Personal Info
- Country of residence: Palestine
Information
Aziz Mahmoud Al-Assa was a child who was drawn to newspaper clippings on the way to school. He eagerly read everything, even what was written on cigarette packets and thrown wrappers. Despite growing up to illiterate parents and in a house devoid of books and pens, he established a library for his descendants that included more than 8,000 books, including Dozens of articles written and edited by him.
Al-Assa studied and taught physics, but after his retirement in 2013, he turned to writing and writing about religion, history, culture, and literary criticism. He told Al-Jazeera Net, “I was born to read and write from a young age, and when I mastered physics, I mastered everything, as it is the science of thinking and logic, and upon my retirement, I picked up the pen after chalk.” She had a complex scientific and literary personality.”
The effect of "Ubaidiya"
The homeland of the stick had a great impact on his personality. He was born in 1955 in the village of Al-Ubaidiya, southeast of Jerusalem, and studied in its schools, which are known for their direct and clear views of Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Old City, and for their monuments, some of which preceded the emergence of Islam.
“My elderly father used to always tell me about Jerusalem, as Ubaidiya was linked administratively and historically to it, until the occupation separated them with its wall,” Al-Assa says as he looks out the window of his house at the scene that he brags about to his friends from Palestine and abroad, as he told us.
Science and education
Aziz Al-Assa received a scholarship to study physics in Baghdad in 1975, then returned 4 years later to Palestine, to work as a teacher in the city of Jericho, and in 1980 he began his teaching journey in Jerusalem, commissioned by Jerusalemite educators Husni Al-Ashhab and Nihad Abu Gharbiyeh, where he taught first at the Coptic School, then The Ibrahimi College, where the physics laboratory was established.
In 1985, Al-Assa moved to Jordan to obtain a master’s degree in “electronics” and a higher diploma in educational qualification from the University of Jordan. He also taught at Al-Qadisiyah College, the National Orthodox School, and Al-Quds College, and worked as a lecturer (part-time) at the University of Jordan.
Retirement and the turning point
After Jordan, Aziz Al-Assa returned to teaching at the Ibrahimiyya College in Jerusalem in 1992. He also worked as a lecturer at Al-Quds Open University and Palestinian government schools in the city of Bethlehem. He headed the Basic Education Department in the Palestinian Ministry of Education until 1999, after which he moved to work in the Palestinian Ministry of Economy. , specifically in the General Administration of Stamping and Control of Precious Metals. At the beginning of 2013, he retired from work, and this marked a new turning point in his life.
The year 2013 was not the beginning of the era of journalistic writing. Since 1981, he has written in some Palestinian newspapers such as Al-Manar and Al-Mithaq, and after 34 years of teaching, he began publishing dozens of articles annually - most of them about Jerusalem - in several newspapers and magazines, most notably Al-Quds newspaper, in which he published more than 370 articles. An article, Al-Isra magazines, Palestinian papers, and Palestinian affairs.
Among the most prominent peer-reviewed papers and articles written by Al-Assa were: “The Ottomans and the Al-Aqsa Mosque in the 16th Century in Light of the Records of the Jerusalem Sharia Court,” “Marsaba Monastery, the Vanguard of Jerusalemite Monasteries,” “Manuscripts of Islamic Libraries in Jerusalem,” and “Endowments in Jerusalem as a Civilization.” Identity, the libraries of the Atomic Endowment in Al-Quds Al-Khalidiya as a model,” and “Jerusalem people facing Judaization...the concerns and issues of Muslim worshipers.”
Dozens of books written and edited
In addition to the articles, Al-Assa produced more than 20 books, between writing and editing. His first book was “Palestinians of 1948, Consensus on the Homeland, Disagreement on Nomenclature.” He participated with academic Imad Al-Khatib in writing the book “Jerusalem People Who Made History.” He also wrote other books, including “Jerusalem People Who Made History.” Antoun Al-Shamali, poet, writer, and critic,” “Curator of the Pulpit,” “Jerusalem Manuscripts and Libraries, Heritage of a Nation and Identity of a People,” “Hassan Mustafa, Life Experience,” and “Flavours from the Expanse of Al-Aqsa.”
Close relationship with the platform secretary
Al-Assa wrote the book “The Secretary of the Pulpit” in 2020 (published in 10 languages) about the preacher of Al-Aqsa Mosque and the head of the Supreme Islamic Council, Ikrima Sabri, where they had a close relationship, which Al-Assa describes, saying, “Not a day goes by without us talking.”
In 2016, Sheikh Sabri joined the ranks of the Supreme Islamic Council in Jerusalem, where he wrote many articles in the “Voice of the Council” newsletter, and edited many books issued by the academic body’s conferences between 2017 and 2022, most notably the book “Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa, a Step in the Right Direction.” ", and "The legitimate and legal rights of the Jerusalem Endowments."
Integration into Jerusalem institutions
Al-Asa’s giving increased during the Corona pandemic, and he participated with Sheikh Sabri in organizing more than 40 cultural events remotely under the title “Jerusalem confronts the Corona with culture and education.” He also contributed, along with others, in 2021 to the preparation of the book “The Employees Club in Jerusalem: A Biography and Journey in Word and Image,” a club in which he has headed its cultural department since 2016, and in which he organized about 150 cultural events.
Al-Assa held the position of Secretary of the Union of Charitable Societies in Jerusalem for 8 years, and participated on behalf of Jerusalem in many conferences in the Arab world, such as Morocco, Tunisia, and Jordan. In 2018, he also joined the Jerusalem Institute for Studies and Research, and worked with historian Youssef Natsheh on writing the volume “Introduction to The Jerusalem Endowment Encyclopedia, which will see the light soon.
I do not differentiate between my children and my books
The writer Al-Obaidi spoke at length about his books with passion, saying that his books are like his children, and he does not differentiate between any of them, so he masters naming them and presenting them in the best way. Al-Assa had 6 children from his wife, about whom he said, “I loved Fadi’s mother. I loved her very much. I gave birth to her, my eldest son, the apple of my eye, Fadi, in 1982, then Rania, Suhaib, Muhammad, Maab, and Wateen, and I have 19 grandchildren among them.” The man spoke to Al Jazeera Net with pride and love about his children and their specialties. Scientific research, which varied between journalism, media, information technology, and medical physics.
Before physics and writing, politics and struggle occupied a large space in Al-Assa’s life, as he was one of the active Palestinian activists and leaders during the first and second intifadas, and was subjected to arrest and harassment at times, and travel obstruction at other times.
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Achievements and Awards
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