Hind al-Husseini

Hind al-Husseini (1916 – 1994) was a Palestinian woman notable for rescuing 55 orphaned survivors of the Deir Yassin massacre.

Hind was born to the prominent al-Husseini family in Jerusalem, and was a cousin of the Palestinian military leader Abd al-Qader al-Husseini. She was active in several social work organizations. In the 1930s, Hind joined student unions and was a member of the Women's Solidarity Society. She completed social work courses and became headmistress of a Jerusalem girls' school. Later on in the 1940s, she became coordinator of the Arab Women's Union.

In April 1948, near the Holy Sepulcher Church, al-Husseini found a group of 55 children. One of the children explained that they have no home to return to and that they had survived the Deir Yassin Massacre where the Irgun had killed their families and torn down their homes. They had managed to reach the old town in their sleepwear - exhausted, desperate, and barefoot.

The Deir Yassin massacre took place on April 9, 1948, when around 130 fighters from the Far-right wing Zionist paramilitary groups Irgun and Lehi killed at least 107 Palestinian Arabs, including women and children, in Deir Yassin near Jerusalem.

The massacre became a pivotal event in the Arab–Israeli conflict. The killings terrorised Palestinians and enraged Arab governments who warned of retaliation: Four days after the Deir Yassin massacre, on April 13, a revenge attack on the Hadassah medical convoy in Jerusalem ended in a massacre killing 78 Jews, most of whom were medical staff. 

Al-Husseini provided the orphaned children shelter in two rooms rented by the Social Work Endeavour Society, her women’s charity. She visited daily, bringing food to the children. She was warned that her own safety may be at risk and she was advised to move the children to the Sahyoun convent. Shortly after, the rooms where the children had been were attacked.

After the ceasefire, Al-Husseini relocated the children from the convent to her grandfather's mansion. She had been born in the mansion, built by her grandfather in 1891, and renamed it the Dar al-Tifl al-Arabi (Arab Children's House). She transformed the mansion into an orphanage providing shelter to children survivors. Al-Husseini raised money from across the world. Steadily the orphanage grew to accept orphans from different villages and cities .

She then proceeded to establish a charitable society to serve the needs of orphaned and destitute Palestinian children.  This society grew in the fifties and sixties to become a prominent national educational institution, which included all levels of education; a secretarial school; an anti-illiteracy section; and a section to teach dressmaking and domestic management.

The Home of the Arab Child had its own bus, which Husseini used to ride to villages to collect orphans and bring them to her institution. At times, she would give shelter to mothers and children.

Husseini attended the University of Hamburg in Germany for three successive years and for four continuous months each year during the period 1963–65, in order to better serve her institution. 

In 1960, Husseini founded a museum of Palestinian popular culture within the Home of the Arab Children, displaying valuable antiques, traditional craft instruments, and popular embroidered dresses from various regions of Palestine. She constantly added to the museum collections.

Husseini transformed the Home of the Arab Child into a clinic to treat the wounded during the Israeli aggression of June 1967.  However, the house itself became a target and the clinic was shelled. Half of it was totally destroyed, but thankfully was rebuilt with assistance from the Norwegian Red Cross.

In 1982, the former house of the celebrated Palestinian Is‘af al-Nashashibi was bought and turned into the Is‘af al-Nashashibi Center for Culture, Arts and Literature, established as a research centre for Islamic studies and an institute of higher studies. Together with Dr. Ishaq Musa al-Husseini, Hind al-Husseini founded a library at the centre which came to include thousands of books dealing with the Arab and Islamic heritage.

Also in 1982, and with the help of the Islamic Conference Organization, Husseini founded the Hind al-Husseini College of Arts for Girls, which, in 1995, merged with Al-Quds University in Abu Dis.

In addition to her responsibilities at the Home of the Arab Child, Husseini was a member of several social and educational societies. She was a member of the board of trustees of Jerusalem University, the Maqasid Charitable Association, the Mercy to the Elderly Society, the Girl Refugee Society, and the Arab Orphan Society.

For her pioneering role in social work, Husseini was awarded several medals.

Hind al-Husseini died in Jerusalem and was buried there.

She is without doubt one of the most prominent pioneers of education and volunteer social service in Palestine and one of the most successful and effective. She devoted her entire life to the service of her people and homeland and to the care of orphans.