BFA

On May 15, 2025, a historic archive chronicling extensive Palestinian land ownership before the 1948 Nakba was unveiled at the National Press Club in Washington, DC. The event, co-sponsored by the Bseiso Family Archive (BFA) and the Arab Center Washington DC (ACW), significantly contributed to preserving Palestinian heritage. Compiled by Adel Bseiso, grandson of prominent southern Palestinian landowner and businessman Mahrous Mustafa Bseiso, the BFA represents the largest authenticated collection of Palestinian land ownership documents held by a single family. Adel Bseiso, the archive's founder and curator, opened the event with a keynote presentation, setting the stage for a panel discussion moderated by ACW Executive Director Khalil E. Jahshan.
The panel explored the broader historical and legal context of the Nakba, as well as the lasting political and global policy implications of Palestinian displacement. Panelists included Hanna Alshaikh, ACW's Palestine Project Coordinator and a PhD candidate at Harvard; Dr. Samah Elhajibrahim, a political science lecturer; and Jonathan Kuttab, a human rights lawyer and ACW Non-Resident Fellow. During the event, Adel Bseiso unveiled the archive and recounted the compelling story of his family's transformation of desert land around Beersheba into thriving farmland, gardens, and mills in the early 20th century.