Founder and President of Dar al-Kalima University College of Arts and Culture in Bethlehem. The most widely published Palestinian theologian to date, Dr. Raheb is the author of 18 books including: The Cross in Contexts: Suffering and Redemption in Palestine; I am a Palestinian Christian; Bethlehem Besieged, Faith in the Face of Empire: The Bible through Palestinian Eyes. His books and numerous articles have been translated so far into eleven languages. Rev. Raheb served as the senior pastor of the Christmas Lutheran Church in Bethlehem from June 1987 to May 2017 and as the President of the Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land from 2011-2016. A social entrepreneur, Rev. Raheb has founded several NGO‟s including Dar annadwa Cultural and Conference Center, Dar al Kalima University College of Arts and Culture, and the Christian Academic Forum for Citizenship in the Arab World (CAFCAW). He serves as an advisor to the Higher Presidential Palestinian Committee on Church Affairs.

Corinne Whitlatch began her Middle East peace journey in 1978 in Des Moines, Iowa where she staffed AFSC’s Middle East Peace Education program in their regional headquarters. She was active in Iowa’s peace movement and Democratic politics. In 1985, she moved to Washington and worked for the American affiliate of an Israeli peace group. In 1987, Corinne was hired to be coordinator of the NCC’s Middle East Task Force and the founding Director of Churches for Middle East Peace until December 2007.  She continues to live in Washington and does glass art inspired by her Middle East experiences.  

Dave Zirin is the sports editor at the Nation Magazine. He is the author of ten books on the politics of sports. Zirin also is a columnist for The Progressive. He also hosts the popular podcast, Edge of Sports.

Phyllis Bennis directs the New Internationalism Project at the Institute for Policy Studies, and is also a fellow of the Transnational Institute in Amsterdam. She was a co-founder of the US Campaign for Palestinian Rights, and currently serves on the national board of Jewish Voice for Peace. She has served as an adviser to several top UN officials on Palestine issues, and was short-listed in 2014 and again in 2016 to become the next UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. Phyllis writes and speaks widely on Middle East issues and is interviewed frequently in U.S. and global media. Her books include Understanding ISIS and the New Global War on Terror, as well as the best-selling Understanding the Palestinian-Israeli Conflict: A Primer.

Janeen Rashmawi is currently the communications manager at the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) in Washington D.C. At ADC, Ms. Rashmawi develops communication and public affairs strategies to advance the protection of civil and human rights. In particular, Ms. Rashmawi focuses on U.S. policies in relation to the protection of Palestinian human rights. Prior to P.L.O. General Delegation closing in October 2018, Ms. Rashmawi served as head of the Public Affairs at the P.L.O. General Delegation to the United States.

Rev. Dr. Mae Elise Cannon is the executive director of Churches for Middle East Peace and an ordained pastor in the Evangelical Covenant Church (ECC). Cannon formerly served as the senior director of Advocacy and Outreach for World Vision U.S. on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC; as consultant to the Middle East for child advocacy issues for Compassion International in Jerusalem; as the executive pastor of Hillside Covenant Church located in Walnut Creek, California; and as director of development and transformation for extension ministries at Willow Creek Community Church in Barrington, Illinois.

Rosita Michael Abel “Mike” is a Palestinian-American who worked in healthcare for most of her professional career. Her family originated in Palestine and the Latin America Diaspora. She has traveled to Israel, the West Bank and Gaza on peace and medical missions. In 2009, she was part of a diplomatic delegation with the Council of National Interest, visiting five Middle Eastern countries and Israel. In 2011, she spent three months doing a work/study in Palestine/Israel. Currently she serves on the board of Delaware Churches for Middle East Peace and is the co-founder of DelPHR (Delawareans for Palestinian Human Rights). She is the recipient of the 2014 Peacemakers Among Us Award from Pacem in Terris Delaware. She is part of an annual leadership program in Bethlehem. Through her advocacy and human rights work, she presents to a wide range of audiences including students and churches.

