Sari Nusseibeh’s family is inextricably interwoven with the city of Jerusalem and the Palestinian people, and his own life with their nationalist struggle. Born in 1949 into a privileged, modern, educated family, Sari grew up a freethinker by nature, always aware of the competing holy places a stone s throw from his house in Jordanian-controlled East Jerusalem. His father had been an active participant in the 1948 war against Israel and later became Jordanian minister of defence.