Raja Hassan Abu ‘Amasha was a Palestinian activist known for her role in student and nationalist movements during the early stages of the Palestinian struggle. She was killed at the age of 17 for leading a protest in Jerusalem. Some reports suggest her death occurred during an attack on either the Turkish or British embassy, marking her as the first female martyr of the Jordanian student movement. Raja was born in 1938 in Salama near Jaffa. Her life was disrupted by the Nakba in 1948, forcing her family into refugee status in Aqabat Jaber camp near Jericho. Despite this, she completed her education in Jericho and later graduated from Al Mamounia School in Jerusalem in 1952. During the foundational events of the Nakba in 1948, approximately half of Palestine's predominantly Arab population, or around 750,000 people, were expelled from their homes or made to flee through various violent means, at first by Zionist paramilitaries, and after the establishment of the State of Israel, by its military. Dozens of massacres targeted Palestinian Arabs and over 500 Arab-majority towns, villages, and urban neighborhoods were depopulated, with many of these being either completely destroyed or repopulated by Jews and given new Hebrew names. Israel employed biological warfare against Palestinians by poisoning village wells. By the end of the war, 78% of the total land area of the former Mandatory Palestine was controlled by Israel. Raja became an active member of student and women's movements in the West Bank, playing a significant role in establishing the General Union of Palestinian Students. She participated in national protests, particularly opposing the Baghdad Pact, a Western-backed alliance seen as a threat to Arab independence. On December 19, 1955, she led a protest against the pact in Jerusalem, where she was killed by Israeli forces at the age of 17. Raja was also known for her patriotic poetry, prose, and articles on the Palestinian cause and the struggles of women, some of which were published in Jordanian newspapers. In recognition of her legacy, a clinic in the Yarmouk Camp for Palestinian refugees is named in her honor. Copied and paraphrased from: “Raja Abu 'Amasha.” Wikipedia. (Accessed January 8, 2025). “Nakba.” Wikipedia. (Accessed January 8, 2025). “Raja Abu Amasha.” All 4 Palestine. (Accessed January 8, 2025).

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