SPEAKER/ORGANIZER
BIOS
The following provides brief intro to
the facilitators, panelists and other organizers taking
part in the West Coast Regional Palestine Right to Return
Conference on 20 November 2004.
Afif Wensky, a UC Davis
Senior, is a student leader in the Arab and Muslim community,
involved with Students for Justice for Palestine and other
community related student organizations. He is also a board
member of ADC greater Sacramento area chapter.
Dr. Ahlam Muhtaseb is
a Palestinian assistant professor and researcher of public
relations and media studies at California State University,
San Bernardino. She is an active member of Al-Awda San Diego.
Alia Hasan is an organizer
with Al-Awda Los Angeles and co-founder of the student chapter
of Al-Awda at UCLA. She is currently in her third year of
graduate school at UCLA.
Alison Weir is the founder
of "If Americans Knew," an organization dedicated
to providing Americans with information on topics of importance
that are misreported or under-reported in the American media.
She received the Truth and Justice Award in May 2002 from
American Muslims for Jerusalem.
Ban Al-Wardi currently
serves the ADC LA/OC Chapter as elected president and the
ADC National Board as an elected Board Member. She is a
member of the Free Palestine Alliance (FPA LA) and the National
Lawyers Guild, LA Chapter. Ban currently works to serve
the Los Angeles Immigrant community as an Immigration Attorney
and Immigrant Rights Advocate.
Catherine Pfister has
lived in San Diego for 5 years. She has become increasingly
active in the Palestinian struggle over the last 6 or 7
years. As a member of Unitarian Universalists for Justice
in the Middle East, she travelled to Palestine on a fact-finding
mission in October, 2002. She is an active member of Al-Awda
San Diego.
Edward Sweed earned his
B.S. from Temple University in Philadelphia, and a Masters
from San Diego State University. Now retired, Mr. Sweed
was a high school teacher of filmmaking. His students won
local and state awards. He also has taught film courses
in the extension programs at three local universities. He
uses his filmmaking skills to promote justice and peace.
Congressman Filner in Washington used his video, "The
Stones Will Cry Out," which depicted the effects of
the harsh 1996 immigration law. More recently, he cofounded
Alternate
Focus which produces and broadcasts weekly Middle East
related documentaries on public access stations in San Diego
and New York.
Fawad Shaiq is a graduating
senior at the University of California, San Diego where
he has been active with the UCSD Students for Justice the
past four years.
Jamal Kanj was born in
a Palestinian refugee camp. He is active with the local
community and a member of the Middle East Cultural and Information
Center (MECIC).
Jess Ghannam is Board
Member of the Gaza Community Mental Health Program, Clinical
Professor of Psychiatry and Chief of Medical Psychology
at the University of California San Francisco. He is a grassroots
activist and member of Al-Awda San Francisco and Al-Awda's
international executive committee. He currently serves as
the president of the San Francisco American-Arab Anti-Discrimination
Committee. Dr. Ghannam travels every three months to Palestine
where, over the past 12 years, he has established clinics
in Gaza City, Jabaliyah, Khan Younis and Deir al-Balah under
the auspices of the Gaza Community Mental Health program.
Jody Bong is an attorney
and member of the National Lawyer's Guild, the International
Solidarity Movement, and Al-Awda San Diego. She currently
serves as co-chair of Al-Awda San Diego.
John Parker is the west
coast regional coordinator of the International Action Center.
Justin Akers is an adjunct
professor of history at Southwestern College. He is an
o rganizer with International Socialist Organization and
San Diego Coalition for Peace and Justice.
Justin Shahbaz has presented
at the Friends of Reconciliation Conference in Pasadena
this past summer while also working with the Los Angeles
chapter of ANSWER in organizing protests, forums and meetings.
He is currently a senior undergraduate student in International
Relations at the University of Southern California and co-founder
of the Students for Justice in Palestine organization at
that school.
Lamis Deek is a Palestinian
organizer born in Nablus, Palestine and raised in New York.
She is a member and elected co-chair of Al-Awda New York
and the National Council of Arab Americans, and founder
of BLS Muslim Law Students Association. Lamis is a practicing
attorney in the field of criminal defense and civil litigation,
working towards her PhD in Political Science. With Al-Awda
and other organizations, she is trying to establish an Arab
immigrant & refugee center.
