George Qumsieh (1933-2008)

By Elaine Pasquini


	George Qumsieh in front of the American Colony Hotel (Staff photo E. Pasquini).

“AHLAN WA SAHLAN—Welcome!” was the greeting guests received from George Qumsieh when they arrived at East Jerusalem’s American Colony Hotel. With his charming smile, twinkling eyes and gracious manner, the kindhearted Palestinian doorman represented the epitome of Arab hospitality.

On Feb. 6, 2008, George Qumsieh died of heart failure in Beit Sahour, near the Shepherds’ Field outside of Bethlehem. The beloved patriarch of his close-knit family, he is survived by his wife, Nehya, seven children and 22 grandchildren.

A fixture at the posh Nablus Road hotel for 50 years, Qumsieh began work at the Colony in 1948, at the age of 15, after his father, a driver for the British Army in Palestine, was wounded in fighting between British troops and Jewish militants. Through the years he saw history in the making—literally right before his eyes, as he carried the bags of guests ranging from John Bagot Glubb “Glubb Pasha” to U.S. Secretary of State George P. Schultz.

For journalists—such as this reporter and her husband—the debonair doorman was an invaluable resource. Qumsieh knew everyone who was anyone in the Palestinian and Israeli political arena, as well as international journalists. The quintessential dragoman was always up-to-date on the latest news and activities in the hotel—world famous as a hotbed of intrigue.

After retiring to his native Bethlehem in 1998, Qumsieh was only able to visit Jerusalem at Christmas, when Israeli authorities allowed him to travel the eight miles to the American Colony Hotel to play Santa Claus at its annual celebration. Lamenting the Israelis’ ironhanded control of the Bethlehem area, which prevented him and most Bethlehemites from visiting Jerusalem, he observed, “We are like the bird in the cage.”

Pointing to the illegal Jewish settlement of Har Homa across the valley from his home, he bemoaned to visitors, “We’ve lost our beautiful view of ancient olive groves that used to cover Jebel Abu Ghneim.”

Elaine Pasquini is a free-lance journalist based in the San Francisco Bay Area.