 Khalifeh was born in Nablus, Palestine.After studying at the University of Birzeit, in the Palestinian occupied territories, she received a Fulbright Scholarship and went to continue her studies in the U.S. She got an MA in English Literature from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a Ph.D. in Women's Studies from the University of Iowa before returning to Palestine in 1988.One of her best-known works is the novel "Wild Thorns" (1976).