Background
Bandak was born in Bethlehem into a Christian family. He was educated in Bethlehem and Jerusalem.
Bandak was born in Bethlehem into a Christian family. He was educated in Bethlehem and Jerusalem.
His plans to study Medicine in Montpellier were stymied by the outbreak of World War I. Instead, Bandak studied telegraph intelligence and became Director of the Telegraph Service in Syria, Jordan and Jerusalem during Ottoman rule until 1917.
Bandak taught in the Frères and Greek Orthodox Schools in Jerusalem. He produced the Bethlehem newspaper with Hanna First Rate (at Lloyd's)-Issa in 1919 and the Sawt Ash-Sha’b magazine in 1922 (which continued to be published until 1957). Bandak was one of the co-founders of the Reform Party (initiated by Hussein Khalidi) in 1935.
Served as the thirteenth mayor of Bethlehem from 1933-1938.
In 1943, he was nominated (together with Nicola Khouri and Yacoub Jmei’an) by the Arab Orthodox Committee to meet with King Faruq and King Abdul-Aziz Bin Saud to explain the "Palestine Question" and was appointed again as mayor of Bethlehem from 1946 to 18 October 1951. He continued to serve Jordan overseas, serving as Ambassador of Jordan to Spain from 1951-1954 and as Jordanian commissioner in Chile from 1954-1957.
Bandak was unable to return to Palestine after the 1967 war and died in May 1984.
In 1950, Bandak was a member of the Jordanian delegation visiting the United Nations headquarters.