Rev. Douglas Leonard is the director of the World Council of Church's United Nations Office where he serves as the WCC’s representative to the UN. He advises the member churches of the World Council of Churches and regional ecumenical organizations about their domestic and international advocacy strategies and opens space for their voices to be amplified in the UN system. He follows the Sustainable Development Goals, peace building, and current international legal processes on behalf of the ecumenical movement. Rev. Leonard serves as the WCC liaison to the World Bank and IMF and oversees WCC engagement in Latin America and the Caribbean. Rev. Leonard has served as the director of global mission for the Reformed Church in America and as the executive director of Al Amana Centre, a center for the study of global Muslim-Christian relations and diplomacy based in the Sultanate of Oman. At Al Amana Centre he developed graduate and undergraduate academic programs in peace building, religion and diplomacy, and Christian and Muslim relations. His scholarly work has appeared in numerous academic journals and books and he serves as a special editor of The Muslim World. Rev. Leonard is an ordained minister in the Reformed Church in America and received his MDiv from Princeton Theological Seminary. 

Jonathan Kuttab is a Palestinian attorney, and human rights activist. He grew up in Jerusalem, studied in the US, graduating from University of Virginia law School . He is a member of the Bar Associations of New York, Palestine and Israel.
Mr. Kuttab founded a number of human rights organizations including Al Haq, the Premier Palestinian Human Rights organization, and the Mandela Institute for Palestinian Prisoners and is the Chairman of the Board Holy Land Trust. He is also a Board member of the Bethlehem Bible College Board of Trustees, and is active in many other civil society organizations in Palestine and internationally. He is a recognized authority on international law, human rights and Palestinian and Israeli affairs.

The Rev. John L. Vaswig is Senior Pastor at Mountain View Lutheran Church in Edgewood, Washington. He has served for 34 years in varying Lutheran churches. He is a graduate of Pacific Lutheran University and Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary. Pastor Vaswig has served in various leadership capacities in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America as well as with the Lutheran Alliance for Affordable Housing, China Partners Network, the Fund for Theological Education, and PLU Board of Regents. Under his leadership, Mountain View Lutheran established a food bank that serves 5,400 clients each month and a community center responding to seniors and youth alike. Ten years ago, on his first journey to Palestine, Pastor Vaswig became convicted regarding the plight of the Palestinian people. Since that time, having returned on multiple occasions, he has sought to advocate for the Palestinian people by educating his and other congregations on the layered complexities of life in Palestine.

Khaled Elgindy is a nonresident fellow in the Foreign Policy program at the Brookings Institution, where he was also a resident scholar from 2010 through 2018. He is the author of the newly released book, Blind Spot: America and the Palestinians, from Balfour to Trump, published by Brookings Institution Press in April 2019. Khaled previously served as an adviser to the Palestinian leadership in Ramallah on permanent status negotiations with Israel from 2004 to 2009, and was a key participant in the Annapolis negotiations of 2007-08. Khaled has held a number of political and policy-related positions in Washington, DC, both inside and outside of government, including with the U.S. House of Representatives’ International Relations Committee and the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom. Khaled holds an M.A. degree in Arab Studies from Georgetown University (1994) and a B.A. in Political Science from Indiana University-Bloomington (1991).

Joyce Ajlouny joined AFSC as general secretary on Sept. 1, 2017. A transformative Quaker leader, Joyce brings to AFSC a depth of experience in strategic planning, financial and personnel management, fundraising, and communication spanning 27 years. Prior to joining to AFSC, Joyce served as the director of the Ramallah Friends School in Palestine, where she has led a diverse staff of over 170 educators and administrators for the past 13 years. She spent the prior 14 years working in international development focusing on minority and refugee rights, gender equality, economic development, and humanitarian support. She served as the country director for Palestine and Israel with Oxfam-Great Britain, chaired the Association of International Development Agencies there, and worked as a program officer and project manager at various United Nations agencies. Joyce holds a master’s degree in Organizational Management and Development from Fielding Graduate University in California.