The Interpreter

In the 1930s, Jerusalem was a city of mounting cultural tensions, as its Jewish and Muslim inhabitants fought for control of a region at the heart of both religious traditions. Kholood Qumei’s grandmother, a Muslim, lived there with her two best friends, one Jewish and one Christian. Over the next decade, Jerusalem became increasingly segregated, with each religion claiming a different section of the city. These women rebelled in the small way they could: by swapping head coverings.“They started wearing each other’s veils, and going to the other sections of Jerusalem with their children to visit each other,” says Qumei, who graduated this year from the Whitehead School of Diplomacy and International Relations. “It’s incredible to hear about that now.”Inspired by her grandmother’s story, Qumei wrote her honors thesis on the hijab — the veil worn by many Muslim women — and its controversial reception in the Middle East today.Read more at...Seton Hall Magazine, Fall 2012.