Huwaida Arraf

Huwaida Arraf "is a first generation Palestinian-American. She was born and raised in Detroit, MI. She received her undergraduate degree from the University of Michigan in 1998 with majors in Political Science, Arabic and Hebrew & Judaic Studies. Huwaida spent her junior year abroad, studying at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem – the only Arab on the program. After graduation, she worked for the Arab American Institute to promote the rights of Arab-Americans. In 2000, Huwaida became a Program Coordinator in Jerusalem with Seeds of Peace – an American-based non-profit organization focused on working with youth from regions of conflict, including the Middle East, Cyprus and the Balkans.

"Huwaida left Seeds of Peace after becoming involved in active resistance to the Israeli occupation forces and policies. With other Palestinian and international activists, she co-founded the International Solidarity Movement in April, 2001. In April 2002, as Israeli forces continued their siege on the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, Huwaida led a group of international activists to the Church to deliver bread and food to people trapped in the Church. She was arrested by the Israeli Army and forced to leave the country. She returned a month later and resumed her organizational role with the ISM. Huwaida has been arrested over a dozen times over the past four years by the Israeli military for nonviolent protest in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. In addition, Huwaida co-edited Peace under Fire (2004), a collection of personal accounts of ISM volunteers published by Verso Books.

"Currently she is a third year student at American University’s Washington College of Law. Her focus is International Human Rights Law. She is a research associate with the Public International Law and Policy Group, co-chairs the Students for Justice in Palestine at the Washington College of Law, and serves on the advisory board of KinderUSA as well as the steering committee of the US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation. Huwaida is married to fellow human rights activist, Adam Shapiro."

• Speaker, Palestine Freedom Project