Mahmoud Zubaidi is a
Palestinian refugee from Nazareth. He has lived in Kuwait,
Syria and the US. He is a research associate at the University
of California San Diego and an active member of Al-Awda
San Diego.
Mahmud Ahmad immigrated
to the US with his family at the age of 3. He is a member
of the national steering committee of the Free Palestine
Alliance, and a member of ANSWER, the National Council of
Arab Americans, the Arab American Community Center in Chicago,
as well as the Chicago Coalition Against War and Racism.
During his short stay in Louisville, Kentucky he was active
with the Louisville Committee for Peace in the Middle East.
He was a member of Al-Awda Chicago and since moving to Los
Angeles has become an organizer with Al-Awda Los Angeles.
Manal Swairjo is an American-Arab
of Palestinian origin. She was born in Gaza, Palestine and
emigrated to the United States in 1989 where she studied
and worked. She obtained her doctorate in Biophysics from
Boston University in 1995 and is currently a research assistant
professor at the Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla. Besides
a career in science, Swairjo is active in various human
and civil rights forums. She is a current member of the
San Diego chapter of Al-Awda, The Palestine Right to Return
Coalition. She is a former board member of the San Diego
chapter of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee
(1999-2000), a former member of the Arab-American Advisory
Committee to the San Diego Chief of Police, and a former
member of a San Diego Palestinian-Jewish Dialogue group.
She is the author of columns and essays on Arab culture
and literature in US and other publications.
Mark Gonzalez - Hip Hop
Theatre playwright, HBO Def Poet, performance lecturer:
Mark Gonzales has been commissioned to perform his productions
for Cornell University, the Cali (IE) Hip Hop Theatre Festival,
members of the United Nation, Congress, and conferences
across the United States. Throughout the year Mark teaches
critical social reflection and literacy through spoken word
at various universities, high schools, and youth prisons.
In 2003, Mark traveled to Palestine to document firsthand
the struggle of the Palestinians for social justice. From
these writings and dialogues, he has compiled several performance
pieces and a Hip-Hop Theatre play; the result is a daring
and innovative way of promoting social justice through Hip-Hop
culture. Comments can be directed to humanwrites@gmail.com
Marwan Abderrazzaq is
a Palestinian from El-Bireh in the West Bank. He is an active
member of Al-Awda Los Angeles. He is also a member of the
Free Palestine Alliance. Before moving to Los Angeles, Marwan
was active with Al-Awda San Francisco.
Michael Shahin graduated
from Loyola Law School-Los Angeles in 2004. While attending
law school, Michael was a Staff Member of the Loyola Law
Review and a Board Member of Loyola's Chapter of the National
Lawyers Guild. Michael also studied at Birzeit in Occupied
Palestine in 1999 and at the China University of Political
Science and Law in Beijing China in 2002. Michael received
a Haywood Burns Fellowship in 2003 and spent the summer
working in Ramallah at
Addameer Prisoners Support Association and the Mandela Institute.
Michael is currently a member of the Free Palestine Alliance
and a collective which produces "Radio Intifada: Voices
from Kolkota to Casablanca" on KPFK-FM in Los Angeles.
He also was an extern for Hon. Judge Dickran Teverizian,
Federal District Court, and Hon. Samuel L. Bufford, Federal
Bankruptcy Court. Michael Shahin authored the 2003 Right
to Return and the 2004 Divestment resolutions which the
National Lawyers Guild passed.
Mona Kadah is a Syrian/Palestinian,
born and raised in Syria. She graduated from California
State University San Marcos, and is an active member of
Al-Awda San Diego.
Muna Coobtee is a Palestinian
activist from Los Angeles, CA. She is a member of the Free
Palestine Alliance and serves as its representative on the
Los Angeles steering committee of the International A.N.S.W.E.R.
Coalition (Act Now to Stop War and End Racism). The A.N.S.W.E.R.
