GRASSROOTS ADVOCACY TRAINING & LOBBY DAY

March 6 - 7, 2011 · Washington, DC

Presenters and Workshop Leaders:
(For a schedule of events, click here)

Abed Ayoub, Esq., is Legal Director at the American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee. Abed is admitted to the Michigan State Bar, and a member of the American Bar Association. He is a graduate of the University of Detroit-Mercy School of Law, where he received recognition for his public interest work and dedication to the legal community. He previously served as the Membership and Development Coordinator for the ADC-Michigan Office, as Chapter President of ADC-Detroit, and sat on the ADC-Michigan Advisory Board. Before joining the ADC National Office in 2007, he was in private practice in Michigan, specializing in immigration and criminal law. Outside of ADC, Abed worked with a number of organizations on interfaith projects and has participated in numerous diversity training programs throughout the State of Michigan. Abed will co-lead the session on Introducing our Policy Asks.

Naeem Baig is the Vice President for Public Affairs of the Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA). He is also Executive Director for ICNA Council For Social Justice. Mr. Baig served as the Secretary General of the Islamic Circle of North America from 2000 to 2004, and later from 2006 to 2008. He was recently elected to serve on the National Board of ICNA for the session 2010 - 2012. Mr. Baig played a major role in strengthening ICNA's Interfaith Relations Department. During his time as the Secretary General, ICNA became member of many Interfaith Initiatives including Religions for Peace USA. Recently, Mr. Baig served as the consultant on the 'Study on Christian-Muslim Relations', sponsored by the Department of Interfaith Relations of the Presbyterian Church (USA). Currently, he co-chairs the 'National Muslim Christian Initiative'. Naeem will co-lead a workshop on Faith Based Organizing:  Engaging Religious Communities and Creating Interfaith Space.

Anna Baltzer is National Organizer for the US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation. She is a renowned speaker, writer, and organizer for Palestinian rights. Since she began volunteering with the International Women's Peace Service, documenting human rights abuses and supporting Palestinian-led nonviolent resistance, Baltzer has appeared on television more than 100 times and lectured at more than 400 universities, schools, churches, mosques, and synagogues around the world with her acclaimed presentation, "Life in Occupied Palestine: Eyewitness Stories & Photos," and her full-color book: Witness in Palestine: A Jewish American Woman in the Occupied Territories. Anna has contributed to various other books on the subject, including Shifting Sands: Jewish Women Confront the Israeli Occupation and Letters from Palestine. She is the recipient of the Arab-American Anti-Discrimination Committee's prestigious Annual Rachel Corrie Peace & Justice Award and a Certificate of Commendation from the Governor of Wisconsin for her commitment to justice in the Holy Land. She is a contributor to three upcoming books on the subject, serves on the Board of Directors of The Research Journalism Institute, Grassroots Jerusalem, NewPolicy.org, and is co-founder of the St. Louis Palestine Solidarity Committee. Anna will co-lead the workshop on Mobilizing the Grassroots: Generating Leverage through Constructive Campaigns.

Dalit Baum, Ph.D., is the founder of "Who Profits from the Occupation?", an activist research initiative of the Coalition of Women for Peace in Israel (www.whoprofits.org). During the last four years, "Who Profits" has become a vital resource for dozens of campaigns around the world, providing information about corporate complicity in the occupation of Palestine. Dalit is a feminist scholar and teacher in Israel, teaching about militarism and about the global economy from a feminist perspective in the Haifa University and the Beit Berl College. This year she is visiting the US as an activist in residence with Global Exchange, directing a new program titled Economic Activism for Palestine, which aims to support existing divestment campaigns in the U.S. as well as help new ones through education, training, networking and the development of dedicated tools. Dalit will co-lead the workshop on Mobilizing the Grassroots: Generating Leverage through Constructive Campaigns.

