American Task Force on Palestine

Ziad J. Asali, M.D., President

Ziad J. Asali, M.D., is the President and founder of the American Task Force on Palestine, a 501(c) 3 non-profit, non-partisan organization based in Washington, DC.

Dr. Asali is a long-time activist on Middle East issues. He has been a member of the Chairman's Council of American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) since 1982, and has served as ADC’s President from 2001-2003. He served as the President of the Arab-American University Graduates (AAUG) from 1993-1995, and was Chairman of the American Committee on Jerusalem (ACJ), which he co-founded, from 1995-2003.

He has been featured in Al Ahram Weekly the Washington Times and in the Forward. He has contributed and written for the Los Angeles Times, Detroit Free Press, Washington Post, Boston Globe, Miami Herald, and The Daily Star. He has provided television commentary and interviews for CNN, CBS, Charlie Rose, MSNBC, FOX News, BBC, C-Span, Voice of America and numerous syndicated cable programs. Dr. Asali has also appeared on several Arabic television networks, including Al Jazeera, Al-Arabiya, Al-Hurra, Nile TV, ART, Egyptian TV, Abu Dhabi TV, and the Dubai satellite channel. His opinions have also appeared in newspapers throughout the Arab World including Al-Hayat, Al-Ahram, Al-Rai, Al Khaleej, Jordan Times and Akhbar Al-Arab. In addition, he is a regular speaker at international conferences, Arab-American conventions and academic groups (he has spoken at Carnegie Mellon, Columbia, Cornell Universities, George Washington, Georgetown University and Harvard). Dr. Asali is the author of several publications that include: “From Crusades to Zionism” (1993) “Zionist Studies of the Crusades” (1992) “Expedition to Jerusalem” (1990).

Dr. Asali was born in Jerusalem, where he completed his elementary and secondary education. He received an M.D. from the American University of Beirut (AUB) Medical School in 1967. He completed his residency in Salt Lake City, Utah, and then practiced medicine in Jerusalem before returning to the US in 1973. Dr. Asali was the Medical Director and Chairman of the Board at the Christian County Medical Clinic in Taylorville, Illinois and he served as Chairman of the Board of Physicians Health Association of Illinois before he retired in 2000. He is a Diplomat of the Board of Internal Medicine and a Fellow of the American College of Physicians.

Dr. Asali has testified before the Senate on the issue of Palestinian education. He recently testified at a hearing before the full U.S. House Committee on International Relations on the topic of “The Way Forward in the Middle East Peace Process.” He served as a member of the United States official delegation to the funeral of Chairman Yasser Arafat and as a member of the United States official delegation to observe the Palestinian Presidential elections in January 2005. He also was a delegate with the National Democratic Institute (NDI) to monitor the Palestinian Legislative election in January 2006. He was named “Arab American of the Year” by the Arab American Community Center for Economic and Social Services (AACCESS) of Ohio in 2006.

In August 2007 Dr. Asali traveled with Undersecretary of State Karen Hughes to Palestine as a member of the official delegation of the U.S. Department of State to monitor the launch of the Middle East Investment Initiative Program. On December 3rd, 2007 Dr. Asali was appointed one of four co-chairs of the U.S. Public-Private Partnership. This Partnership was launched by Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice to promote economic and educational opportunities for the Palestinian People with the goal of improving the Palestinian economy, building institutions and helping to educate Palestinian youth in good governance and good citizenship.

Hussein Ibish is Executive Director of the Hala Salaam Maksoud Foundation for Arab-American Leadership and Senior Fellow at the
American Task Force on Palestine (ATFP).

Ibish has made thousands of radio and television appearances. He has written for many newspapers, including the Los Angeles Times, the Washington Post and the Chicago Tribune, and was Washington Correspondent for the Daily Star (Beirut).

Ibish is editor and principal author of 2 major studies of Hate Crimes and Discrimination against Arab Americans 1998-2000 (ADC, 2001) and Sept. 11, 2001-Oct. 11, 2002 (ADC, 2003). He is author of "At the Constitution's Edge: Arab Americans and Civil Liberties in the United States" in States of Confinement (St. Martin's Press, 2000), "Anti-Arab Bias in American Policy and Discourse" in Race in 21st
Century America (Michigan State University Press, 2001), "Race and the War on Terror," in Race and Human Rights (Michigan State University Press, 2005) and "Symptoms of Alienation: How Arab and American Media View Each Other" in Arab Media in the Information Age (ECSSR, 2005). He is also the author, along with Ali Abunimah, of "The Palestinian Right of Return" (ADC, 2001) and "The Media and the New Intifada" in The New Intifada (Verso, 2001). He is also the editor, along with Saliba Sarsar, of Principles and Pragmatism (ATFP, 2006).

