Palestinian American artist

This is the thirty-second in Arab America’s series on American pathbreakers of Arab descent. The series includes personalities from entertainment, business, sports, science, academia, journalism, and politics, among other areas. Our thirty-second pathbreaker is Samia Halaby, a visual artist, activist, educator, and scholar. She was born in Jerusalem in 1936 during the British Mandate of Palestine. The daughter of Asaad Halaby and Foutonie Atallah Halaby, Samia was eleven years old when her family fled to Lebanon. Contributing writer, John Mason, depicts how in 1951 the family left Beirut to eventually settle in the U.S. Now 87, Samia has recently been outspoken in her support of Palestinians during the Israel-Gaza war.