Phyllis Bennis is a fellow of the Institute for Policy Studies in Washington - where she directs the New Internationalism Project - and of the Transnational Institute in Amsterdam. Phyllis has been a writer, analyst, and activist on Middle East and UN issues for many years. In 2001 she helped found, and remains on the steering committee, of the U.S. Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation. She works closely with the United for Peace and Justice anti-war coalition, co-chairs the UN-based International Coordinating Network on Palestine, and since 2002 has played an active role in the growing global peace movement. Phyllis continues to serve as an adviser to several top UN officials on Middle East and UN democratization issues. Her books include Understanding the Palestinian-Israeli Conflict: A Primer. She is also author of primers on the US-Iran conflict and the Iraq war in the same series. Earlier books include Challenging Empire: How People, Governments and the UN Defy US Power. Phyllis will present on the facilitated panel discussion Policy Levers and Grassroots Fulcrums: Where Can We Push and Be Most Effective? 

Jennifer Bing is the Regional Program Coordinator of the Great Lakes Region of the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC), a Quaker organization founded in 1917.  Jennifer has worked for 22 years at AFSC, serving as its national coordinator of its Middle East Peacebuilding Program and earlier as the Program Director of the Chicago AFSC’s Middle East program. Jennifer's involvement in Middle East issues began in 1982 when she lived and traveled in Israel and Palestine, later returning to work at the Ramallah Friends Schools. She also worked as a senior researcher for the U.S. and Swedish Save the Children organizations on a three-volume status report on Palestinian children and the first intifada (uprising in 1987). Jennifer has organized hundreds of speaking tours, conferences, workshops, advocacy campaigns, and educational programs about the Middle East in her tenure with AFSC.  She has worked with coalitions around Israel/Palestine and Iraq issues and organized delegations to help Americans witness realities of life in Palestine and Israel. She serves as a resource to organizations and individuals beginning their Middle East and/or anti-war activism in the Chicago area, and is a steering committee member of the Committee for a Just Peace in Israel and Palestine. She currently coordinates an apprenticeship program for college graduates interested in social justice issues in the Chicago AFSC office. In 2010 Jennifer received an award from Chicago Mayor Richard Daley for her service to the Arab-American community in Chicago. Jennifer will co-lead the workshop on Bringing Solidarity Home: Supporting Palestinian and Israeli Partners While Working for Change Locally.

Mark Braverman is a Jewish American with deep family roots in Israel/Palestine - his grandfather, a fifth generation Palestinian Jew, was born in Jerusalem. Trained in clinical psychology and crisis management, Mark worked with groups and individuals undergoing traumatic stress. He now devotes himself full-time to the Israel/Palestine conflict. He has written and spoken on the role of religious beliefs in the current discourse in the United States and has worked closely with several Christian denominations and ecumenical bodies on education and activism for justice for the Palestinian people. Mark serves on the advisory board of Friends of Sabeel North American and on the Board of the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions-USA. He is a cofounder of Friends of Tent of Nations North America, a nonprofit dedicated to supporting Palestinian land rights and peaceful coexistence in Palestine. He is a charter member of American Jews for a Just Peace and has recently been appointed Consultant for Evangelicals for Middle East Understanding. He is the author of Fatal Embrace:  Christians, Jews and the Search for Peace in the Holy Land (Synergy Books, 2010). Mark will co-lead a workshop on Faith Based Organizing:  Engaging Religious Communities and Creating Interfaith Space.

Mike Daly is Program Coordinator at Interfaith Peace-Builders. He has worked with the organization since 2004. Before coming to IFPB, he studied in Damascus as a Fulbright Scholar, worked as a public relations consultant with the United Nations Development Programme in Ramallah, and completed a year of intensive Arabic at the American University in Cairo. Mike has co-led four IPFB delegations, has presented at numerous conferences and workshops and taken on leadership roles in national, regional and local organizing initiatives and coalitions. Mike will facilitate the panel discussion Policy Levers and Grassroots Fulcrums: Where Can We Push and Be Most Effective?