From 1998-2004, Ibish served as Communications Director for the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC), the largest Arab-American membership organization in the United States. From 2001-2004 he was Vice-President of the National Coalition to Protect Political Freedom. He has a Ph.D. in Comparative Literature from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.

Dr. Samir Abu-Ghazaleh, M.D., FACOG, FACS is a Gynecologic Oncologist at Avera Cancer Institute in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Dr. Abu-Ghazaleh has been practicing medicine for over 30 years and is board certified by the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology; Obstetrics and Gynecology and Gynecologic Oncology.

Dr. Abu-Ghazaleh was born in Haifa in 1944 and attended medical school at Ain Shams University Medical School in Cairo, Egypt from 1963-1969. Dr. Abu-Ghazaleh was an intern at the Base Military Hospital in Amman, Jordan from 1969-1971. He completed his residency and graduate education at the University of South Dakota Affiliated Hospitals: Sacred Heard Hospital, Yankton, SD; South Dakota Human Services Center, Yankton, SD; Public Health Services Hospital, Wagner, SD; Obstetrics and Gynecology, September 1972 – July 1976; Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC, Gynecologic Oncology Associates, July 1976 – June 1978.

Dr. Abu-Ghazaleh has published numerous articles in leading medical journals. He holds several professional memberships to organizations including Fellow of the American College of Surgeons and Fellow of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.

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Reema Ali

Ms. Ali is a resident of Washington, D.C., where she manages her law firm’s international practice (Ali & Partners) which she formed in 1991. Between 1991-1994, in addition to being a Partner in her own firm, Ms. Ali acted as a Special Counsel Partner in Donovan, Leisure, Huge & Schiller, and then in Shea & Gould. In that capacity, she integrated her knowledge of the Middle East and its business laws with her knowledge of US laws and culture. In 1994, she re-devoted her time exclusively to Ali & Partners. She has practiced law for over 19 years in the Middle East, working with major US, European and Japanese companies.

Ms. Ali received an LL.B. from Leeds Polytechnic University in England in 1981 and her J.D. from Southern Methodist University in 1983.

Ms. Ali is a member of the District of Columbia Bar, the New York Bar, the American Bar Association, the National U.S.-Arab Chamber of Commerce, and the Washington Foreign Law Society, the Arab Association for International Arbitration and the Abu Dhabi Commercial Conciliation and Arbitration Center.

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Naila Asali was born in Nablus, Palestine, and attended the Friends Girls School in Ramallah. She graduated from the American University of Beirut, with a B.S. and M.S. in Chemistry. She holds an M.S. in Mathematical Systems from the University of Illinois, and in addition is a Certified Public Accountant. Naila’s professional experience includes 19 years in real estate development and property management in Illinois and Virginia.

She has been active in many Arab-American organizations and served on the Board of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) for 10 years, including five years as Chairperson and two years as Treasurer. She is a co-founder and board member of ATFP, and currently serves as Board Member and treasurer of the Hala Salam Maksoud Foundation for Arab American Leadership.

Marwan M. Atalla is President of NEST U.S.A., Inc. a privately held investment company with investments in real estate, aviation, technology and energy. NEST U.S.A., Inc. is part of the Near East Group, a multi-national investment group with offices in Amman, London and Houston.

Mr. Atalla graduated from Ashland University in Ashland, Ohio with a degree in business administration. He is a member of the Young Presidents Organization. He and his wife Reem currently reside in Amman, Jordan with their two sons.

Abed Awad is an attorney with offices in New Jersey and New York. Mr. Awad’s practice focuses on general civil litigation including complex matrimonial law, personal injury, Islamic law and international law. Mr. Awad was selected as one of ten Lawyers of the Year 2002 by Lawyers Weekly for his ground-breaking decision enforcing the mahr provision contained in a Muslim marriage contract.

Mr. Awad was a Managing Editor on Pace International Law Review and has published extensively on different areas of the law in publications that include the New Jersey Law Journal, Matrimonial Strategist, the Journal of the Legal Profession, Middle East Executive Reports, and others. Prior to entering private practice, Mr. Awad was the Law Clerk for the Honorable George E. Sabbath of the New Jersey Superior Court. Mr. Awad is an Adjunct Law Professor at Rutgers Law School, Newark.

