Speakers' biographies
Salem Ajluni currently works as a consultant for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA). He has previously served as consultant for the Palestinian Ministry of Planning, the World Bank and the UN. During 1996-2001, he was the Chief Economist, Office of the United Nations Special Coordinator (UNSCO) and resided in Gaza City. In that position, he was the principal author of UNSCO's regular reports on economic and social conditions in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. In the decade before joining the UN, he taught economics in Utah, North Carolina and New York. Hisham H. Ahmed
Born in the Deheisheh Refugee camp near Bethlehem, Palestine, in 1963, Ahmed obtained his BA degree in political science from Illinois State University in 1985. He obtained his MA and Ph.D. degrees also in political science at the University of California, Santa Barbara, in 1986 and 1988, respectively.
He taught political science at Florida International University in Miami, Florida, 1989-91, and at the University of North Dakota, 1991-93. In 1993-94, he was a Fulbright scholar in Palestine, where he wrote his book: From Religious Salvation to Political Transformation: The Rise of Hamas in Palestinian Society. In 1994-96, Ahmed was a Fellow of the Institute of Current World Affairs. Between 1994-2006, he taught political science at Bir Zeit University, as well as at other universities and colleges in Palestine.
Ahmed is the author of other studies dealing with the Middle East, Islamic movements, and American foreign-policy, such as: “Palestinian Resistance and ‘Suicide Bombing’: Causes and Consequences,” “The Evolution of Hamas in Palestinian Society: Domestic, Regional and International Determinants,” and "Ibrahim Abu-Lughod: Resistance, Exile and Return".
In addition, Ahmed has been active in several professional organizations, and in the early 1990’s, was elected as the Vice-President of the AAUG, Arab-American University Graduates. He is frequently called upon by the local and international media for analyses of various political issues pertaining to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.
Huwaida Arraf is a Palestinian-American lawyer and human rights activist. For over a decade she has been involved in the Palestinian popular resistance. She is one of the co-founders of the International Solidarity Movement (ISM), and the chairperson of the Free Gaza Movement, which has been sending boats, including the Freedom Flotilla, to challenge Israel’s blockade of Gaza by sea.
The Rev Dr Naim Ateek is one of the founders and current director of the Sabeel Ecumenical Liberation Theology Center, with offices in Jerusalem and Nazareth, and a network of Friends of Sabeel around the world. He is the former Canon of St George's Cathedral, Jerusalem.
Additional for website: His major writings include the book Justice and Only Justice: A Palestinian Theology of Liberation (Orbis, 1989) - generally recognized as the first book to articulate a Palestinian theology of liberation - and A Palestinian Cry for Reconciliation (Orbis, 2008). He continues to lecture widely both at home and abroad.
Anna Baltzer is National Organizer at the US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation). She is a Jewish-American award-winning lecturer, author, and activist for Palestinian human rights. Anna has lectured at more than 500 universities, schools, churches, mosques, synagogues, and policy institutes around the world with her acclaimed presentation, "Life in Occupied Palestine: Eyewitness Stories & Photos," and her full-color book, Witness in Palestine. Baltzer is co-founder of the St Louis Palestine Solidarity Committee and recently received the Inspiration for Hope Award from the Middle East Committee of the American Friends Service Committee.
Engineer Donna Baranski-Walker is the executive director of "Rebuilding Alliance," a U.S. nonprofit organization working to raise worldwide support to help Palestinian villages rebuild homes, schools and playgrounds — and press American policy forward to assure Palestinians' human right to a home. Donna, an MIT engineer, was recently awarded the Medal of Gratitude by the Polish government at the Gdansk Shipyard for her work in support of the Polish Solidarity Movement when martial law was declared against it 30 years ago.
Dr. Khalil Barhoum is a native of Bethlehem, Palestine. He came to the U.S. on a Rotary International scholarship and did his first Masters in English Literature; he received a second Masters and Ph.D. in Linguistics from Georgetown University in 1985. Upon graduating from Georgetown, he joined the Department of Linguistics at Stanford University where he is now Coordinator of the Program of African and Middle Eastern Languages and Literatures in the Division of Cultures, Literatures, and Languages.
