Yassmine Hamayel
Al-Shabaka Policy Member Yassmine Saleh Hamayel is working on gender and security in Ramallah, and is active in the Palestinian youth movement. Her areas of interest include democratization, development, youth, and refugees.
Zaid Shuaibi
Al-Shabaka Policy Member Zaid Shuaibi is the Arab World and Palestine Coordinator for the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI). He holds an MA in International Politics from the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), where his research focused on China and East Asia relations with Israel and its effect on the region, as well as a BA in Public Administration from Birzeit University. Zaid previously served as the BDS National Committee Outreach Officer in Palestine and the Arab World.
Wassim F. Abdullah
Wassim F. Abdullah is a veteran engineer in electronics and telecommunications who has worked on diverse projects and policies to encourage multi-media and an information-based economy in Palestine. These include TV and radio stations, the Palestine Media Center, the Palestinian Legislative Council video-conference system between Ramallah and Gaza and its integration with the voting system, and the audio and lighting systems of Ramallah festivals. He also participated in the design of the IT strategy for Palestine and has consulted for Palestinian governmental as well as international organizations.
Weeam Hammoudeh
Dr. Weeam Hammoudeh is Assistant Professor at Birzeit University’s Institute of Community and Public Health. She holds a PhD and MA in Sociology from Brown University, and an MPH in Community and Public Health from Birzeit University. Her work focuses on understanding how political and social transformations impact health, psychosocial wellbeing, health and social systems, and population processes, particularly in Palestine. She has been involved in research projects on different topics, including youth mental health and wellbeing, adolescent refugee girls’ health, deprivation, and mental health, and health system preparedness in the COVID-19 response.
Yara Hawari
Yara Hawari is Al-Shabaka’s co-director. She previously served as the Palestine policy fellow and senior analyst. Yara completed her PhD in Middle East Politics at the University of Exeter, where she taught various undergraduate courses and continues to be an honorary research fellow. In addition to her academic work, which focused on indigenous studies and oral history, she is a frequent political commentator writing for various media outlets including The Guardian, Foreign Policy, and Al Jazeera English.
Walid Habbas
Walid Habbas is a researcher at the Palestinian Forum for Israeli Studies (MADAR) and a PhD candidate at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He is currently working on the West Bank-Israeli economic relationships with an emphasis on the multiple modes of interaction between Palestinian class-sectoral actors and the colonial structures: border and permit regimes. He is researching activities such as smuggling, labor migration, labor brokerage networks, logistic routes, and colonial economic interventions.
Toufic Haddad
Toufic Haddad is a Palestinian-American writer based in Jerusalem. He is the co-author and editor of Between the Lines: Readings in Israel, the Palesinians, and the U.S. ‘War on Terror‘. (Haymarket Books, 2007, co-written with Israeli author Tikva Honig-Parnass) and Towards a New Internationalism: Readings in Globalization, the Global Justice Movement and Palestinian Liberation (Muwatin: Ramallah 2006, [Arabic] co- written with Ala el Azzeh.) His writings on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict have been featured in The National, Al Jazeera English (web), Journal of Palestine Studies, Monthly Review Zine, Znet, Counterpunch, International Socialist Review, and Socialist Worker.
Wajjeh Abu Zarifa
Wajjeh Abu Zarifa is a journalist, researcher and professor of political science in Gaza, and a fellow at the University of Chicago. He holds a PhD from the Cairo-based Institute of Arab Research and Studies in political science, and a master’s degree in Israeli studies from the University of Jerusalem. Abu Zarifa has participated in numerous international conferences and seminars, and published scientific papers and research as well as political articles and opinion pieces. He has worked in the press for 30 years with local and international media outlets including most recently NBC News. Abu Zarifa served in a number of community posts, including director of the PLO’s national office for the defense of land and resistance of settlement, and a member of the Secretariat of the Palestinian Journalists’ Syndicate.
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.
