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It is here! Palestine Foundation’s first annual benefit banquet on Sunday, November 17, 2019.  Featuring Dr. Joseph Massad.   Tickets and sponsorship opportunities are now available

Joseph Massad

Professor, Modern Arab Politics and Intellectual History

Joseph Massad teaches and writes about modern Arab politics and intellectual history. He has a particular interest in theories of identity and culture – including theories of nationalism, sexuality, race and religion. He received his Ph.D. from Columbia University in 1998. He is the author of Desiring Arabs (2007), which was awarded the Lionel Trilling Book Award; The Persistence of the Palestinian Question: Essays on Zionism and the Palestinian Question (2006); and Colonial Effects: The Making of National Identity in Jordan (2001).

His book Daymumat al-Mas’alah al-Filastiniyyahwas published by Dar Al-Adab in 2009, and La persistance de la question palestinienne was published by La Fabrique in 2009. The Arabic translation of Desiring Arabs was published in 2013 by Dar Al-Shuruq Press in Cairo under the title Ishtiha’ Al-‘Arab.

His latest book is Islam in Liberalism,”University of Chicago Press, 2015. The book was translated to Arabic under the title Al-Islam fi al-Libraliyyah, Dar Jadawel, Beirut, 2018.

Nisreen Hajaj

Nisreen Hajaj, is a Palestinian singer/performer from Safad, Palestine who began her musical career at age 16. Nisreen is the winner of several awards including LBCI Studio El-Fan in 2006 for the Arab World Category representing Palestine. She is also the Golden Medal winner in the International FIDOF Competition on the National Lebanese Broadcasting Station (2009). Nisreen studied music at the National Lebanese Conservatory including Middle Eastern Chanting and ‘Oud. Nisreen was a lead singer in Ferqat Haneen Lel Ughniyah Al-Felasteeniyyah and sang for Palestine, the homeland she was deprived of.

Her repertoire includes traditional Palestinian Folklore which she hopes to preserve for generations to come.She performs in the United States and Canada and pledges that she will keep on the fight for justice through her voice and music.

Amer Zahr

Amer is a Palestinian-American comedian, musician, & writer. As the child of Palestinian refugees, his special brand of comedy is fresh, enlightening, and, of course, hilarious.  He has performed to live audiences throughout America, Canada, and the Arab World, making people laugh in New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, Detroit, San Francisco, Boston, Toronto, Amman, Muscat, Beirut, Nazareth, Haifa, Yafa, Bethlehem, Ramallah, and Jerusalem.

Susan Abulhawa

Susan Abulhawa is a novelist, poet and activist. Her debut novel, Mornings in Jenin (Bloomsbury, 2010), was an international bestseller translated into 28 languages, making her the most widely read Arab author of all time. Her second novel, The Blue Between Sky and Water (Bloomsbury, 2015), was likewise translated into 20 languages. Her forthcoming novel, Against the Loveless World, will be published by Simon & Schuster in August 2020. Abulhawa has published a poetry collection, My Voice Sought the Wind (Just World Books, 2012), several anthologies and a multitude of articles and essays in both print and online media. In 2001, she founded Playgrounds for Palestine (PfP), a children’s organization dedicated to upholding The Right to Play for Palestinian children throughout Palestine and in refugee camps elsewhere. To date, PfP has built over 50 playgrounds and supported various recreational and educational programs for children.

Palestine Writes: Palestine Writes will be the first Palestinian literature festival in the world, outside of Palestine. The festival will bring Palestinian writers from around the world, together with their contemporaries in Black and Indigenous communities in the United States, to discuss and explore new dimensions to old questions about the intersections of art, books and music, international solidarity, social justice, and popular mobilization. The goal of this festival is to center Palestinian creativity and cultural productions and to expand Palestines cultural footprint in the United States.

Adam Abel

Adam Abel is a New York based artist working with photography, video and film. His photographs, videos and installations have been exhibited throughout the U.S and internationally. Adam’s practice for the last eight years has focused on exploring narratives from Palestine. He has spent significant time living and filming in the West Bank for his upcoming feature documentary, Qalqilya , as well as producing a nine-channel video installation called Palestine Interrupted . Adam completed an MFA in Photography and Related Media at Parsons, The New School For Design, and received his B.A. in Studio Arts from Wesleyan University. As Development Director, Adam oversees all aspects of programming, fundraising and outreach for SkateQilya.