Mahmoud Jiddah is a Jerusalimite of African descent who was born in the African neighborhood of Jerusalem on 20 May 1948. He is considered by the visitors to the city a reference on Jerusalem affairs and part of its history that he narrates to them since he undertook this task in 1987, especially after his liberation from the Israeli Occupation prisons in 1985, where he spent 17 years behind bars.

The Mahmoud Jiddah Collection consists of documents, including letters from prison that he wrote during his detention, and photographs of himself accompanied by his family and friends.