Intersections in Activism

Rebecca Vilkomerson and Sa'ed Atshan, two prominent voices in the movement for Palestinian rights, come together to discuss how identities can both advance and complicate activism, highlighting issues that range from LGBTQ rights in Palestine to the centrality of Jewish allies and the importance of combatting Antisemitism.

Rebecca Vilkomerson, is the former Executive Director of Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP), a leading national organization inspired by Jewish tradition to work for a just peace for all the people of Israel and Palestine. Rebecca has been widely published in numerous media outlets, including The Los Angeles Times, CNN.com, The Nation, The Hill, Huffington Post, Tikkun and Zeek. In 2010, she was named as one of the Forward 50, the Forward's list of 50 most influential Jewish Americans. Rebecca has a master's degree in Public Policy from Johns Hopkins University. Rebecca lived in Israel with her family from 2006-2009.

Sa'ed Atshan is currently a Visiting Assistant Professor of Anthropology and Visiting Scholar in the Center for Middle Eastern Studies at University of California Berkeley for the 2020-2021 academic year. He is also an Assistant Professor of Peace and Conflict Studies at Swarthmore College. He previously served as a Postdoctoral Fellow at Brown University's Watson Institute for International Studies.
As an anthropologist and peace and conflict studies scholar, Atshan's research is focused on a) contemporary Palestinian society and politics, b) global LGBTQ social movements, and c) Quaker Studies and Christian minorities in the Middle East.
His forthcoming book, Paradoxes of Humanitarianism: The Social Life of Aid in the Palestinian Territories, examines the politics of international aid provision in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

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Co-hosted with: SIPA DEICE Committee

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