Valentina Azarova
Valentina Azarova is an international legal academic and practitioner working at the intersection of power, law, and violence, with over 15 years of experience advising social and liberation movements, NGOs, international and inter-governmental organizations and governments, primarily in the Middle East, Central Asia and Africa. She holds a PhD in law from NUI Galway’s Irish Centre for Human Rights and currently teaches transnational lawyering and human rights practice at different universities and is also a Research Fellow at the Manchester International Law Centre, University of Manchester. Valentina’s current research concerns practices and processes reproduction of (ir)responsibility in/by international law, and the relation between social justice struggles, accountability practices and the law.
Thayer Hastings
Al-Shabaka Policy Member Thayer Hastings is a graduate student at the CUNY Graduate Center in New York City where he is studying anthropology of the Arab world. He holds an M.A. degree from the Georgetown University Center for Contemporary Arab Studies. After completing a B.A. from the University of Washington in Seattle, he returned to Palestine, where he carried out research and advocacy in law and human rights. Thayer worked with Palestinian and international non-governmental organizations, including BADIL Resource Center and the American Friends Service Committee. His research and writing continue to be informed by a commitment to community-led initiatives and decolonizing methodologies.
Tamara Tamimi
Tamara Tamimi is a Palestinian born in Jerusalem. She holds an MA in Human Rights Law from SOAS, University of London, and is currently a student at Queen’s University Belfast School of Law where she is pursuing a PhD in international law and the Palestine question. Tamimi provides consulting services to Palestinian and international organizations around research, advocacy, political economy analysis, as well as program development and evaluation in the fields of gender equality, international law and human rights. Her particular focus is on the right to education, residency rights, cultural heritage, democratization, and social policy.
Tamara Ben-Halim
Al-Shabaka Policy Member Tamara Ben-Halim holds an MSc in Human Rights from the London School of Economics and an MA in Modern European Languages from the University of Edinburgh. Tamara has worked in non-profit and civil society for over 6 years, focusing on creative solutions to problems of social injustice, community mobilisation, and communication and outreach. She co-founded and led the international effort, Cycling4Gaza, for many years. She has produced several short films, including her documentary film Ain El Hilweh, which was nominated for an award at the California Arab Film Festival in 2011.
Talal Ahmad Abu Rokbeh
Talal Ahmad Abu Rokbeh, is a Palestinian residing in Gaza. He is a political researcher and holds a doctorate in political science from the University of Carthage in Tunis. He works as a political analyst and editor-in-chief of the magazine Tasamoh, and he is a member of the Arab Network for Tolerance. He has conducted several research projects, as well as political and legal studies. He is a trainer specialized in Palestinian political affairs, and has written many books on the Palestinian political system. He participated in many regional and local conferences on various political and human rights issues. He is a political analyst for several local and Arab satellite channels, a writer for media and research sites, and a trainer specialized in issues of democracy, human rights, and critical thinking skills for Palestinian civil society institutions. He is also a community activist, advocating for youth issues.
Shatha Abdulsamad
Shatha Abdulsamad is pursuing her MA in International Human Rights Law and Refugee Studies at the American University in Cairo. She previously worked as a political officer for the British Consulate General in Jerusalem and as programme manager at the German think-tank Friedrich-Ebert Foundation. Her field of expertise includes political analysis, human rights, and strategic political communication. She holds a higher diploma in Strategic and Political Communication from Birzeit University, a master’s degree in Business Management from the Vrije Universiteit Brussel, and a bachelor’s degree in Public Administration from Birzeit University.
Sara Husseini
Sara Husseini is the Director of the British Palestinian Committee, an independent voice on British policy towards Palestine. In previous roles, Sara has served as an advisor to senior Palestinian officials across a number of offices, including the Secretary-General of the PLO and the Palestinian Ambassador to Germany. She has supported the work of several civil society organizations, both in Palestine and in the Diaspora, and currently sits on the boards of BuildPalestine, the Britain Palestine Media Centre, and The Palestine Institute for Public Diplomacy. Sara holds a BA in German Studies and European History, a master’s in Islamic Studies, and a Ph.D. in early Christian-Muslim relations, all from the University of Birmingham.
Samar Batrawi
Samar Batrawi is a writer, editor and policy analyst. She is interested in identity politics and social movements, specifically those that interact with the question of Palestine. She has a PhD in Critical Security Studies from the Department of War Studies at King’s College London. She has previously worked for the Clingendael Institute in The Hague and King’s College London. Her work has appeared in Foreign Affairs, Middle East Eye, Guernica, and Fikra Magazine.
Salma Karmi-Ayyoub
Al-Shabaka Policy Member Salma Karmi-Ayyoub is a barrister specialising in criminal law. She provides legal consultancy and advice services to individuals, non-governmental organizations and solicitors’ firms on issues related to criminal and human rights law. From 2009 until 2012 she headed an international litigation project at the Palestinian human rights organisation Al Haq where she is currently a legal consultant focusing on issues related to corporate responsibility for human rights violations. Salma is Chair of the legal charity, Lawyers for Palestinian Human Rights. Her articles have appeared in the London Review of Books, The Huffington Post and The Nation, among other publications.
