Jamil Hamad was born in 1938 in Rafat, Palestine (now within post-1948 Israel).
His family fled during the war that erupted when Israel declared its independence
61 years ago.  Upon being graduated from high school in Bethlehem, he went to
Damascus, Syria, where he studied law at the university there.

Beginning in 1965, he was employed by various Arabic newspapers in the former
Jordanian sector of Jerusalem and wrote for the international press simultaneously.
In 1970, he became the editor of "El-Fajr" (The Dawn), which was established after
Israel took the city's former Jordanian sector.  This newspaper was owned by local
Palestinians.

In 1984, he was invited to join "Time" magazine's Jerusalem Bureau as a correspondent
specializing in Arab and Islamic affairs.