Blind Organization, on Via Dolorosa Street in Jerusalem, where Jamil was the Managing Director and Executive Board Secretary until 1964. During this period, Jamil expanded and established two more branches of the Arab Blind Organization. One was located in Hebron in the West Bank and the other in Amman, Jordan. Something worth mentioning is Jamil Hashweh took out personal loans, without collateral, to improve the Arab Organization for the Welfare of the Blind before 1948, and paid every cent back after 1950- this was unheard of in times of war.
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