Suad Amiry ( ar, سعاد العامري) (born 1951) is an author and architect living in the

West Bank The West Bank ( ar, الضفة الغربية, translit=aḍ-Ḍiffah al-Ġarbiyyah; he, הגדה המערבית, translit=HaGadah HaMaʽaravit, also referred to by some Israelis as ) is a landlocked territory near the coast of the Mediter ...

city of

Ramallah Ramallah ( , ; ar, رام الله, , God's Height) is a Palestinian city in the central West Bank that serves as the ''de facto'' administrative capital of the State of Palestine. It is situated on the Judaean Mountains, north of Jerusale ...

Education

She studied architecture at the

American University of Beirut The American University of Beirut (AUB) ( ar, الجامعة الأميركية في بيروت) is a private, non-sectarian, and independent university chartered in New York with its campus in Beirut, Lebanon. AUB is governed by a private, aut ...

, the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

, and the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

. Her parents went from

Palestine __NOTOC__ Palestine may refer to: * State of Palestine, a state in Western Asia * Palestine (region), a geographic region in Western Asia * Palestinian territories, territories occupied by Israel since 1967, namely the West Bank (including East ...

Amman, Jordan Amman (; ar, عَمَّان, ' ; Ammonite: 𐤓𐤁𐤕 𐤏𐤌𐤍 ''Rabat ʻAmān'') is the capital and largest city of Jordan, and the country's economic, political, and cultural center. With a population of 4,061,150 as of 2021, Amman is ...

. She was brought up there and went to

Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to the north and east and Israel to the south, while Cyprus li ...

's capital of

Beirut Beirut, french: Beyrouth is the capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, which makes it the third-largest city in the Levant region. The city is situated on a peninsula at the midpoint o ...

to study

architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and constructing building ...

Personal life

When she returned to Ramallah as a tourist in 1981, she met

Salim Tamari Salim Tamari ( ar, سليم تماري; born 1945), is a Palestinian sociologist who is the director of the Institute of Palestine Studies and an adjunct professor at the Center for Contemporary Arab Studies at Georgetown University. Rashid Khalid ...

, whom she married later, and stayed.

Career

Her book ''Sharon and My Mother-in-Law'' has been translated into 19 languages, the last one in Arabic, which was a bestseller in France, and was awarded in 2004 the prestigious

Viareggio Prize The Viareggio Prize ( it, Premio Viareggio, italic=no or ) is an Italian literary prize, first awarded in 1930. Named after the Tuscan city of Viareggio, it was conceived by three friends, , Carlo Salsa and Leonida Rèpaci, to rival the Milanese ...

in Italy together with Italo-Israeli Manuela Dviri, a journalist, playwright, and writer whose son was killed by a

Hezbollah Hezbollah (; ar, حزب الله ', , also transliterated Hizbullah or Hizballah, among others) is a Lebanese Shia Islamist political party and militant group, led by its Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah since 1992. Hezbollah's parami ...

rocket during a confrontation while he was serving in the

Israeli Army The Israel Defense Forces (IDF; he, צְבָא הַהֲגָנָה לְיִשְׂרָאֵל , ), alternatively referred to by the Hebrew-language acronym (), is the national military of the State of Israel. It consists of three service branc ...

. From 1991 to 1993 Amiry was a member of a Palestinian peace delegation in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

She is engaged in some major peace initiatives of Palestinian and Israeli women. From 1994 to 1996 she was the Assistant Deputy Minister and Director General of the

Palestinian Authority The Palestinian National Authority (PA or PNA; ar, السلطة الوطنية الفلسطينية '), commonly known as the Palestinian Authority and officially the State of Palestine,

's Ministry of Culture. She is Director and founder of the Riwaq Centre for Architectural Conservation, the center was founded in 1991; the first of its kind to work on the rehabilitation and protection of architectural heritage in Palestine. Amiry was a member of staff at

Birzeit University Birzeit University (BZU; ar, جامعة بيرزيت) is a public university in the West Bank, in the State of Palestine, registered by the Palestinian Ministry of Social Affairs as charitable organization. It is accredited by the Palestinian Mi ...

until 1991,http://www.birzeit.edu/anouncements/news-d?news_id=189332 since then she has worked for Riwaq where she is the director. She was appointed as a vice-chairperson of the Board of Trustees of Birzeit University in 2006.

