Alaa Jaza Photographs 1994-2025

Alaa Jaza was born on July 2, 1991 in Beirut, Lebanon. He grew up in Beirut. He was the youngest of seven brothers and he moved to the United States in the early 2010’s with the dream of building a better future. He served in the United States Army and the National Guard and eventually became a U.S. citizen in 2014.

With the motive of securing educational benefits and building a solid career, Alaa joined the US Army in the early 2010’s. His choice met concerns with his parents who were worried about his safety and potential deployment to conflict zones such as Iraq and Afghanistan. He was trained at multiple military bases, such as Fort Huachuca in Arizona, Fort Jackson in South Carolina, and Fort Irwin in California. Alaa was deployed to Iraq and Jordan, and his fluency in Arabic played a crucial role for his duties. Following his military service, Alaa started his law enforcement career as a police officer.

To advance his career, Alaa Jaza returned to school. In 2021, he earned an Associate’s degree in Counter-Terroism studies, then pursued a Bachelor's degree in Homeland Security in 2022, while balancing the responsibilities of his busy role as a police officer. Following his dream, Alaa continued his academic pursuits and earned a Masters Degree in Criminal Justice by 2024, He currently resides in Angier, North Carolina and is enjoying his career as a police officer at the Angier police department.

In 2025 he conducted an oral history interview with Khayrallah Center which can be found here: https://lebanesestudies.omeka.chass.ncsu.edu/items/show/94148#?c=&m=&s=&cv=

This collection contains photographs of Alaa Jaza, Lebanese born American, tracing his life in U.S.to his Lebanese roots. This collection contains digital photographs from 1994 to 2025. This collection contains images of his military service, law enforcement career, childhood and family photos. This collection includes 24 photos.

This collection is arranged chronologically.

The donor retains full ownership of any copyright and rights currently controlled. Nonexclusive right to authorize uses of these materials for non-commercial research, scholarly, or other educational purposes are granted to Khayrallah Center pursuant to U.S. Copyright Law. Usage of the materials for these purposes must be fully credited with the source. The user assumes full responsibility for any use of the materials.

[Identification of item], Alaa Jaza Photographs, KC0071, Hoda Z. Nassour and Herbert R. Nassour Jr., MD, Archive of Lebanese Diaspora

Gift of Alaa Jaza, 2025, August

Processed by Katelyn Cuomo and Rama Khalifeh 2026 January. Finding aid created and updated by Rama Khalifeh 2026 January