Journey From a Palestinian Refugee Camp to America
Jamal Kanj is an author, historian, and columnist whose work is rooted in the Palestinian experience and connected to wider questions of history, justice, identity, and belonging.
His writing has appeared in publications including The Gulf Daily News, San Diego Union Tribune, Middle East Monitor, Palestine Chronicle, CounterPunch, and Al Mayadeen English. He is also available for interviews, public conversations, panels, and educational events.
Read the Full Biography
Jamal Kanj is an author, columnist, and engineer whose work combines lived experience, Palestinian history, and political analysis.
He was born in a Palestinian refugee camp in northern Lebanon, ten years after the creation of the State of Israel. He moved to the United States in late 1977 and have been active in various local and national political organizations. He is the co-founder of the Middle East Cultural and Information Center in San Diego (karamanow.org) and served as Secretary General of the U.S. chapter of a national student union.
For many years, He wrote a weekly opinion column for a newspaper, and my work has been published on several websites. He writes and speaks on the question of Palestine. He has a Ph.D. in Leadership and Executive Management, an MBA in Global Management, as well as a B.S. in Civil Engineering. He is a registered professional engineer in California and have worked overseas in the oil industry on cross-country pipeline projects, as well as in water and wastewater infrastructure management in San Diego, California.
He lived through the tumultuous years when the PLO took control of the refugee camps in 1969 and endured the most intense periods of the Lebanese Civil War. At age 11, he ran away from home to join the PLO. He survived numerous Israeli raids on the camp, narrowly escaped death in an airstrike in 1972, and later survived serious head injuries in Jerusalem in 1996. In 1997, he worked with the United Nations in Gaza.
The Palestinian refugee camp where I grew up was completely destroyed in the summer of 2007.
Recognition & Honors
In 1997, the City of San Diego officially proclaimed “Jamal Kanj Day” in recognition of his many years of service as a Senior Civil Engineer and his contribution to the city’s infrastructure.
The proclamation, signed by Mayor Susan Golding, celebrates Jamal’s professional excellence and his ongoing commitment to public service both in the United States and abroad.