Mr. Awad is also active politically in the Arab American community. He is a member of the Arab American Institute and is the co-Chair of the Arab American Democratic Caucus (NJ). Mr. Awad was appointed to the New Jersey Electoral College in 2004.

Mr. Awad has appeared on numerous television broadcasts including ABC, CNNfn, Al-Jazeera, Al-Qataria and Al-Arabia. Mr. Awad was the weekly democratic commentator on American politics for Al-Jazeera from January 2004 through November 2004. Mr. Awad has been quoted in numerous American newspapers, including the Washington Post, Boston Globe, Chicago Tribune, Star Ledger, Herald News, Bergen Record, Village Voice, New Jersey Law Journal, Chicago Lawyer, ABA Law Student Magazine, and others.

Mr. Awad holds a J.D. in addition to a Master’s degree in Near and Middle East Studies and a Certificate in Comparative Law from the University of London.

Jesse I. Aweida

Jesse Aweida is the General Partner of Aweida Venture Partners, a venture capital firm that specializes in technology investments. Prior to establishing the venture business, Mr. Aweida founded Storage Technology Corporation, a company in the computer storage field which he built into a $1 billion company in 12 years.

Mr. Aweida was born in Palestine and spent his early years in Haifa. After leaving his home in 1948, he worked in the oil fields of Saudi Arabia for 2 years prior to coming to the US in 1952.

After graduating from Swarthmore College in 1956, he joined IBM Corporation where he was employed for 13 years in various engineering positions. During that time, he also received his MS degree from Syracuse University.

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Peter is the President and CEO of Westland Development Services, Inc. in Boulder, CO. Westland Development is a real estate development company that builds, owns and manages commercial properties in Colorado and Arizona. Peter received a B.S. in Entrepreneurship and Small Business Management from the University of Colorado in 1994 and an MBA in Real Estate from the University of Colorado in 2000. While an undergraduate, Peter served as President of the Arab Student Club which helped organize various social and political events on campus to educate the Boulder community about Arabs and the Palestinian – Israeli conflict. He also served as co-vice chair of the Cultural Events Board which used student fees to bring political and cultural events to Boulder. Peter’s father, Jabra Aweida, was born in Haifa, Palestine in 1925. Peter was born in Beirut, Lebanon in 1972. Peter married Lalenia Quinlan in June, 2003 and has two daughters, Rose Aweida, born in December, 2004 and Vivian Aweida, born in October, 2007.

Tawfiq Barqawi is a businessman of the greater Philadelphia region. His business ventures include real estate, convenience stores, and the exportation of goods overseas. Mr. Barqawi is a member of the National Advisory Board of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, the Vice-President of the ADC Philadelphia Chapter, and is a member of the Arab American Institute National Policy Council.

Along with his involvement with Arab American organizations, Mr. Barqawi has become an activist with state and local government on civil and human rights issues. He is currently a board member of the State of New Jersey Human Relations Council and was appointed by freeholders as Gloucester County Human Relations Commissioner. The Camden County Board of Chosen Freeholders and County Human Relations Commission awarded Mr. Barqawi the Unsung Hero of Human Relations Award as result of his significant role post September 11.

Ameen Estaiteyeh is managing partner of Investology, Inc., an investment advisory and independent research firm that was ranked third in the United States by Business Week Magazine for Independent research returns. Prior to founding Investology, Inc., Mr. Estaiteyeh was a financial advisor at Morgan Stanley Dean Witter.

Mr. Estaiteyeh is a board member of Darul-Salam Center, an American institute based in Washington, DC. He also co-founded the IME-London (Institute Of Mechanical Engineers) at Kuwait University.

He was born in Kuwait, received his B.S. from Kuwait University, and his G.D. from the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT) in Melbourne, Australia. Mr. Estaiteyeh has lived in the U.S. since 1998 and currently resides in Virginia with his wife Sana and their two children

George S. Hishmeh is a Washington-based columnist and writer for Gulf News (Dubai), The Jordan Times (Amman) and The Daily Star (Beirut), which is published jointly with The International Herald Tribune. He is also president of the Washington Association of Arab Journalists (WAAJ), a group that includes 50 journalists cover most of the Arab media, print and electronic.

