History

Men from the town of Ramallah, Palestine, leaving their families behind, started arriving in New York about the 1900s. They came with one purpose in mind; to work for a few years, save money, and return to their families in Ramallah. The long separation of the families during World War II and Arab-Israeli War of 1948 put an end to the transient emigration, and menfolks began to bring their families with them and settle permanently in the United States. By 1952, there were over 3,000 emigrants from Ramallah who were related to each other by blood or marriage and living in various cities of the United States.

To link these Ramallah emigrants together, six of their sons, attending Wayne State University in Detroit, saw the need to publish a magazine which they called Hathihe Ramallah. Translated it means "This is Ramallah". The magazine flourished over the years and is still being published with 4,000 circulation.

In 1959, the Staff of the Magazine again saw the need to bind the Ramallah Community together socially and culturally. Thus, at their invitation, the first Convention of the Ramallah people was held in September 1959 in Detroit. It was attended by representatives from the Ramallah Communities in the various cities.

Two important events in the history of the Ramallah people did evolve at the Convention. One was the founding of the American Federation of Ramallah, Palestine. The second was the sponsoring, by the Federation, of an annual convention for the Ramallah people.

The Federation brought into focus to the Ramallah people the fact that, being all related to each other, they must look upon themselves as one large, united family which is part of the larger community of Palestinian-Arabs in America. Maximum effort is always exerted to keep the Federation united, because through this the Ramallah People can be strong enough to serve their Federation, their hometown Ramallah, and their native and adopted countries of Palestine and the United States, respectively. For this reason, the logo, "THE UNITY OF THE RAMALLAH FAMILY", was adopted.