Boullata was born in 1942 in Jerusalem where he grew up. He graduated from the Rome Fine Arts Academy and from the Corcoran Museum Art School, and now lives in Washington. He works mainly in silk screen . His compositions are based on the angular Kufi script which he uses as a representational form of art. He has had a number of personal exhibits in the United States, Kuwait, Holland, and Canada, as well as in the UK, Morocco, and Jerusalem. He participated in the French Palestinian spring exhibit at the Paris Institut du Monde Arabe, and wrote the exhibit's catalogue. In 1998, he held an exhibit at the Sakakini of the Granada Portfolio, which he donated to the Centre. He is also a member of the Sakakini’s General Assembly