After graduating, she worked for the British Mandate government and participated in Jerusalem's thriving arts and literary scene with friends including George Aleef.
During this period she taught at a girl's college and published political cartoons critiquing British policies including the Balfour Declaration, and the premise that Palestine was a land without an existing population.
Eventually, she and her sister Asia found a permanent home on Nur Eddein Street in Wadi al-Joz, where they lived together until their deaths.
"[5] Halaby's watercolours depict the landscape surrounding Jerusalem without the usual focus on religious sites or orientalist panoramas of the city.
"[1] Tania Tamari Nasser, a writer and singer, has described how “Halaby's glowing color and her treatment of the wild flowers of Palestine inspired" her and her friends in their youth.