Dr. Barhoum is a former president of the Association of Arab American University Graduates and had served twice as the President of its California Chapter. He is a frequent visitor to the Middle East and is a keen observer of its societies, politics, and cultures. His first-hand knowledge of the region provides him a unique vision and understanding of the current issues that face us today. Dr. Barhoum has been widely interviewed on radio and TV, and has been invited to speak nationally and locally on U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East and the Arab-Israeli conflict. His views dealing with these issues have also appeared in local, national, and international publications.
Dalit Baum, Ph.D., is an Israeli feminist activist and teacher,
co-founder of "Who Profits from the Occupation", an activist research
initiative of the Coalition of Women for Peace in Israel (www.whoprofits.org). This year she is the Middle East
program coordinator for the American Friends Service Committee and she is
working with the Economic Activism for Palestine Program in Global
Exchange to support corporate accountability campaigns in the U.S.
Hatem Bazian is a Palestinian-American academic at the University of California, Berkeley. He is a Senior Lecturer in the Departments of Near Eastern and Ethnic Studies, and an adjunct professor of law at Boalt Hall School of Law. He teaches courses on Islamic law and society, Islam in America, religious studies, and Middle Eastern studies. In addition to Berkeley, Dr. Bazian is a visiting professor in Religious Studies at Saint Mary's College of California and adviser to the Religion, Politics and Globalization Center at UC Berkeley and Zaytuna Institute.
As the Executive Director and Civil Rights Attorney of The Council on American-Islamic Relations for the San Francisco Bay Area (CAIR-SFBA) chapter, Zahra Billoo frequently provides trainings at local mosques and universities as part of CAIR’s efforts to empower the community, while building bridges with allies on key civil rights issues as well as represents victims of discrimination and advocates for positive policy changes that uphold civil rights for all. The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) is a nonprofit 501(c)(3), grassroots civil rights and advocacy group.
Omar Dajani, of the University of the Pacific's McGeorge School of Law, is a leading expert on the legal aspects of the conflict in the Middle East. Previously, he was based in the Palestinian Territories, where he served first as legal adviser to the Palestinian team in peace talks with Israel and, subsequently, as political adviser to United Nations Special Envoy Terje Roed-Larsen. Prior to working in the Middle East, he clerked for Judge Dorothy Nelson on the U.S. Court of Appeal for the Ninth Circuit and was a litigation associate at Sidley & Austin. Professor Dajani is a graduate of Northwestern University and Yale Law School.
Marc H. Ellis is University Professor of Jewish Studies, Professor of History and Director of the Center for Jewish Studies at Baylor University. He is the author and editor of more than twenty books, including Toward a Jewish Theology of Liberation and most recently Encountering the Jewish Future. Professor Ellis has published more than 100 articles and spoken at more than 300 universities, seminaries, and academies in the United States, Europe, Africa, Asia and Latin America. His lecture topics include such diverse areas as Middle East policy; the Holocaust; the future of Israel; Jewish identity; Jewish-Christian relations; Contemporary Spirituality; and Post-Holocaust Jewish and Christian thought.
Presently he is embroiled in a struggle with Ken Starr, President of Baylor University in defense of his academic freedom. See the change.org petition.
Rasha Hussein is a student at Birzeit University. She currently works for as a Google Student Ambassador that markets Google products and services on campus through events. She is working on an initiative that aims to clean up Ramallah in one day, as part of the group "Let's Do it Palestine" that joined "World Clean up 2012". Rasha recently joined the "Global Shapers Community" whch undertakes events and activities to generate a positive impact within the local community. She co-founded Bazinga! Ramallah, a startup catalyst, and worked there as an event planner that organized events that hosted people from companies including Google, Microsoft, and Wikipedia.
Sydney Levy is Jewish Voice for Peace's Advocacy Director. He has coordinated the organization's support for churches aiming to divest from companies that profit from the Israeli occupation. Sydney lived in Jerusalem for seven years, where he received his Master's degree in Jewish history from the Hebrew University.
