Our Story
How It Began
The Myrrh Bearers Society — also known as the Arab Orthodox Society or Hamilat Al-Teeb — was founded in 1926 by a group of young women in Jerusalem. Their founding act was one of grief transformed into resolve: a young woman’s suffering had gone unnoticed and unheeded until it was too late. Her peers refused to let that happen again.
They built an organization dedicated to seeing and responding to the needs of the city’s most vulnerable — the elderly, the sick, women without access to opportunity, and all those who had no other place to turn. In a city under enormous pressure, they created something lasting: a community of care.
Nearly a century later, the Myrrh Bearers Society operates four interconnected centers in the heart of Jerusalem. We have grown, adapted, and expanded — but the founding conviction has never changed: no one should suffer unseen. No one should be left without support. And the culture, the heritage, and the spirit of this city belong to the people who live in it.
Vision
Our vision is to form a network of well-supported Palestinian women — through job training, medical services, capital assistance, and entrepreneurship — who gain enough growth to participate in society as community builders, earn enough for independence as individuals, and rise against the barriers of life under occupation.
Mission
Our mission is the empowerment of women through enterprise and economic self-reliance — creating job opportunities within Jerusalem and the West Bank, and forming an outlet for the preservation of the Palestinian spirit and culture carried by Palestinian women.
Goals
Expanding the job market for Palestinian women in Jerusalem and the West Bank; providing primary and curative medical care to the most disadvantaged members of Palestinian society; and securing a strengthened ecosystem that embraces Palestinian identity through food, embroidery, art, and devotion to tradition.
Dignity
Every person who comes to the Myrrh Bearers Society — as a patient, a student, a visitor, or a customer — deserves to be received with full humanity and respect. This has been our standard since 1926.
Resilience
We believe in the capacity of communities to care for themselves, given the right support. Our programs are built to create lasting strength and independence — not dependency.
Heritage
The culture of Jerusalem — its food, its crafts, its stories, its daily rhythms — is something worth preserving, celebrating, and passing on. We are its custodians, and we take that responsibility seriously.