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A Discussion with Palestinians and Jews from Israel
Voices from the Margins of the Israeli Society
with
the Joint Delegation of the Palestinian and Jewish Civil Society Leaders
March 25th, 2014 3:00-5:00pm
The Metropolitan Building
3434 N. Washington Blvd, Room 5183
Arlington, VA 22201
Join us as we host the Joint Delegation of Palestinian and Jewish Civil Society Leaders in Israel. This delegation will discuss peacebuilding opportunities based on a shared future. The delegation acts as a coalition of Palestinian and Jews that work to build solidarity in the face of racism and separation. The Delegation represents different communities that promotes self determination, civil and social rights, as well as protection for minority rights according to international human rights standards.
For more information see the Center for Narrative and Conflict Resolution website:
http://cncr.gmu.edu/events-descriptions.html
Please RSVP HERE
Guest Panelists Include:
Mr. Jafar Farah
Mr. Jafar Farah, director of the Mossawa Center, the Advocacy Center for Arab Citizens in Israel, is a longtime advocate and activist for equal rights for the Arab community. He was a member of Public Council for the Governmental Equal Opportunities Commission. Having been the Head of the National Union of Arab students and the President of the Committee for Arab Students at Haifa University, Mr. Farah then went on to founding CEGAS - the Center for Educational Guidance for Arab Students, in order to support and assist Arab students in their efforts for a higher degree. Prior to founding the Mossawa Center, Mr. Farah was a journalist and researcher for several years, working for the Haaretz net, several Arabic newspapers and TV programs on Israel’s public channel 2. His articles have been published in the Arabic, Hebrew and English Press. Mr. Farah was also a lecturer for Media and on ‘Being a Spokesperson’ at the Administrators College. He has since continued to write articles which are published on a regular basis in both the Hebrew and Arabic press. Mr Farah is the founder of several Arab NGOs and the first Arabic TV in Israel. He studied Sociology and Education at Haifa University.
Adv. Vardit Avidan
Vardit holds an L.L.B from the College of Management and an L.L.M. from Haifa University. She interned for the Haifa District Attorney Office and has been serving as a top litigation practitioner in Tmura, a legal advocacy center for minority groups in Israel, for the past 6 years. Vardit is one of the most prominent feminist activists in current Israeli civil society, as she has been invited to speak at conferences and lectures regarding social change on many occasions. Vardit is also a very proud mother of one.
Dr. Yulia Zemlinskaya
Yulia repatriated to Israel from St Petersburg, Russia in 1997 in the framework of the Jewish Agency’s youth program “SELAH”. In 2002 she completed her BA in Political Science and Sociology in Tel Aviv University, and moved to the UK to pursue her academic career. Having completed PhD in Sociology in 2008, Yulia accepted post-doctoral fellowship in the Sociology Department in the University of Manchester. Upon her return to Israel in 2010, Yulia joined the Department of Politics and Government in the Ben Gurion University as a teaching and research fellow, as well as a head of international MA program “Politics of Conflict”. Currently Yulia is a teaching fellow in the Rothberg International School, at Hebrew University. Her expertise lies in the field of social movements and protest, organisational social network analysis and social science methodology.
Ms. Tal Abitbol
Tal Abitbol lives in Tel-Aviv and is currently in the final year of her Bachelor's degree, in Israeli studies, at Ben-Gurion University. She has two passions in life: political activism and teaching which she works at through her position as the field coordinator at the Israel Religious Action Center of the Israel Movement for Progressive Judaism. Her job includes raising awareness of racist issues in Israeli society, preventing racist events and condemning acts of racist violence. Through her work she is involved in organizing events and protests, teaching, leading social media campaigns, demanding legal action and being present in the media. Before working in her current position, she worked in social activism, coordinating and guiding several youth groups in Israel, since 2001.
Mr. Ihab Elbedour
Ihab was born in Israel, in the Negev region. He grew up in Laqiya a small Bedouin village. He finished high school last year (2013) in Laqya and in September 2013 moved to the Washington DC metropolitan area. Ihab has been very active as a volunteer and advocate for this community for several years, volunteering with Sidreh association in Laqiya for two years and primarily working with Bedouin youth and women. In 2011 he represented Bedouin youth by speaking at an event for the US Embassy in Tel Aviv. In December 2013 represented the Bedouin Community and youth in Berlin and Brussels with a group of students from the Negev and oPt, were presented the Bedouin perspective on the Prawer Plan to European government officials and NGOs.