The Commercial Press “Habesch”

Yesterday I watched a video in which Tewfic Issa Habesch, the grandson of Tewfick Habesch, the founder of the Commercial Press in Jerusalem one hundred years ago.  In the video he explains how despite losing everything from machine to building in the western part of Jerusalem in 1948 where the press was located, his grandfather was determined to resume the work of the Commercial Press in the city. So he subsequently rented a temporary building in the New Gate of East Jerusalem until they were able to move to their own premises on the Asfahani Street, where they have been based before the 1967 war. 

Listening to Tewfic relate the achievements of the printing press, I began to reflect on my personal connection with it ever since I returned from university in the USA in 1954 and started work, at what was then Birzeit College. My father, Musa Nasir,  had introduced me to them so as to be sure we resumed our printing jobs at the Commercial Press because they were both efficient and meticulous with their work.  Issa, the son of the founder had also just returned from abroad after finishing his studies to be qualified to work with his father.  It was the Commercial Press that printed the first emboss for the ubiquitous Olive Tree Logo design of Birzeit College, which was conceived especially for the college by George Aleef, the Russian art teacher at Birzeit before 1948.  The same logo which appeared on the cover of the College Magazine “Sawt Al Kulleya” also printed by the Commercial Press in Arabic and English before 1948.  They also printed a book by my father in 1966 “Toward a Solution to the Palestinian problem: A selection of speeches and writings between 1946-1966

Having said that, and as far as Birzeit was concerned, the most outstanding job that the Commercial Press “Habesch” did was the printing of the first university diploma in Palestine granted by Birzeit University in 1976.  The logo of the Olive Tree appeared within  the name of the university, which was designed by the renowned Jerusalemite calligrapher Mohammed Siam. 

Of course I cannot but give credit to Issa’s sister Beatrice, who was always there at the Commercial Press following up on details. She was an amazing proofreader, who ensured the correct spelling and accurate typeset for printing. This was long before the digital revolution in printing had changed print.  Later, after I got married and settled in Jerusalem, I worked closely with Beatrice as the Commercial Press did all the printing jobs material for the YWCA and Rawdat el-Zuhur with whom I volunteered. I remember my uncle Labib Nasir who was the General Secretary of the YMCA, telling me that they did all their printing at the Commercial Press. In addition to our wedding invitations, which were printed at the Commercial Press, my husband Yousef Khoury also had all his official stationery for his engineering office done there.    

It is therefore with great sadness that I learnt of the decision to shut down the Commercial Press “Habesch.”  Tewfic, who is the third generation involved in running the Commercial press, and who helped modernize the printing methods of the press announced at the end of the video that the press had to shut down due to the consistent closures and crippling restrictions Palestinian Jerusalem is placed under by Israel. Its isolation from the rest of Palestine made business near impossible. I could not but shed a tear. 

It has become very clear that the Israeli measures,  against the indigenous Jerusalemites is to make their daily lives unbearable and near unlivable.  It was shortly after the June 1967 war that Israel illegally annexed East Jerusalem and claimed the united Jerusalem as the eternal capital of Israel. Despite the fact that the United Nations considered this act as illegal,  Israel established a new reality by its actions on the ground.  It imposed very high taxes and confiscated property when people were not able, or refused to pay .  And of course the situation became worse for the people of Jerusalem when after the Oslo agreement, Israel sealed off Jerusalem, whereupon Palestinians from outside the city could no longer move freely in or out of the city, which had been the centre of life, culture, shopping and medical services for all Palestinians.  Military barriers and checkpoints were placed at the entrances of the city and permits were only granted to few people and for special purposes. 

With determination the Jerusalem institutions have been doing everything possible to keep going and to help people stay put.  Cultural events, and musical programs have been  especially important to keep the Palestinian voice heard in Jerusalem and to help in the “Sumud” of the people .  However Israel continues to enforce new and innovative measures on the Palestinian Jerusalem institutions.  We all remember how the Orient House was the first institution to be shut down, followed by the Chamber of Commerce.  And the most recent victims of this policy were  the Palestinian TV as well as the Palestinian Education Department, not withstanding  the continuous harassment of the governor and the minister of the Jerusalem affairs. 

Undoubtedly all those measures and restrictions have posed a lot of difficulties on the Palestinian Jerusalem institutions in particular, and community at large. It is very clear that the decision to close down the business of the Commercial Press “Habesch” was not an easy decision, as all options have been exhausted.   Many blessings on this institution that has maintained its professional integrity for the last 100 years despite the relentless onslaught on the city.