Success stories of Palestinian achievers from all over the world

Ghada Karmi

Personal Info

  • Country of residence: Antarctica
  • Gender: Female
  • Born in: 1939
  • Age: 82
  • Curriculum vitae :

Information

Ghada Karmi is a Palestinian doctor of medicine, author and academic. She writes frequently on Palestinian issues in newspapers and magazines, including The Guardian, The Nation and Journal of Palestine Studies. She is a fellow and lecturer at the Institute of Arab & Islamic studies at Exeter University.

Karmi was born in Jerusalem, and in her 2002 autobiography, In Search of Fatima: A Palestinian Story, she describes growing up in the Jerusalem neighborhood of Katamon, with its mixture of Palestinian Christians and Muslims. Among the family friends and neighbors was Khalil al-Sakakini and his family. With her family she was forced to flee in the 1948 Nakba. The family eventually settled in the neighborhood of Golders Green, in London, England, where her father, Hasan Sa'id Karmi, worked for the BBC Arabic service.

She studied and became a doctor of medicine, graduating from the University of Bristol in 1964. Initially Karmi practiced as a physician, specializing in the health and social conditions of ethnic minorities, migrants and asylum seekers. Since 1972 she has been politically active for the Palestinian cause and gained a doctorate in the history of Arabic medicine from London University.

In 1998 she visited her childhood home in Katamon for the first time since 1948.

She is an associate fellow at the Royal Institute of International Affairs in London, and a visiting professor at London Metropolitan University. She is also vice-chair of the Council for Arab-British Understanding (CAABU).

She delivered the Edward Said Memorial lecture at the University of Adelaide, Australia in October, 2007.

Achievements and Awards

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