In our AGM of December, 2022, CJPME had the honour of welcoming six brilliant new individuals to our Board. This dynamic group will join our existing Board to begin a new era for the organization, expanding our impact and reach. As a first step in revitalizing our work, the Board will work with CJPME staff and volunteers in the months ahead to develop a new strategic plan for the organization. Read the bios of our Board leaders below, and please join us in giving a hearty welcome to the newcomers, and in thanking our long-serving veterans.
2023 will be an important year for CJPME, as we respond to Israel's dangerous right-wing government, and its brutal oppression of Palestinians. We'll need all the support we can get as we push our politicians and media to recognize the terrible abuses suffered by the Palestinian people. If you support our critical work, please consider making a donation to CJPME. Monthly donations are especially helpful, as they sustain our ongoing work. If you don't like to give by credit card, you can give via email transfer, over the phone (438-380-5410), or by completing and mailing in this form.
Please welcome our new Board members:
Chris has a rich mix of talents and skills, and has worked professionally as a consultant, coach, facilitator, and engineer. He often works with leaders to help them engage effectively with different types of audiences. Chris also trains individuals and organization on how to create workplaces that enable equity, diversity, inclusion and belonging. He has also been actively involved in the Green Party of Canada for many years. Chris is pursuing a Masters of Science in Communication, Behaviour, and Credibility Analysis with a focus on deception detection and leadership. In his spare time, Chris enjoys photography, studying performance psychology and linguistics, and trying new traditional and modern Palestinian recipes.
Ghada is a Palestinian activist-scholar, pursuing her PhD in Political Science (International Relations) at McMaster University. She also possesses a Master of Environmental Studies. Her dissertation uncovers Israel’s cooption of environmentalism to colonize Palestine, as well as Native history and resistance. She recently published in Politics and was interviewed by TRT World. Ghada acted as a spokesperson for the arms divestment campaign, YU Divest; was elected as the Graduate Student Representative on the McMaster University Board of Governors; and served on the McMaster University Graduate Students Association Council.
Amal has a B.A. Honours in Criminology and Political Science and a Juris Doctorate. She has worked as a lawyer in the public sector for over a decade. In addition, she has experience on various non-profit boards that focus on advocacy work. Outside of her professional obligations, Amal spends her time with her young kids and husband outdoors, baking and reading.
Nasser is an academic, chemical engineering, and long-time CJPME supporter. He has over a decade of experience in student organizations focused on human rights and social justice during his undergraduate and graduate studies. He is currently involved in supporting scientific research and teaching in Palestine, along with supporting academic freedom at Canadian universities. He also serves on the University of Waterloo’s Board of Governors.
Lena is a commercial tech consultant and privacy professional with experience working in multinationals in Dubai and Toronto. She has also completed a doctoral thesis on "The Right to Reparations of Palestinian Refugees under International Law" and has worked as an international development consultant for NGOs and UN Agencies based in Jordan and the UK, such as UNRWA, the UNHCR, the ILO and Minority Rights Group. She has authored several articles on Palestinian refugee rights and used to co-teach a course on ‘Palestinian refugees in International Law’ for Oxford University's Refugee Studies Center. She has a Bachelor of Civil Law and a Bachelor of Common Law from McGill University, and a Masters of Law (LLM) as well as a PhD in International Law from the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London.
Nada has a Computers B.Eng from McGill University. She is a Director of Engineering at a tech company. Prior to that, she was a startup entrepreneur. Nada is a Palestinian Canadian. Her family comes from Yafa and Akka. Her ancestors fled their homes during the Nakba in 1948, found refuge in Tulkarem, and then were forced to flee again in 1967. Like all Palestinian refugees they do not have the right of return. Nada feels strongly about advocating for Palestinian human rights, and that Canada can do a lot more to contribute to the achievement of justice in Palestine and ending the Apartheid, as well as to counter Anti-Palestinian Racism within Canada.
Please thank our long-standing Board veterans:
Libby served as Member of Parliament for Vancouver East from 1997 to 2015, and as the Deputy Leader of the Federal NDP from 2007 to 2015. Before her time in federal politics, Libby was a community organizer in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside, and elected to Vancouver City Council for 5 consecutive terms. She has written a political memoir called “Outside In” about her political experiences. She was awarded the Order of Canada in 2016. Libby has always been an outspoken advocate for Palestinian human rights, and she brought a principled and courageous perspective to the issue while on Parliament Hill. She was a member of the Canada Palestine Parliamentary Friendship Association, and helped plan events on the Hill to foster awareness of Palestine. After Israel’s war on Gaza in 2009 resulted in the deaths of 1400 Palestinians, she was part of a small group of two Canadian MPs who visited the territory. Following her visit, she introduced a statement and report to Parliament calling on Canada to support the Goldstone Report and its conclusions, which found evidence of Israeli war crimes.
Monia is an academic, award-winning Canadian author and human rights activist. She writes in French and English and has so far authored a memoir and three novels. Her latest novel, Farida won the Ottawa Book Award for French fiction. Monia Mazigh is an Adjunct and research Professor at Carleton University at the Department of English and Literature. Her new memoir, “My personal journey with a “Scar…f”, an essay/memoir about gendered islamophobia, will be published in 2023. Monia is a columnist with rabble.ca, ONFr+, and Islamic Horizons. She has published several articles with the Ottawa Citizen, the Globe and Mail and the Toronto Star and other newspapers. She also sits on several boards of non-profit and charitable organizations.
Dr. Abu-Zahra speaks five languages and has worked in multiple spaces of colonial and neocolonial conflict. She has collaborated on two books and over 30 other publications on freedom of movement, community mobilisation, systematic oppression, and resistance. She holds the Joint Chair in Women’s Studies at the University of Ottawa and Carleton University, and is an Associate Professor of International Development and Global Studies. She is co-facilitator of the Community Mobilization in Crisis project, a contributor to the work of the Feminist Foreign Policy Working Group, and a recipient of a uOttawa Award for Activities in the Media and the Community. Dr. Abu-Zahra earned her doctorate from the University of Oxford and was previously a SSHRC Doctoral and Postdoctoral Fellow, and a Research Fellow at the Oxford Refugee Studies Centre.
Gordon has a background in New Testament studies and international development, and holds a B.A. in Education and a Ph.D in theology. He has taught in Bolivia, has worked for Save the Children, has served in the refugee determination process in Canada, has worked for World Vision Canada, and has directed The Sharing Way (the international development program of Canadian Baptist Ministries). He has served on a board member of the Canadian Foodgrains Bank and El Centro de Estudios Teologicos Interdisciplinarios. More recently, and for over 10 years, he has worked with Canadian Baptist Ministries.
Jeffrey has been a CJPME leader in the Ottawa area since 2006. He has also been a CJPME Board member since 2008. Professionally, Jeff has worked in Human Resources management for the federal government for 25 years. He has worked for several departments and is currently a Director of HR services at Crown Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada. His many years of experience in the human resources field has enabled him to gain a strong understanding of what it takes to implement complex projects in the public sector in a people-centric approach, and build the strong relationships needed to make implementation a success. Jeff feels strongly that Canada must be more principled here and abroad to contribute to the achievement of this long sought justice, peace and development.
Can you support our work?
CJPME has a lot of important projects that we'll be announcing and releasing soon. If you believe in the work of CJPME, please consider making a gift of financial support to CJPME. Our work depends entirely on private donations. Monthly donations are especially helpful, as they sustain our ongoing work and make it easier for us to strategize for the future. If you don't like to donate by credit card, you may donate via email transfer, over the phone (438-380-5410), or complete and mail in this form. Thank you!