Cary McQueen Morrow is the co-founder of
Art With Impact, a nonprofit organization that uses the power of film to move people to action.
Jacob Pace is Communications and Grants Coordinator at Interfaith Peace-Builders
(IFPB), and staffs the San Francisco office, working particularly on media
advocacy and grassroots organizing. He spent more than a year in
Israel/Palestine between 2003 and 2005 working with the Applied Research
Institute of Jerusalem in Bethlehem and the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights
in the Gaza Strip. His work experience has focused particularly on media
advocacy and grassroots organizing. He co-led IFPB delegations in 2008 and 2010.
Hatem Sahouri (Tim) is a Palestinian-born American who grew up in Ramallah, West Bank. He graduated with Honors from Illinois Institute of Technology with a BS in Electrical & Computer Engineering, and an MS from Roosevelt University. He is currently CIO of MEDCOR, Inc, and discovered his inner-entrepreneur when he decided to found Iconnect, a software outsourcing firm based in Ramallah. Iconnect specializes in outsourced software development with clients in the USA and Europe. Iconnect has developed several successful software systems in the healthcare and financial sectors. Tim has a golden team of computer architecture engineers, all who have been educated in fine universities in Palestine.
Cecilie Surasky, Deputy Director of Jewish Voice for Peace, is a videomaker, former newspaper columnist and talk radio host whose analyses of Israel-Palestine politics have appeared in numerous media outlets around the world. She is the editor of Muzzlewatch, JVP's acclaimed blog documenting efforts to silence open debate about Israel-Palestine policy, and leads JVP's fundraising, media and online outreach efforts.
Rev. Dr. Don Wagner is the Research Professor for Interfaith and Peace Engagement at Eastern Mennonite University, where he is organizing an institute involving 8-10 universities that will provide academic courses in Middle East and interfaith studies as well providing leadership training in peace and conflict transformation skills. Previously he was a professor of Middle East Studies and Director of the Center for Middle East Studies at North Park University in Chicago. Prior to that he was the Director of Evangelicals for Middle East Understanding and National Director of the Palestine Human Rights Campaign.
He has authored four books, most recently "Dying in the Land of Promise: Palestine and Palestinian Christianity from Pentecost-2000" and "Anxious for Armageddon." He has lectured and written widely on Christian Zionism, Palestinian rights, Christian-Muslim relations, and Middle Eastern Christianity. He serves on the Friends of Sabeel Steering Committee and the Pilgrims of Ibillin Board of Directors (Fr. Chacour's schools).
A foremost analyst on media coverage of Israel-Palestine, former journalist Alison Weir is the Executive Director of "If Americans Knew" (which specializes in statistical and factual examination of Israel-Palestine and media coverage of the region) and President of the "Council for the National Interest" (founded 19 years ago by Congressmen and ambassadors to work for foreign policies not dominated by special interests). A respected writer, she has received diverse awards and has written numerous articles. She speaks widely, including briefings on Capitol Hill, at the National Press Club, presentations at the Asia Media Summit in Kuala Lumpur and Beijing, and lectures at Harvard, Yale, Stanford, Berkeley, the Naval Postgraduate Institute, and numerous other venues.
Nadine Talaat, Jazary Olvera, Saurav Agrawal, Yousuf Mamoon, and Saja Alwadi are students at De Anza College, Cupertino, CA. They will be leading the workshop "Water Resources Under Occupation." They are students of Dr. Bob Stockwell, in his International Relations class, and are working on this project because of their strong interest in the area and desire for peace.
Lorene Zarou-Zouzounis is a Palestinian American poet, writer and human rights and peace activist. Lorene was born in Ramallah, Palestine. Lorene is a widely published poet--a few noteworthy anthologies where her poems appear are The Poetry of Arab Women—a Contemporary Anthology, Food for Our Grandmothers, The Space Between our Footsteps, A Different Path, and War After War-City Lights Review #5. She self published a poetry anthology in 1987, Inquire Within. A forthcoming anthology is entitled Faces: the Nine Stations of Pain and Joy.