He previously served as editor of al-Majal magazine and also the Arabic Wireless File, a daily news service; both are published by the U.S. Information Agency, where he worked for 25 years until 1998..

In 1969 he was editor of Mideast magazine, a Washington-based bimonthly magazine. On his arrival in the United States in 1968, he was on the staff of the Chicago Sun-Times and in 1971 he was an assistant foreign editor at The Washington Post.

Prior to coming to the United States, he was editor-in-chief of The Daily Star 1962-1967 and in 1967 was founding editor of The Libyan Times, Benghazi. He was a correspondent for the Associated Press in Kuwait (1958) and in Libya (1967).

A graduate of The American University of Beirut, George Hishmeh was born in Nazareth, Palestine. He is married to Lili Wilson and their children are Omar and Leila. He resides in Kensington, MD.

Maha Kaddoura has been a member of the board of trustees of Tufts University since 1993, and helped to establish a course for Middle East Studies there. Mrs. Kaddoura is also a member of the board of the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy. She is a member of the Welfare Association for Palestine and the Arab Thinkers Organization. Mrs. Kaddoura founded the Kaddoura Foundation to help mothers who are head of households in Camp Ain El-Halawa in Lebanon, and to help students from medical schools volunteer in refugee camps.

After moving to the United States in 1994, Mrs. Kaddoura graduated from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University in 2000 with a Master of Public Administration. She is a member of the Dean’s Committee of the Kennedy School of Government, and in 2000 helped to establish a program called “Strengthening the Palestinian Authority.”

Mrs. Kaddoura was born in Lebanon. She earned her bachelor’s degree in 1974 at American University in Beirut. During the civil war in Lebanon she lived in Paris. There, she founded “Le Prix Francais du Monde Arab,” a prize for an Arab writer or poet who writes in French about the Arab world. Mrs. Kaddoura lives in Monaco and has three children.

In 1987, Omar M. Kader formed Pal-Tech, Inc., a management consulting firm focusing on training and education, technical assistance, and management. The firm currently has contracts with the Department of Health and Human Services, the Department of Labor, the Department of State’s Foreign Service Institute, the Office of Personnel Management and the Agency for International Development.

Dr. Kader is very active in civic affairs. In 1994, he accompanied President Clinton to Jordan as a member of the White House delegation to the peace signing between Israel and Jordan. He frequently provides expert commentary to news organizations and conducts public speaking engagements on the development of political issues in the Middle East. Dr. Kader has served as an official international election monitor and observer of elections in Morocco, Yemen, and Palestine.

Dr. Kader was born in Provo, Utah. He earned a Ph.D. from the University of Southern California where he wrote his dissertation on foreign policy and international relations. He served as Assistant Dean in the College of Social Sciences where he served in various roles in the development of general education curriculum development, student affairs and directing student advising. Dr. Kader also taught political science and international relations at Brigham Young University. Dr. Kader left the university for Washington, D.C., where he served as the Executive Director of the United Palestinian Appeal, a Palestinian charity and later as Executive Director of Arab-American Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC), a civil rights group.

The Right Reverend Samir H. Kafity, Bishop in Residence in Poway, was born in Haifa. He received a Dip. Th. from the Near East School of Theology and his BA from the American University of Beirut. He also holds a D.D. from Dickinson College, an S.T.D. from Virginia Theological Seminary and a D.D. from the University of Kent. He served as Executive Secretary of the Diocesan Council from 1976-1982; in 1982 he was ordained Bishop and on January 6, 1984 he was installed as the twelfth diocesan Bishop in Jerusalem and the Middle East.

Bishop Kafity opened and dedicated St. Margaret’s Hostel in Nazareth, a hostel and conference center for pilgrims. He also succeeded in renovating and building an extra wing at Saint Luke’s Hospital and the Arab Evangelical Hospital in Nablus, as well as at the Ahli Hospital in Gaza, both hospitals serving a large Palestinian refugee population.

Bishop Kafity is an honorary Life President of the Middle East Council of Churches which comprises 14 million Christians of the Middle East. He has also served under Prince Hassan of Jordan on the Hashemite Commission in Jerusalem.

Bishop Kafity is co-founder of the San Diego Christian-Muslim Dialogue group, along with Jewish scholar and professor Maurice Friedman. He has held the title of Bishop-in-Residence in Poway, California since his retirement in 1998.

