Issa El-Issa

Issa Daoud El-Issa (Arabic: ﻋﻴﺴﻰ ﺩﺍﻭﺩ ﺍﻟﻌﻴﺴﻰ‎‎, his surname also spelt al Issa and Elissa) was a Palestinian Christian poet and journalist. With his cousin Yousef El-Issa, he founded and edited the biweekly newspaper Filastin in 1911, based in his hometown of Jaffa. Filastin became one of the most prominent and long running in the country at the time, was dedicated to Arab Nationalism, Palestinian Nationalism and the cause of the Arab Orthodox in their struggle with the Greek-Orthodox Patriarchate in Jerusalem. He was passionately opposed to Zionism and Jewish immigration to Palestine.

Exiled during World War I, al-Issa became chief of the royal court in Damascus during King Faisal's government. During that time, he required the publishers of Damascus-based newspapers to dedicate half of their newspaper columns to the Palestinian cause as perquisite to receiving their monthly salaries. Al-Issa was elected to the 7th Congress of the Arab Executive Committee (AEC) in June 1928 as a representative of Jaffa. During his time on the committee, he joined the National Defense Party, the opposition to Hajj Amin al-Husayni's sympathizers on the AEC. Al-Issa hosted several Arab Christian-Orthodox conferences in Mandatory Palestine and Transjordan. His son Raja al-Issa succeeded him as the publisher of Filastin. On 29 June 1950, al-Issa died in Beirut, Lebanon. Issa once experienced an assassination attempt in August 1936.

Issa al Issa with his child in Jaffa

Issa El-Issa with King Ali of Hejaz 1921, port of Jaffa