SJP Workshops

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Students for Justice in Palestine workshops

1. Utilizing social media to benefit the Palestinian cause

Speaker: Julia Salameh Moderator: Marwa Abed

Julia is the marketing director for the American Muslims for Palestine. She has a long history of activism for Palestine, including working with SJP's in the Chicago-land area, Islamic organizations including ISNA, MAS, ICNA, the Mosque Foundation, and many more. Julia got her bachelors degree in visual communications from the Illinois Institute of art in Chicago and is currently working on her master in Human Computer interaction.

2. Confronting the normalization of Zionism on U.S. campuses

Speaker: Alaa Milbes Moderator: Sami Kishawi

Alaa Milbes is a graduate student in the Middle Eastern, South Asian and African Studies department at Columbia University and is a founding member of Columbia Students for Justice in Palestine. She received her Bachelors degree from University of California, Riverside and was also an organizer for Students for Justice in Palestine in southern California.

3. The effects of the Israeli Public relations and rebranding campaign on U.S. government and media- Dr. Hatem Bazian

Speakers: Dr. Hatem Bazian & Thaer Ahmed Moderator: Basil Ali

Dr. Hatem Bazian received his Ph.D. in Philosophy and Islamic Studies from the University of California, Berkeley. Currently, Dr. Bazian is chairman of the board of the American Muslims for Palestine and is a senior lecturer in the departments of Near Eastern and Ethnic Studies. He is also an adjunct professor of law at Boalt Hall School of Law at the University of California, Berkeley. He teaches courses on Islamic Law and Society, Islam in America, Religious Studies, and Middle East Studies. In addition to Berkeley, Dr. Bazian is a visiting professor in Religious Studies at Saint Mary's College of California and is an adviser to the Religion, Politics and Globalization Center at UC Berkeley as well as Zaytuna Institute Dr. Bazian is known for being an organic intellectual, a term used for academics who directly connect their research to the people rather than looking down from the ivory tower. Dr. Bazian's most recent book, “Jerusalem in Islamic Consciousness A Textual Survey of Muslim Claims and Rights to the Sacred City,” is a reflection of his desire to contribute to a better understanding of the Muslim attachment and informed political attitudes toward the Sacred City and Palestine. As an activist, Dr. Bazian has played a significant role in almost every human and civil rights movement in the San Francisco Bay Area, nationally and internationally,including the defense of Affirmative Action in California, Americans with Disabilities Act, anti-apartheid and anti-globalization.

Thaer graduated with a degree in psychology from the University of Illinios at Urbana-Champaign in 2009. He was a member of the first Viva Palestina-US convoy to the Gaza Strip in July, and subsequently became the outreach coordinator for the second trip in Decemeber. He also served as the host of Radio Islam on WCEV 1450 AM Chicago. He is currently a 1st year medical student at Rush Medical College in Chicago.

4. Lessons from the UC Berkeley BDS campaign

Speakers: Osamah Khalil & Yaman Salahi Moderator: Dina Omar

Osamah is co-director of Al-Shabaka. He is a Ph.D. candidate in U.S. and Middle East History at the University of California at Berkeley. He has been a commentator for several media outlets, including the Real News Network and Al Jazeera English, and is a frequent contributor to the Electronic Intifada.

Yaman is currently a second year student at Yale Law School. Before law school, Yaman majored in Rhetoric at UC Berkeley. At Berkeley, he was a member of Students for Justice in Palestineand Cal Students for Equal Rights and a Valid Education (CalSERVE).

Dina is a Palestinian poet and graduate from the University California Berkeley in Middle Eastern Studies and Anthropology. She is now a graduate student in Anthropology at Columbia University. At UCB Dina studied and taught in June Jordan's Poetry for the People Program. Dina is an active organizer in Students For Justice in Palestine and the Palestine Youth Network and she was one the core organizers of UC Berkeley's divestment campaign and strategy. Dina is currently submitting her first book of poems to be reviewed for publication titled "sabbar".