Palestinian families

A Palestinian family is a large community of extended family members with a lineage that can be traced to ancestors who resided in Palestine. Socially, these families are divided according Segmentary lines, and socio-spatial associations as city dwellers, villagers and nomads. The elites, traditionally known as the notables (known in Arabic as a'yan, wujaha', zu'ama), headed these families, and specialized in specific occupations. For example, urban elites traditionally made of city-dwelling merchants (tujjar), clerics ('ulema), ashraf, military officers, and governmental functionaries, the rural notability was composed of rural sheikhs, village or clan mukhtars.^[1]

There are numerous prominent Palestinian families who have contributed to the society, politics and economy of historical Palestine. Usage of the term Palestinian tribe is relatively uncommon and has differed depending on context.^[2]

In Palestinian rural society and in many urban areas, a married woman joins her husband's family and her children are considered part of his lineage, forming the father's clan, while in case of divorce, the wife typically returns to her family but the children stay with the husband's family name.^[3]

Palestinian last names usually are named after the oldest grandfather, an adjective of the family or the place where the family is from.^[2] More modern groups however are verifiable and include Alhussan, the Dabis family, the Abu hejleh family, the Abu Akleh family, the Kanaan family, the Awad family, the Shehadeh family, the Taha family, the Zaaroub family, the Atrash family, the Botros family, the Daraghmeh family, the Mana'a family, the Zidan family, the Jouda family, the Darwish family, the Dweikat family, the Barakat family, the Natsheh family, the Aljabari family, the Khader family, the Jacir family, the saba family, the Adwan family, the diab family, the Khalife family, the abu el hawa family, the haddad family, the Abu-Warda family, the Nashashibi family, the Shakhsheer family, the Masri family, the Deeb family, the Tamimi family, Shrem family, the Najjar family, the Odeh family, Shaheen family, Al-Khalil family, Radwan dynasty, Al-Zeitawi family, Abu Ghosh clan, Doghmush clan, Douaihy family, Hilles clan, Jarrar family, Negev Bedouins, the Jayyusi family, Al-Ghunaim, the Al-Risheq family and The Renno Family.^[4][5][6][7]

Prominent Palestinian families sometimes assigned specific roles to members of their community. For example, Khalidi and Alami clan members held senior administrative positions in society.^[8] One of the oldest and biggest families in Palestine is the Barghouti family with over 2.65 million family members with the majority spread over seven countries. The Barghouti family claims to have ancestral roots in Spain though this has not been independently confirmed.

Palestinian families are often geographically localized. For example, in the Tulkarm Subdistrict of Mandatory Palestine, it included elite families like Jayyusis (from Tulkarm, Kur, Qalansuwa and Jaljuliya), Hajj Ibrahims (Tulkarm), Hamdallas (‘Anabta), Shantis (Qalqiliya), Abu Hijlas (Deir Istiya) and others.^[1]

The Christian Palestinians are a significant community of Palestine, while the majority of them have immigrated to Latin America and other western countries, many of the most socioeconomically influential families in Palestine have been Christian.

The majority of Christian Palestinians share the same last names as Muslim Palestinians, some of the most common Palestinian Christian family names include Khoury, Haddad, Shehada.

The El-Issa family, from Jaffa, are one of the most well known families due to their numerous contributions to Palestinian journalism in the 20th century. Their first publication known as Al-Asma'i magazine dates back to 1908, and the most known one the Falastin newspaper, established in 1911.

Another prominent well-to-do Greek Orthodox family, the Abu-Ezam family, were of the wealthiest business families in Ramla.^[6][7] The Abu-Ezam family owned and operated multiple businesses that ranged from the manufacturing of halva, a sweet confection popular in the Levant, to construction materials.

The Jarrar family (Arabic: جرار) is a prominent Palestinian family. Migrating from Balqa, Transjordan to Marj Ibn Amer in 1670, they rose to economic prominence in Sanjak Jenin by the 19th century.^[9] They controlled key agricultural production in the region and fortified their political power with a stronghold in Sanur. With conflicts with Acre's governors and the Tuqan family, their influence waned after the destruction of their stronghold in 1830.^[10] Tawfiq al-Jarrar remained influential in Haifa's political and economic circles.^[11]

The Makhamra family, prominent in Yatta and neighboring localities in the southern Hebron Hills, claims descent from a Jewish tribe expelled from Khaybar, in the Arabian Peninsula.^[12] According to their tradition, their ancestor, Muheimar, a Jew, conquered the village centuries ago. There are also reports of the clan maintaining Jewish customs, including lighting candles during Hanukkah and abstaining from camel meat, which is prevalent in the area. While some scholars accept their account of expulsion from Khaybar, others propose they are remnants of an ancient Jewish population in the area. According to one theory, the name Makhamra means "winemakers" in Palestinian Arabic, a profession forbidden in Islam.^{[13][14][15][16]}

The Meo family are known for their shop at Bab al-Khalil.^[17]

Online magazine This Week in Palestine^[18] is published by Sani Meo.

From 1917 to 1948, Britain ruled Palestine and co-opted Gazan families, appointing members of the families to local office. Several mukhtars (family headmen) interviewed in 2007 attributed their position to the initial appointment by the British.^[19] In Gaza, there are still dozens of influential families that function as clans. These families derive their influence from overseeing businesses and have the allegiance of hundreds to thousands of relatives.^[20]

Individual households which form families and extended clans made up 75 percent of Gaza’s population in 2007. The remaining 25 percent of the population were Bedouin and are classified differently.^[19]

• Al-Husayni family