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Amin Saleh Majaj | |
|---|---|
أمين المجاج | |
| Titular Mayor of East Jerusalem | |
| In office 1994 – 2 January 1999 | |
| Preceded by | Ruhi al-Khatib |
| Succeeded by | Zaki Al-Ghul |
| Member of theJordanian Parliament | |
| In office 1967–1988 | |
| Ministry of Health (Jordan) | |
| In office 1957–1964 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1921-03-21)21 March 1921 Ramallah, Palestine |
| Died | 2 January 1999(1999-01-02) (aged 77) |
| Alma mater | American University of Beirut;University of London |
| Occupation | Physician, Public Servant |
Amin Saleh Majaj (Arabic:أمين المجاج,Āmeen Majjaj; 21 March 1921,Ramallah[1] – 2 January 1999,East Jerusalem)[2] was a titular mayor ofJerusalem, formerly the neighborhoods ofEast Jerusalem that were occupied and annexed byJordan during the years 1949–1967, and later occupied and annexed byIsrael in theSix-Day War.
Al-Majaj held the position from 1994 to his death[3] after MayorRuhi al-Khatib died on 5 July 1994. A year later Jordanian businessmanZaki Al-Ghul was selected as successor to this position,[2] which does not entail direct responsibility for municipal services. The position is not recognized by Israel.
Amin Majaj was a physician and a public servant. In the late 1940s and 1950s he made detailed research intomalnutrition and its attendant diseases among children in thePalestinian refugee camps, and devised treatments for them.
Born in Ramallah in 1921 to a well knownChristian family that belonged to theAnglican Episcopal Church, Majaj was educated atSt George's High School in Jerusalem (part of theAnglican bishopric), going on to theAmerican University of Beirut in 1945 and to theUniversity of London, where he studiedmedicine, specialising in child health.
Back in Jordan, Majaj was confronted by a new and challenging situation. There were now half a million refugees from Palestine in Jordanian camps, kept alive byUNRWA rations. Many children were dying fromgastroenteritis and deficiency diseases.
Majaj realised that malnutrition among mothers was makingbreastfeeding ineffective and that lack of animal protein in the rations was the cause ofiron-deficiency anemia, andprotein deficiency resulting in diseases such askwashiorkor. The remedy, a diet rich in animal proteins andvitamin B12 injections, was easier to recommend than to implement.
His research continued until the children's wards in theAugusta Victoria Hospital in Jerusalem, where Majaj worked as head of thepaediatrics department from 1950 to 1991, sustained a direct hit when the Israelis invaded the West Bank during the 1967 war.
Majaj published the results of his research in theAmerican Journal of Clinical Nutrition in 1966, in the Gazette of the Egyptian Paediatric Association of 1960 and in British and German medical journals. He was paediatrician at the Makased Islamic Hospital in Jerusalem from 1967 to 1982 (director from 1977), as well as on the board of hospitals inGaza andNablus.
He was on the Jerusalem municipal council from 1950 and at the time of his death was acting mayor of East Jerusalem. He also served as a member of theJordanian parliament from 1967 to 1988, and as Minister of Health in 1957 and in 1964. Among his many other responsibilities he took over direction ofMusa Alami's Arab Development Society inJericho, which took boys out of Palestinian refugee camps to teach them agricultural and other skills.
In 1947 he married Betty Dagher from Lebanon, who was the director of the Princess Basma Centre for Disabled Children in Jerusalem.
Amin Majaj, physician: born Ramallah, Palestine 21 March 1921; married 1947 Betty Dagher (one son, three daughters); died Jerusalem 2 January 1999.
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Titular Mayor of East Jerusalem 1994–1999 | Succeeded by |