Joe Groves is Senior Fellow at Interfaith Peace-Builders. He has been working with IFPB since 2001, first as Coordinator for the program under the Fellowship of Reconciliation, then as Co-Director of IFPB in 2006-08. He has worked on Middle East issues for over 40 years, in the US, Israel and Palestine, and Iraq. He was Professor of Religious Studies and Director of Peace and Conflict Studies at Guilford College and is currently an Adjunct Professor in the International Peace and Conflict Resolution Program at American University. He draws on popular education methods and critical studies to actively involve students in the subjects he teaches. He is a frequent presenter and workshop leader on a variety of issues, including Middle East politics, US movements for justice, and the theory and practice of nonviolence. Joe will moderate the Evaluation Session during the Lobby Day.

Nadia Hijab is Co-Director of Al-Shabaka, the Palestinian Policy Network, and a writer, public speaker and media commentator.  Nadia's first book, Womanpower: The Arab debate on women at work was published by Cambridge University Press and she co-authored Citizens Apart: A Portrait of Palestinians in Israel (I. B. Tauris). She was previously Editor-in-Chief of the London-based Middle East magazine before serving as a senior development officer at the United Nations in New York. She now runs her own consulting business on human rights, human development, and gender. Nadia has served as co-chair of the US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation, and currently sits on its advisory board, and is a past president of the Association of Arab American University Graduates. Nadia will present the keynote address on Israel/Palestine in the Age of Obama and the Tea Party: What Does the Future Hold?

Adam Horowitz is a writer and co-editor of Mondoweiss, a news website devoted to covering American foreign policy in the Middle East, chiefly from a progressive Jewish perspective. His primary interests are exploring alternative solutions to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as the two-state consensus falters, examining the contradiction between American liberalism and support for Zionism and promoting progressive Palestinian and Israeli voices from the region. Prior to Mondoweiss, Adam was Director of the Israel/Palestine Program for the American Friends Service Committee, where he gained extensive on-the-ground experience in Israel/Palestine. Before that he was primarily engaged in activism in the Jewish community as a founding member of the New York-based organization Jews Against the Occupation, and board member of Jews for Racial and Economic Justice. His work has appeared in The Nation, Middle East Report, Z Magazine, The Huffington Post, Talking Points Memo and The Hill.com. He has a master's degree in Near Eastern Studies from New York University. Adam will present on the facilitated panel discussion Policy Levers and Grassroots Fulcrums: Where Can We Push and Be Most Effective? 

Andrew Kadi is a human rights activist, member of Adalah-NY: The New York Campaign for the Boycott of Israel, and occasional contributor to the Guardian's Comment is Free, The Electronic Intifada, MondoWeiss, Left Turn, and other publications (full bio coming soon. . .). Andrew will co-lead the workshop on Bringing Solidarity Home: Supporting Palestinian and Israeli Partners While Working for Change Locally.

Daoud Nassar is a Palestinian farmer living and working in the fertile hill country south of Bethlehem. The Nassar farm, in the family for four generations, is ringed by Jewish settlements and the encroaching Separation Wall.  The family has been offered millions for the land, but they remain steadfast. "This land is our mother," says Daoud. "Our mother is not for sale." Under his leadership, the family has taken the case to establish the family's land rights to the Israeli Supreme Court.  To demonstrate their commitment to peace and coexistence, the Nassar family has established The Tent of Nations providing arts, drama, and education to the children of the villages and refugee camps of the region. In addition, Daoud and his family have also established a Women's Educational Center offering classes in computer literacy, English, and leadership training. Daoud will be a special guest at the IFPB Fundraiser and Social Event on Sunday evening.

Jacob Pace is Communications and Grants Coordinator at Interfaith Peace-Builders and staffs its San Francisco office. Jake joined the organization in 2007 after first traveling to the region with an IFPB delegation in 2003. He previously worked with Partners for Peace, the US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation and the Resource Center for Nonviolence in Santa Cruz, California. 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 led IFPB delegations in August 2008 and August 2010.

