Kamal Abdel-Malek
Kamal Abdel-Malek is professor of Arabic literature, researcher, and translator who has taught at Princeton and Brown universities. At Brown, he contributed to and taught in the Brown University Program in Israeli and Palestinian Studies in Jerusalem and received the prestigious Wriston Fellowship for excellence in teaching and research. ProAbdel-Malek‘s work considers how people from different cultural backgrounds relate to one another without losing their authentic selves. Prof. Abdel-Malek has also worked as a consultant to the Dubai International Writers’ Center (DIWC), and the Emirates Festival of Literature. He is currently the Chief Editor of the Arabic and World Literature, a scholarly e-journal published by the London-based Andromeda Academic Services.
Muhammad Al-Hussaini
Sheikh Dr Muhammad Al-Hussaini is an academic and imam and is Senior Lecturer in Islamic Studies at the Oxford Centre for Religion and Public Life and Senior Fellow in Islamic Studies at the Westminster Institute. He was previously Research Fellow in Islamic Studies at Leo Baeck Rabbinical College, where he taught rabbis and rabbinical students classical Islamic theology in the context of Jewish-Muslim relations, undertaking parallel teaching in seminaries for ordinands to the Christian ministry at Oxford and Oak Hill Theological College. Sheikh Al-Hussaini has lectured in Islamic Studies and counter-terrorism at the Defence Academy of the United Kingdom and the George C Marshall European Center for Security Studies.
Mohammed S. Dajani Daoudi
Professor Mohammed S. Dajani Daoudi is a Jerusalem-born scholar and peace activist with doctorates from both the University of South Carolina and the University of Texas at Austin. In 2007, he established the Islamic movement "Wasatia" to promote reconciliation, moderation, tolerance, and peaceful coexistence. A political science professor, he was Head of Libraries and founding director of the American Studies Graduate Program at Al-Quds University. In 2014, he led 27 Palestinian students to Nazi concentration camps at Auschwitz and Krakow to teach about the Holocaust. Prof. Dajani received the Dr. Jean Mayer Global Citizenship Award from Tuft’s University in recognition of his work to encourage dialogue and find alternatives to the ideological roots of extremism.
David McIlveen
David McIlveen was an elected member of The Northern Ireland Assembly from 2011-2016. During his political tenure, he sat on the NI Education and Employment & Learning Committees and has an intricate understanding of the role of education in the context of a divided society. From 2013-2015, Mr. McIlveen was chairperson of Politics Plus, a UK nonprofit organization striving to empower and enable elected representatives towards good governance in conflict regions. This role focused on facilitating dialogue in Tunisia, Egypt, Turkey, Israel and The West Bank. From August 2015 to May 2017, he was a Political Member of the Northern Ireland Policing Board. Since 2017, Mr. McIlveen has headed various companies mainly aligned to the property sector.
Jean-Christophe Rufin
A doctor, diplomat, and writer, Dr. Jean-Christophe Rufin is a former intern and senior physician with Paris public hospitals, a neurologist and a hospital practitioner. He was a pioneer of Médecins Sans Frontières, where he was vice-president, and President of Action contre la Faim (Action against Hunger). Dr. Rufin was an adviser to the Secretary of State for Human Rights, the cultural and cooperation attaché in Brazil, and advisor in charge of peacekeeping operations for the Minister of Defense. In 2007, he was appointed French Ambassador to Senegal and the Gambia, a post he held until 2010. For the past 20 years, Dr. Rufin has written numerous novels and narratives.In 2008, he was elected to the Académie française.
Alan Shatter
A former member of the Irish Parliament for over 30 years, Mr. Alan Shatter served as the Irish Minister for Justice, Equality & Defence, and on the EU Councils of Justice & Home Affairs and Defence Ministers. During Ireland‘s EU presidency, he chaired meetings of both Councils of ministers. He was Chairman and member of Irish Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee. Beyond being a former consultant, lecturer and author on family law, he served on the Irish Parliaments Justice & Defence and Children‘s Rights committees. Shatter also practiced as a solicitor and solicitor advocate before the Irish High & Supreme Court. Shatter is the founding chairperson of Irish Parliament’s Ireland/Israel Friendship Committee and the current chairperson of Magen David Adom Ireland.