Career
Abdul Hadi and other women from notable Jerusalem families, established the Palestine Arab Women"s Congress (PAWC) to make clear their opposition to the Zionist presence in Palestine and their support for the men"s national struggle for independence. The first meeting of the PAWC was held at Abdul Hadi"s home in Jerusalem on October 26, 1929, with the event since heralded as the "first time" that Palestinian women entered the political arena. Besides writing letters and telegrams to raise awareness of the Palestinian plight, the PAWC also engaged in prisoner advocacy.
This involved the attempt to shorten harsh prison sentences by appealing to the British authorities and raising money to support families who had lost their breadwinners to imprisonment.
Abdul Hadi was also active in the Arab Women"s Association (Aging with Attitude), also founded in 1929, which became the most prominent feminist organization in Palestine. In her capacity as an Aging with Attitude organizer, she delivered a speech at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in April 1933, during a visit by British General Allenby, stating:
"The Arab ladies ask Lord Allenby to remember and tell this to his government.
The mothers, daughters, sisters of the Arab victims are gathered here to make the world witness the betrayal of the British. We want all the Arabs to remember that the British are the cause of our suffering and they should learn from the lesson."
Abdul Hadi was also active in the campaign against the veil, an initiative launched by local women encouraging Palestinian women to remove their veils.
Her husband died in Cairo in 1970, and she died there in 1976.