Shehadeh started his journalistic career during his studies. He worked as a correspondent for various newspapers and became a columnist for the Beirut-based newspaper Lisan al Hal. His column was titled Ashwak wa zahr (Arabic: Thorns and Flowers). Following his graduation Shehadeh was employed as a teacher at the Orthodox School in Haifa and became its principal in 1907.[2] He was a member of the Committee of Union and Progress.[2] He had to leave his teaching and administrative post at the Orthodox School in 1907 due to a speech he gave in Haifa in which he expressed harsh criticisms against the Ottoman Sultan Abdulhamid.[2] The Ottomans issued an arrest warrant for him, and he settled in Cairo, Egypt, where he worked for Al Zuhur, Al Muayyad, Al Muqattam, Al Hilal and Al Muqtataf.[1][2] Shehadeh also wrote poems.[3]
Shehadeh returned to Palestine after the Young Turk Revolution in 1908 and continued to work as a teacher and journalist.[2] He taught at the Orthodox School in Bethlehem and served as its principal until the beginning of World War I in 1914. He was then employed as a clerk in the Ottoman army in Beersheba. He worked as a pharmacist's assistant to his brother, Dr. Niqula Shehadeh, who was serving as the official municipality physician in Jenin and the head of the military hospital. Shehadeh was a teacher at the Rashidiya school in Jerusalem between 1919 and 1922.[1]
Shehadeh founded a newspaper entitled Mirat Al Sharq of which the first issue appeared on 17 September 1919.[1] He also edited the paper.[4] He participated in the establishment of the Arab National Party in 1923.[2][5] He was a member of the Arab Executive Committee between 1926 and 1938 and was part of the delegations that participated in the Arab Congresses held in Jerusalem, Haifa, and Nablus.[2] He was also among the founders of the National Defense Party in 1934.[1]
Shehadeh was a member of the Muslim-Christian Association and was among the active figures of the Palestinian Episcopalian community.[6]