From April 1923 to December 1924, together with Shuk Gurakuqi, Ndre Mjeda, Gjergj Fishta and Anton Harapi, he edited the Shkodra weekly newspaper Ora e maleva (The mountain times), affiliated with the parliamentary opposition.

Together with Donat Kurti, he published Kângë kreshnikës dhe legenda (Songs of the frontier Warriors and Legends) in the impressive Visaret e kombit (Treasures of the Nation) collection, Tirana 1937.

From 1939 to 1944, Palaj served as a police captain under Italian rule and German occupation, though he was apparently ill from 1942 onwards.

Palaj died in prison of tetanus in February or December 1946 before he could be sentenced, and was buried in the courtyard of the sanatorium in Shkodra.

[4] Palaj and Donat Kurti were the first to record the Albanian language song 'Gjergj Elez Alia' which was published in Tirana in 1937.