“My Pulse Beats with the City”: Remembering Albert Aghazarian (1950–2020)

Abstract

A memorial tribute to Albert Aghazarian (1950–2020) recalling, often in his own words, how he grew up in the Old City of Jerusalem, his life-long passion for the city as a historian and activist, and his unique contribution to the defense of academic freedom at Birzeit University, including the rights of students and staff during his tenure as director of the Public Relations Office.

Notes

1 Albert Aghazarian, “West Bank: Interview,” C-SPAN, 30 January 1991, https://www.c-span.org/video/?16357-1/west-bank-interview. Thanks to Janeen Albina for alerting me to this interview.

2 See Penny Johnson, “Growing Up in Jerusalem: A Conversation with Albert Aghazarian,” Middle East Report 182 (May–June 1993). Albert's remarks in this conversation are quoted throughout this tribute.

3 Gabi Baramki, Peaceful Resistance: Building a Palestinian University under Occupation (London: Pluto Press, 2010), p. 85.

4 Birzeit University Public Relations Office, No Mercy: A Report on Army Actions at Birzeit University on November 21, 1984 (Birzeit: Birzeit University, 1985).