Following the death of her father, Zahira Kamal (1945) took responsibility of raising her brothers and sisters and supporting them until they went to university. She was highly applauded by her family and friends for her proactive involvement in promoting women’s welfare and peace efforts. As a result of her political stands against the Israeli occupation of Palestine, in 1979 she was put under town arrest in Jerusalem for seven and a half years, being required to sign in in the Israeli police station twice a day to make sure she does not leave the town.

Zahira has taught physics and science at the Ramallah Women's Teacher Training Center- run by UNRWA -as well as in other community colleges since 1968. Between 1990 and 1993, she worked voluntarily as head of a leading committee in the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine. From 1993 to 1995, Zahira was the Director of UNDP’s Women's Development Office in Jerusalem. Following that, she became the Director General of the Directorate for Gender Planning and Development at the Palestinian Ministry of Planning and International Cooperation. In her capacity, she formed an Inter-Ministerial coordination Committee for the Advancement of Palestinian Women.

Kamal has supported and helped to establish many women’s organizations in Palestine. She was a member of the founding board of the Palestinian Federation of Women's Action- the first in the occupied Palestinian territories. As a member of the Advisory Council of the Palestinian delegations to the Middle East peace conferences, Zahira has actively worked to advance peace. She participated in the Madrid, Washington, and Moscow peace talks between Israelis and Palestinians. Working with Israeli peace promotion groups she has held several meetings for boosting mutual understanding. She is a member of the Israeli - Palestinian Networking and the Jerusalem Link, two energetic Women's Centers in East and West Jerusalem.

The Israeli violence during the first Intifada in 1987 fostered hatred and intolerance between Israelis and Palestinians. To placate that atmosphere Zahira organized house visits for Israelis so they could touch on the Palestinians’ ordeal and sufferings, an initiative that helped break the ice between the two sides and give them a chance to know one another on a people-to-people level. Those informal house visits opened the door for subsequent meetings in Italy, the United States, Belgium and Greece between Palestinian and Israeli public figures to discuss methods of peace promotion. The meetings in Belgium also gave rise to the institutionalization of women's dialogue groups and led to the creation of the Jerusalem Link, with the collaboration of the Palestinian Jerusalem Center for Women and the Bat Shalom Center.

The Jerusalem Link served as a platform where both Palestinian and Israeli women had the chance to discuss the issues of conflict and to agree upon common political principles that promote peace. Many of Zahira’s writings have been published both regionally and internationally. In March 2005, she was awarded the Freedom and Human Rights medal in a ceremony in Bern, Switzerland. As a feminist struggling for equality, human rights and the abolition of all forms of discrimination against women, Zahira sees that those rights are inter-related. She indicates, "I believe that women have a strong desire and need for peace. I also believe that we are able to work out our relationships and live with each other, or next to each other, in peace and harmony.”

Zahira Kamal has played a large part in the modernization of Palestinian society. She strongly believes in the empowerment of Palestinian women through education, and held the post of Director General of the Directorate of the Gender Planning and International Cooperation at the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) from 1995 until 2004. In this capacity, she formed an inter-ministerial coordination committee for the advancement of woman. Zahira is the founder of Palestinian Women's Action, the first grassroots organization dealing with women’s empowerment issues, which she chaired from 1978-1991. She is affiliated with many women’s NGO's in Palestine, including the Woman's Study Center for Legal and Social Consultation and the Jerusalem Center for Women.
Zahira Kamal has worked as a spokeswoman for the Palestinian Federation of Women's Action (PFWA) in many countries, including Russia and the USA, exposing the Palestinian issue in several conferences. She was a member of the Palestinian Advisory Council to the Middle East Peace Conference in Madrid, Washington and Moscow. Zahira has actively participated in meetings with Israeli peace promotion groups and she is a member of both the Israeli and Palestinian Networking and the Jerusalem Link – two cooperating women centers in East and West Jerusalem. She has written extensively on a number of key issues including women's empowerment, occupation, women’s political participation, the peace process and women under administrative detention.

Zahira Kamal was born in Jerusalem and was three years old when the war of 1948 broke out, forcing Palestinians to quit their homes and land. In her life she has witnessed a war in her country, Palestine, every decade.

Palestinian Ministry of Women’s Affairs (PMWA)
Women's Study Center for Legal and Social Consultation (WSCLSC)
Palestinian Democratic Union (PDU)