Riwaq

One of Riwaq's first projects was the compilation of a registry of buildings of significant historical value in Palestine. Completed in 2004, it listed 50,000 buildings, around half of which were abandoned. In 2001 Riwaq launched a ten year program of job creation through conservation (''tashgheel''). Workers were trained in the use of traditional materials and techniques. In 2005 they launched the 50 villages project restoring public spaces and involving villagers in renovating their own properties. Riwaq has also done important work on the so-called "

throne village Throne villages ( ar, قرى الكراسي Arabic transliteration: ''qura al-karasi''; singular ''qaryat al-kursi'') were villages in the central mountain areas of Palestine (today making up the modern-day West Bank) that served as seats of politi ...

s" (''qura al-karasi''), the centres of Ottoman tax districts.Ross. p.114

Books

Space, Kinship and Gender: The Social Dimension of Peasant Architecture in Palestine

University of Edinburgh Press Edinburgh University Press is a scholarly publisher of academic books and journals, based in Edinburgh, Scotland. History Edinburgh University Press was founded in the 1940s and became a wholly owned subsidiary of the University of Edinburgh ...

(1987) * The Palestinian Village Home. British Museum Press. (1989) with Vera Tamari * Traditional Floor Tiles in Palestine. Riwaq monograph. (2000) * Earthquake in April.

Institute of Palestine Studies The Institute for Palestine Studies (IPS) is the oldest independent nonprofit public service research institute in the Arab world. It was established and incorporated in Beirut, Lebanon, in 1963 and has since served as a model for other such ins ...

. (2003)
Sharon and My Mother-in-Law : Ramallah Diaries

Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group Random House is an American book publisher and the largest general-interest paperback publisher in the world. The company has several independently managed subsidiaries around the world. It is part of Penguin Random House, which is owned by Germ ...

(2005) * Nothing to Lose but Your Life: An 18-Hour Journey with Murad. (Paperback)

Bloomsbury Qatar Foundation Publishing Hamad Bin Khalifa University Press (HBKU Press) is a publishing house based in Doha, Qatar. The press was initially managed by Bloomsbury Publishing PLC and was founded as Bloomsbury Qatar Foundation Publishing (BQFP) in 2008 until its transition in ...

(2010) * Menopausal Palestine: Women at the Edge. Women Unlimited. (2010) * Golda Slept Here.

Hamad Bin Khalifa University Press Hamad Bin Khalifa University Press (HBKU Press) is a publishing house based in Doha, Qatar. The press was initially managed by Bloomsbury Publishing PLC and was founded as Bloomsbury Qatar Foundation Publishing (BQFP) in 2008 until its transition in ...

. (2014) * My Damascus. Olive Branch Press. (2021 - Italian edition 2017)

References

External links

Riwaq Centre for Architectural ConservationBirzeit University
* Radio Interview
Recording
from

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC' ...

Woman's Hour ''Woman's Hour'' is a radio magazine programme broadcast in the United Kingdom on the BBC Light Programme, BBC Radio 2, and later BBC Radio 4. It has been on the air since 1946. History Created by Norman Collins and originally presented by A ...

* Visit to the Palestine Center (Washington DC) for a talk and book signing. Read th
transcript online
o
watch the video of her talk
{{DEFAULTSORT:Amiry, Suad 1951 births Living people People from Ramallah Birzeit University faculty Palestinian memoirists American University of Beirut alumni Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Women architects Palestinian architects Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning alumni Palestinian women architects Women memoirists Palestine ethnographers