Loubna Qutami is a student, activist, performer, and scholar. She is an MA Candidate in Ethnic Studies at San Francisco State University and the first student with an emphasis in Arab and Muslim Ethnicities and Diasporas.  Her MA thesis focuses on the involvement of Palestinian youth from the United States in transnational youth movement building and challenges conventional discourses about Palestinian, Arab and Muslim communities within the purview of Ethnic Studies and other disciplines. As an undergraduate at SF State, Loubna worked with the General Union of Palestine Students, and inaugurated the Palestinian Cultural Mural honoring Dr. Edward Said, the first mural of its kind on any public institution in the US. Loubna is also a founder, member, and elected officer of the first ever International Executive Board of the Palestinian Youth Network (PYN). She currently works as the Special Project Coordinator for the San Francisco-based Arab Cultural and Community Center (ACCC) where she has spent the past four years spearheading various projects ranging from Social Services Coordination, Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault case management, Cultural Competency Workshops for Bay Area educational and medical facilities, Civic Engagement Mobilization and Youth Empowerment Programming. She is solely responsible for creating, organizing and producing the ACCC’s first and subsequent Annual Arab Women’s Conferences, and is currently coordinating the fourth conference scheduled to take place in March 2011. Loubna will co-lead the workshop on Mobilizing the Grassroots: Generating Leverage through Constructive Campaigns and present on the facilitated panel discussion Policy Levers and Grassroots Fulcrums: Where Can We Push and Be Most Effective? 

Josh Ruebner is the National Advocacy Director of the US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation, a national coalition of more than 325 organizations working to end U.S. support for Israel’s illegal 43-year military occupation and to change U.S. policy toward Israel/ Palestine to support human rights, international law, and equality. Josh is a former Analyst in Middle East Affairs at Congressional Research Service and holds a graduate degree in International Affairs from Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies in Washington, DC. His analysis and commentary on U.S. policy toward the Middle East appear frequently in media such as NBC, ABC Nightline, CSPAN, Al Jazeera, USA Today, The Hill, Detroit Free Press, Huffington Post, Middle East Report, and more. Josh will lead the session on Introducing our Policy Asks and the workshop on Ending Military Aid to Israel: Mobilizing for Policy Change in Your Community.

Emily Siegel is Delegations Coordinator at Interfaith Peace-Builders. Emily holds a Master's Degree in International Peace and Conflict Resolution from the School of International Service at American University and a BA in International Relations, with minors in Sociology and Jewish Studies, from the University of Delaware.   Her undergraduate studies included time abroad at Israel’s Ben-Gurion University, exploring Israeli society, politics, and Bedouin rights. The focus of Emily’s Masters’ Degree was on the intersection of justice and peace-building through education, including extensive research on identity formation in the Israeli school system and how peace education methods create social change. Emily has previously worked for Seeds of Peace, Partners for Peace, AMIDEAST, the US Institute of Peace, and as Assistant Director of Unity Programs at Abraham’s Vision.  She is a trained facilitator and has co-facilitated dialogues focusing on US-Islam relations and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.  She co-led an IFPB delegation in 2009 and will co-lead IFPB's July-August 2010 delegation. Emily will co-present at the optional lunch time session on The Interfaith Peace-Builders Delegation Experience: What Makes an IFPB Delegation Unique?

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This event is sponsored by:
Interfaith Peace-Builders and the US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation

Endorsed by:
American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, Christian Peacemaker Teams - Palestine, CODEPINK: Women for Peace, the Fellowship of Reconciliation, Friends of Sabeel - North America, Friends of Tent of Nations - North America, the Islamic Circle of North America, ICNA Council for Social Justice, the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions - USA, Jewish Voice for Peace, the Middle East Research and Information Project, the National Peace Foundation, Students for Justice in Palestine (American University), and the Washington Peace Center

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