Imad Khalidi is Chief Executive Officer of Auto Europe, the leader of European car rental services in North America. Imad Khalidi joined Auto Europe in 1990 as Executive Vice President, rising to the position of President in 1991. Khalidi has 30 years experience in the industry including prior background as a Manager with the Hertz Corporation in 1978, joining Europcar in 1983 as International Licensee Manager, responsible for licensees in over thirty countries. He was later promoted to the position of International Travel Trade Manager, with Auto Europe as one of his first accounts.

During the past 16 years, his unique management style and customer service oriented policies attributed to the growth and success of the firm and have set industry standards that have been widely imitated. Described as ebullient, focused, dynamic and principled, Khalidi’s leadership and passion has guided Auto Europe from being a “car rental broker” to a leader in European car rental services. In 1994, he expanded the company’s services to include scheduled air service and European hotel accommodations which now accounts for 35% of the company’s total business.

His drive has not gone unnoticed by the industry and Khalidi has been the recipient of many awards and nominations from the trades including ASTA, ARTA, Travel Trade Magazine, Travel Weekly and Travel Agent Magazine. Khalidi is focused on continuing to grow Auto Europe’s market share and also expanding the company internationally.

Imad Khalidi was born in Jerusalem and graduated from Jean Baptiste de La Salle College. He currently resides in Cape Elizabeth, Maine with his wife. He is a father of eight children.

Mr. Khatib is the President of Intram Investments, Inc. He has directed the activities of Intram and its predecessor, Intram Realty, since 1985. Prior to founding Intram, Mr. Khatib was a Financial Analyst and Portfolio Manager with The Olayan Group.

He resigned his position at Olayan Group in 1984 to start his real estate development and investment activities, beginning with apartment and retail renovations in the five New York Burroughs and continuing to development throughout the Northeast. In 1987, Mr.
Khatib began operations in Central Florida and in 1990 moved to Orlando to concentrate real estate activities in this market.

Under his guidance, Intram has grown from a "startup" to controlling assets in many states. Intram's growth resulted from the strong relationships formed with investors, lending institutions, buyers, sellers, tenants, and real estate professionals.

Mr. Khatib received a Master in Business Administration, with a concentration in Finance, from the University of Baltimore in 1981. In addition, Mr. Khatib has a bachelor degree in Philosophy from the Lebanese University in Beirut and a Bachelor of Science in Management from the University of Baltimore.

Farah Munayyer is a research scientist at Schering-Plough Research Institute in Kenilworth, New Jersey. He is responsible for the introduction of pharmaceutical products into the world market and holds patents on several of those products.

In 1987, Mr. Munayyer and his wife Hanan co-founded the Palestinian Heritage Foundation, a non-profit educational and cultural foundation that promotes Palestinian cultural traditions through the presentation of lectures, costume shows, and museum exhibits throughout the United States, Canada and Palestine.

Mr. Munayyer has been an active member of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) since its inception in 1980. In 1996, he founded the New Jersey Chapter of the ADC. After five years under his leadership, the chapter continues to thrive, and is a powerful force in New Jersey public life.

Mr. Munayyer was born in Jaffa, Palestine in 1941. He received a Bachelor’s degree in Pharmacy from Hebrew University and later obtained his Master’s degree in Biochemistry from Fairleigh Dickinson University in New Jersey. Mr. and Mrs. Munayyer live in New Jersey and have three daughters.

Joey Musmar is the managing partner of MillerMusmar CPA's with offices in Reston and Manassas, Virginia. Mr. Musmar leads a team of experts that provide tax, accounting and advisory services; ranging from complex tax planning for mergers and acquisitions to financial and benefits planning for corporate executives and entrepreneurs. Mr. Musmar joined MillerMusmar as a Partner in 1999 and became the Managing Partner in 2004, and has more than a decade of experience in public accounting.

Mr. Musmar previously worked for Deloitte & Touche and Arthur Andersen. He was a significant contributor in the corporate tax compliance divisions of both firms and eventually formed his own full service accounting firm, Musmar & Company.

In addition to specializing in tax compliance and planning, Mr. Musmar is well versed in accounting software management and installation. He received is Bachelors of Science degree in Accounting from George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia, and he is a licensed Certified Public Accountant (CPA) and a Certified Valuation Analyst (CVA).

