⁨⁨Al-Hayat⁩ - ⁨الحياة⁩⁩

Al-Hayat (Life) was the first Arabic-language morning newspaper, published in Jerusalem beginning in 1930; it described itself as “a daily political, literary, social, economic, and scientific newspaper.” It was printed at its own printing press, the Al-Hayat Press, in the Musrara neighborhood near the Old City of Jerusalem. The paper’s opening editorial stated that “this is a pure and immaculate newspaper, which we present to the nation to which we have the honor of belonging. We consider it our duty to work on this newspaper and to strive for its success, in hopes of making it a faithful record of the nation’s actions and a true mirror of its aspirations.” A number of intellectuals regularly wrote for al-Hayat, including the writer Muhammad Rafiq al-Husseini, who became the Minister of Education under Jordanian king Hussein ibn Ali. The newspaper worked continuously to improve its quality, especially by adding pictures and cable messages, and by diversifying the subjects it covered.