This paper focuses on the visibility and participation of urban Palestinian women in urban public spaces during the British Mandate. Traditionally, the patriarchal structure of the Arab society tended to preserve gender separation between the private sphere, seen as the 'natural' place for women, and the public sphere which was identified with men. Most of the studies written to date on Mandatory Palestine have adopted this distinction and have replicated the image of the Palestinian woman as isolated in the private sphere, and, as such having nothing to contribute to the research of this period. Even though this image does reflect some aspects of Palestinian women's life, it ignores their various histories, experiences, activities and achievements. Relying on a variety of sources such as Arabic newspapers, archival material, personal interviews and memoirs, this paper will describe a historical process of women's enhanced presence in urban public arenas, in spite of the patriarchal limitations. This paper will shed light on their participation in the emerging modern leisure and recreational sites, in the cultural clubs and associations, in theater, radio, press and more. This expansion and change of the public sphere will be examined as an important factor in the entrance of Palestinian women to public life. Furthermore, this paper will discuss the social implications of these processes, which were accompanied by gender, family, and generational tensions which influenced the familiar traditional order. It will be argued that it was a dynamic, bidirectional process whereby, on the one hand the transformation of public space has enabled the participation of Palestinian women in public life, and, on the other hand, their presence reshaped the public space by blurring the strict separation between the public and private spheres and by undermining the sexual segregation rules of the public space.