Sir Rateb Y. Rabie the founder and President of the Holy Land Christian Ecumenical Foundation (HCEF), an organization dedicated to improving the lives of Palestinian Christians and raising awareness about the situation in the Holy Land. He was born in Amman, Jordan to Palestinian parents, and came to the United States in 1976. Here he became a citizen and obtained a degree in Business Management. From 1981 to 1986, he was Director of Operations for Saudi Support Services, Ltd. In 1988, he moved to Washington, D.C. where he managed and owned several businesses. He is currently the President of Image Printing and Publishing and works as an international consultant for business development. Sir Rateb is a co-founder and past National President of the Birzeit Society and a co-founder of the Institute for Health, Development, and Research in Palestine. Sir Rateb is the Co-Chair of the Holy Land Outreach Committee of the Maryland Knights of Columbus and serves as a Knight Commander of the Holy Sepulcher. He is committed to improving living conditions in the Holy Land and preserving its Christian heritage, and advocates for peace and justice in Palestine and improved Muslim - Christian relations.

Tareq Salahi is the CEO and Owner of the Oasis Winery in Hume,Virginia. He is also founder and President of Oasis Limousines & Wine Country Tours, President of Oasis Yachts & Wine Tasting Cruises, and the founder and President of the Blue Ridge Wine Way. Oasis Winery was one of the first United States wineries to be added to the elite listing of the Top 10 Sparkling Wines & Champagnes in the World by the Wine Enthusiast Magazine.

Mr. Salahi travels the world as the Team Captain for the United States Polo Team and represents both the United States and Palestine on his diplomatic polo tours. The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society named Mr. Salahi their 2002 National Man of the Year. He is a board member of the Wolf Trap Foundation for the Performing Arts, and the Make-A-Wish Foundation of the Mid Atlantic, an Honorary Chairman of the Smithsonian Associates, and Founding Contributing Member of the Virginia Regional Therapeutic Center. He also devotes his time to the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, St. Jude’s Children Research Hospital, the American Cancer Society, Meadow Outdoor Foundation/Virginia Gold Cup, British Forces Foundation, MADD & Charity Polo Matches throughout the United States and the United Kingdom.

Mr. Salahi graduated from University of California at Davis with a Bachelorof Science in Enology and Business Marketing Management.

George R. Salem, Esq.

George R. Salem established the Law Offices of George R. Salem, PLLC in January 2005. Mr. Salem was a partner at the law firm of Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld, LLP from 1990 until then, where he headed the firm's Middle East and U.S. Department of Labor practices. He joined the firm in 1990 after serving as solicitor of the U.S. Department of Labor during the second Reagan term. In addition to playing key roles in the Reagan-Bush '84, Bush-Quayle '88 and Bush-Cheney 2000 and 2004 Campaigns, Mr. Salem served as a member of the board of directors of the Overseas Private Investment Corporation and as chairman of the Tripartite Advisory Panel on International Labor Standards, the legal arm of the President's Committee on the International Labor Organization.

Mr. Salem received a B.A. in 1975 and a J.D. in 1977 from Emory University. In 1984 he received an LL.M. in labor law from the Georgetown University Law Center. He is a member of the Bars of Georgia, Florida and the District of Columbia.

Mr. Salem serves on the board of directors of both the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee and NAAA-ADC, co-founded the Arab American Institute in 1985 and currently serves as its chairman, and has served as treasurer of United Palestinian Appeal, Inc. since 1982. He is a past president of the National Association of Arab Americans.

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Saliba Sarsar is the Associate Vice President for Academic Program Initiatives and Professor of Political Science at Monmouth University. As Associate Vice President, he provides main direction for general education, experiential education, study abroad, Honors Program, Global Understanding Project, and Governor’s School for Public Issues and the Future of New Jersey.

In 1993, Dr. Sarsar co-founded Project Understanding in Monmouth County, New Jersey, an organization that assembles Arab and Jewish Americans for dialogue and peaceful coexistence activities. In recognition for his work, he received the Humanitarian Award from the National Conference for Community and Justice in 2001. He was also Scholar-in-Residence at the Tantur Ecumenical Institute in Jerusalem in 2003.

Dr. Sarsar published two books of poetry, Crosswinds and Seven Gates. Dr. Sarsar is a frequent speaker on Middle East affairs and has been featured in journals, newspapers, and television and radio news shows.

Dr. Sarsar was raised in Jerusalem and lived through the Six-Day War. He received his Bachelor’s Degree in History and Political Science from Monmouth College, and he later earned his Doctoral Degree from Rutgers University in Political Science. Dr. Sarsar lives in Tinton Falls, New Jersey with his wife Hiyam and daughters Noor Evelyn and Hania.

