Barham Mitri Saleh

Ibrahim Mitri Barham Saleh, Abu Mitri was born on Oct 14, 1927 in the old city of Jerusalem, to Mitri Barham Saleh and Katrina Rofa Kreitem, the first child of six siblings, the late Dumian, Mary, Hilda, Nawal and Saleh. He was raised in the Saleh house of faith and rich traditions. He attended and graduated from the Orthodox National School (Al Watanieh school) in Jerusalem. After graduating, He completed bookkeeping and typing courses and helped in the family bakery, which was founded in 1901 by his grandfather Barham Mitri Saleh.

Before the Nakba of 1948, he worked as a clerk in the Palestine Educational Department (Da3rat el Ma3aref). During the war of 1948, Ibrahim joined the National Guard where he completed his first aid education, and was appointed as the head of the “Christian Quarter First Aid Center”. Then and there, Ibrahim experienced first hand the horrific Nakba of Palestine, receiving the wounded and refugees, children, women and men of all ages, treating them, and helping them find hospitals, homes and food. From that time on, Ibrahim devoted his life in the service of his Community and fellow compatriots, be it as a leading member in the Orthodox Community & the Arab Orthodox Union Club in Jerusalem or his long career from 1950 to 1979 in the UNRWA, (United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees), first as an Investigator, then as a Team Leader in the distribution centers, after that as an Interviewer, and finally as a Registration and Distribution Officer of Jerusalem District.

After the Nakba of 1948, Ibrahim met the love of his life, the late Margaret Gergis Hazou and they married in 1950. Ibrahim and Margo lived in the Saleh family house ( also known as Dar el Baskout) in El Sahah in the Christian Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem until 1961 when they moved to Dahiet El Bareed. They were blessed with six children, Catherine, Mitri, Samira, Micheal, George and Elias. He is the father in law of Joleen Hazou, Sana Fasheh and Reem Nimri, Grandfather of Christian, Krystal, Jasmine, Mary, George, Jack and Sebastian.

From 1948 on, as a boy scout and member in the Arab Orthodox Union Club of Jerusalem, during the re-building process of the Club in Hai Elmusrareh, along with his mentor Jamil Khoury, Ibrahim found his passion, the Arab Orthodox Scout Group of the Club, and later as the troop’s Scout Head Master, he was the leading force in the growth of the Scout Group and the Club, to become the most important Orthodox

institution in Jerusalem and the surrounding cities. Throughout the years Ibrahim embodied the Scouts movement in what remained of Palestine and was instrumental in the revival, promotion and its growth in Palestine and Jordan. He organized and conducted training sessions and seminars for scout masters, the first of its kind in Palestine. His accomplishments in that field are many and noteworthy. His name, his face, his stamp and his legacy in Jerusalem and beyond will always be carried on by the those whom he trained, their children and the Club.

Outside the Club and the family, Ibrahim had another great devotion, and that is his work in the UNRWA. From early on as a young man, he experienced the agony of the refugees, their loss of their homeland and their sufferings, and became empathetic with their cause. Ibrahim went about his work with dedication and compassion of other people. He listened to their stories, acknowledged their pain and served them with love and respect. Ibrahim was liked and respected by so many people outside the Christian Community, throughout the West Bank, in many towns, in the refugee camps, and in small villages. His contribution and work in the UNRWA are also noteworthy and his memory is cherished by many he come across with. His love for Palestine and the Palestinian cause was so immense and was the driving force for his continuous giving to his community and society.

In 1979, Ibrahim and his family emigrated to Los Angeles, California, and there he followed in the family tradition and started with his brother Dumian a bakery business.

A new start, a new dawn and a new era of service and accomplishments began in the new world.

It did not take long for Ibrahim to warm up to his new life in Los Angeles, he joined with his family St Nicholas Antiohian Cathedral where they became active members and met many old friends and families from his beloved hometown Jerusalem.

In the early eighties, He joined the Arab American Society in Los Angeles and worked tediously with his old friends from Jerusalem, the late Dr. Spear Sayegh, the late Shafik Kassicieh, the late Jack Kort, Tony Mansour to name a few on the establishment of the

First Orthodox Union Club in 1989, in the USA, in Los Angeles. Ibrahim again devoted his love, time and dedication along with the support of many generous and giving members

of the society to promote The Orthodox Union Club, Southern California. His mission was to provide our community in the diaspora a place or club to meet, connect and reinforce their unity towards progress and advancement of the congregation, and in the same time keep in direct contact with the mother club and other Orthodox institutions and charities in his hometown Jerusalem. Ibrahim always worked with others, engaged the young to follow in the footsteps of their elders.

Ibrahim was a loving husband, a caring father, a playful grandfather, a good cousin and a great uncle. He was a man of great faith, devotion and principals, a man of passion and compassion, a true visionary with a mission, an engaging man, a teacher, a leader, a charming and very social man, a great cook and good company who always loved life and people. Like all heroes, he was strong willed, who pursed his mission in life without hesitation or fear until his last days.

Ibrahim abided and cherished the Scouts Oath from his teens:

“On my honor I will do my best to do my duty to God and my country and to obey the scout law, to help other people at all times, to keep myself physically strong, mentally awake, and morally straight”.

The Lord gave and the Lord took away, may the name of the Lord be blessed.

May God Rest Ibrahim’s soul into eternal peace and may his memory be eternal!