Coalition organized the largest mass demonstrations against
the war and occupation of Iraq. Muna frequently speaks and
writes about the centrality of the Palestinian struggle
for national liberation in the anti-war movement. She is
also a founding member of the Party for Socialism and Liberation
and a contributor to "Socialism and Liberation"
magazine.
Musa Al-Hindi is an Arab
from Akka (Acre), Palestine. Born and raised in Lebanon,
he has been active on issues related to Palestine and social
justice since 1977. Musa is a member of Al-Awda, the Palestine
Right to Return Coalition and the Palestinian Right of Return
Congress.
Peggy Sanders has been
concerned with peace and justice since 1968. Since 2003
she has been an active member of the San Diego Coalition
for Peace and Justice. She has been actively working with
Al-Awda San Deigo since the Spring of 2004. Peggy is a retired
cosmetic chemist, now operating a small skin care company.
Rhoda Shapiro is a long-time
political activist in New York, Los Angeles and San Diego.
Her concerns with the Zionist occupation of Palestine began
in the 1950's when news of the Palestinian refugee camps
that were a direct consequence of the imposition of the
European
settler state in 1948 began to reach the US. Since the 1970's
she has been active in Palestine solidarity work. From 1982-89
she was one of the founders of the Central America Information
Project which focused on media reporting of the struggles
being waged in Central America and the Carribean. She was
the West Coast Coordinator of the Let Nicaragua Live! campaign
that raised humanitarian aid money for the Sandinista government.
She has been a fund raiser for non-profit organizations
devoted to social justice. She is a co-founder of Al-Awda
San Diego and serves on the steering committee of Al-Awda-Media.
Richard Becker is a founder
and member of the National Steering Committee of the International
ANSWER-Act Now to Stop War and End Racism-Coalition. He
has travelled extensively to Iraq, Palestine and elsewhere
on fact finding missions. He co-produced the videos "Blockade:
The Silent War Against Iraq," "Genocide by Sanctions"
and helped produce the video "Palestine Fights for
Freedom." He co-authored "The Children Are Dying",
and was a contributing author to the book "Challenge
To Genocide: Let Iraq Live." Becker was a member of
the Bay Area Anti-Apartheid Network Steering Committee for
several years. He has written many articles and commentaries
on Middle East and other affairs, and has been interviewed
by numerous national and international media, including
ABC World News, McNeil-Lehrer News Hour, CNN, BBC, Asahi
Shimbun, Pacifica National News, AFP-French Press Agency,
the New York Times, San Francisco Chronicle, Oakland Tribune,
Los Angeles Times and others. He has been a speaker at hundreds
of campus and community forums in the United States, Canada,
England, Japan, Greece, Yugoslavia, Jordan and other countries.
Samera Sood has been
a member of many progressive humanitarian organizations
such as Palestinian American Women's Association for twenty
years and running, vice-chair Palestine Solidarity Committee,
and a board member of the Los Angeles/Orange County chapter
of The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee.
Tara Bosi has been involved
in the Palestinian cause for the last 3 years, in Atlanta
and now in San Diego. She worked as an independent journalist
and volunteered with Al Mezan Center for Human Rights in
Gaza in spring of 2003, and also volunteers for Alternate
Focus. Tara is an active member of Al-Awda San Diego.
Tasha Kadah is an American
Palestinian who has inherited the status of refugee from
her father who became a refugee in 1948. She currently is
a student in North County San Diego Moralist College and
is an active member of Al-Awda San Diego.
Zachary Wales is an active
member with the New York chapter of Al-Awda, where he organizes
the Labor for Palestine campaign. He also writes for a private
investigation firm in Manhattan, and contributes a regular
column to the Electronic Intifada. Prior to moving to New
York in late 2003, Zachary was a foreign news correspondent
and media research consultant in Southern Africa.
Zahi Damuni is co-founder
of Al-Awda, The Palestine Right to Return Coalition, and
currently serves as elected member on Al-Awda's coordinating
and executive committees. He also leads Al-Awda's chapter
in San Diego. Before relocating to the west coast, where
he is currently involved in biotech research, Zahi was a
tenured professor in the Department of Cellular and Molecular
Physiology at Penn State College of Medicine.
Organizations wishing to table should
contact us at info@al-awdacal.org
Additional information:
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