Zuhair Suidan has an extensive career in consulting, marketing, organization building, business development and strategic planning. He is the principal of Suidan Associates, a management consultancy he established in 1993 after a 23 year career with IBM, which focuses on business and market strategy development and deployment, and marketing skill building. He has served on the boards of the World Affairs Forum and American Near East Refugee Aid.

Mr. Suidan was born in Palestine and as a young child was a refugee in Lebanon for five years. He received his high school education in Israel and his college education in the United States, earning his Bachelor of Science and MBA from the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago. He resides in Connecticut with his wife Jean, with whom he has been blessed with two daughters and two sons.

Cheryl Sukhtian was born in Detroit, Michigan. She received a B.A. in Psychology from the University of Houston in 1970. In 1971 she moved to Nablus, Palestine where she lived with her family until 1978 when they relocated to Amman, Jordan. Her experiences during this time informed and influenced her interests in the Middle East and specifically, the Palestine/Israel conflict.

She co-founded, in Amman, Jordan, the first ever chapter of the National Association of Arab-Americans outside of the United States in 1983. Over the period of the next few years the group put together a booklet “It Happened to Us” describing experiences under Israeli occupation, met in Amman with visiting congressional delegations, and contributed to the local English language newspaper commentary about life under occupation.

In 2003, she graduated from the George Washington University School of Education and Human Development with an M.A. in Community Counseling where she was awarded the Clemmont E. Vontress Cross Cultural Counseling Award for outstanding scholarship, achievement and dedication to the promotion of cross-cultural understanding, social justice, and racial harmony. She has served for many years on the Board of Directors of the Al Hussein Society for the Habilitation and Rehabilitation of the Physically Challenged in Amman and is currently working to establish a professional counseling center at that institution.

Cheryl resides between Amman, Jordan and Washington, DC.

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Ali Mosa Zaghab, Ph.D., is the founder and owner of Atlantic Coast Realty, a brokerage firm and engineering company in the Baltimore-Washington, D.C. corridor. He also hosts a weekly show on cable T.V. entitled, “Building Peace Between Israelis and Palestinians”. Dr. Zaghab is a recognized public speaker on Israeli-Palestinian issues and on religious cooperation in a two-state solution to the conflict. He is a regular guest on local T.V. and radio programs, and has been recognized by the Baltimore Jewish Council and Christian groups for his advocacy of the Palestinian cause within the context of finding common ground between Israelis and Palestinians.

Dr. Zaghab was born in Jammain, Palestine in 1947. He graduated from Kuwait University in English in 1970. In 1974, he received his Masters of Art (English) from State University of New York at New Paltz. In 1980, he received his Ph.D. in Shakespearean Literature from the University of Maryland College Park where he also taught in the English Department.

Dr. Zaghab returned to the Occupied Palestinian Territories in 1980 with faculty appointments at Al-Najah University and Bir Zeit University in the West Bank until 1983. In 1983, Dr. Zaghab was an invited lecturer at a number of notable universities in Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Yemen, Algeria, and Kuwait. He returned to the United States where he served as Special Consultant of Cultural & Linguistic Affairs of the U.S. State Department for the next four years.

Over the years, Dr. Zaghab has served in many leadership roles with the Arab-American Anti-Discrimination Committee and within the peace community.

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Beginning in his Sterling Kansas, garage lab in the evenings and weekends (with the full knowledge and blessing of his supervisors at Carey Salt), Gene developed and started JACAM Chemical Co. in 1982, with the development and sale of one drum of oil field treating chemical. With the profits from that first drum of corrosion/scale inhibitor (for which he later received a patent) he manufactured more chemicals. And on this process went. In 1985 he quit his job at Carey Salt and worked at JACAM full time, serving multiple functions for the small company. Outside investors became interested in what Gene Zaid was doing and JACAM Chemical became JACAM Chemicals L.L.C. (U.S.A.) With Gene as full-time president and part-time chemist, the company has grown to 120 employees stationed throughout Kansas and in Oklahoma, Kentucky and Michigan. Distributors live in several states across the United States and in Jordan. Plans are in place to build plants in several other countries. Gene’s innovative method for the application of hazardous substances commonly used in the oil and gas fields is the pelletization of otherwise flammable and corrosive products into an environmentally- and user-friendly product. Spills can be picked up, without any contamination to the earth/humans.

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