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Dr. Aaron David Miller,
Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars
Dr. Aaron David Miller, former Middle East Advisor to six different US Secretaries of State, former President of Seeds of Peace, and currently the Vice President for New Initiatives and a Distinguished Scholar at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. Dr. Miller is an Historian, analyst, negotiator, and former advisor to Republican and Democratic Secretaries of State on Arab-Israeli negotiations, 1978-2003. He is an expert on U.S. Politics, U.S. Foreign Policy, Middle East and North Africa, Israel, Palestinian Authority, and the author of The Much Too Promised Land: America's Elusive Search for Arab-Israeli Peace (Bantam, 2008), among other books on the region.
Professor Tova Hartman,
Bar Ilan University
Professor Tova Hartman of Bar Ilan University in Ramat Gan, Israel, won the National Jewish Book Award for Women's Studies for her work on Feminism within Judaism and in Israel. A professor of Gender Studies and Education, Hartman is an expert on the relationship between religion and Gender in Israel. She is a founder of Kehillat Shira Hadasha, a congregation organized to increase women's participation and leadership within traditional Jewish prayer.
Professor Ilan Troen,
Schusterman Center for Israel Studies, Brandeis University
Professor Ilan Troen is the Stoll Family Chair in Israel Studies and Director of the Schusterman Center for Israel Studies. and writer of 11 books on Israel's history and it's relationship with Judaism and the United States. Before joining Brandeis, he served as director of the Ben-Gurion Research Institute and Archives in Sede Boker, Israel, and dean of the faculty of humanities and social sciences at Ben-Gurion University.
Professor Shai Feldman,
Crown Center for Middle East Studies, Brandeis University
Professor Shai Feldman is the Judith and Sidney Swartz Director of the Crown Center for Middle East Studies at Brandeis University. He is also an Associate Fellow of the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) in London, and a member of the Board of Directors of Harvard University's Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs. Among numerous other positions, in 2001-2003 he served as a member of the UN Secretary General's Advisory Board on Disarmament Matters. Prof. Feldman also authored many books on Israel, including The Future of U.S.-Israel Strategic Cooperation(Washington D.C.: The Washington Institute for Near East Policy, 1996).
Bambi Sheleg,
Eretz Acheret Magazine
Bambi Sheleg is an Israeli Journalist and the founder and editor of the Magazine and NGO Eretz Acheret (“A Different Israel”). Eretz Acheret analyzes social, cultural and spiritual developments in Israel and promotes a discourse that places emphasis on issues of society and identity.
Yousef Bashir,
International Student & Scholar Institute, Northeastern University
Yousef Bashir is a Palestinian staff member at the Northeastern University International Student & Scholar Institute, a peace activist and a public speaker. Born and raised in the Gaza Strip, at the age of 15 he was shot by an IDF soldier next to his family's home. He was treated and fully rehabilitated in Israel, sponsored by the German embassy in Israel, and now works to spread his message that co-existence between Israelis and Palestinians is possible. He has shared his story and participated in conferences in 12 US states so far.
Dr. Theodore Sasson,
Cohen Center for Modern Jewish Studies, Brandeis University
Dr. Theodore Sasson is Senior Research Scientist at the Cohen Center for Modern Jewish Studies and the Steinhardt Social Research Institute at Brandeis University and a professor or International Studies at Middlebury College. His recent work concentrates on Israeli political culture and Israel-Diaspora relations. Sasson also serves as a co-principal investigator of evaluation research for Taglit-Birthright Israel.
Lex Rofes,
Brown University and Hillel Board of Directors
Lex Rofes is a Senior at Brown University, hailing from Milwaukee, Wisconsin and concentrating in Judaic Studies. He serves as a Student Representative on the Board of Directors of Hillel: The Foundation for Jewish Campus Life, and he is the opinions editor of New Voices, an online magazine published by and for Jewish college students. His involvement with Israel-Palestine issues has included membership on the planning committees for Brown University's inaugural Israel-Palestinian Peace Week and 31n35e: An Israeli and Palestinian Film Festival.
Matt Lebovic,
Combined Jewish Philanthropies
Matt Lebovic is the senior campus associate at Combined Jewish Philanthropies, where he manages the IACT Campus Initiative across twelve partner campuses, including Brandeis. His MA is from Hebrew University in Society and Politics of Israel, with a BA from Boston University in Public Relations. During both graduate school and Project Otzma in Israel, Matt volunteered for organizations including the Jerusalem Open House, the Hand in Hand schools, and Elem. Matt has extensive experience in Jewish education and Israel engagement, including ten years of teaching at Temple Israel Boston. In addition to his responsibilities at CJP, he freelances for The Times of Israel about Jewish, Israel and particularly Holocaust-related topics.
Dr. Yehuda Mirsky,
Schusterman Center for Israel Studies, Brandeis University
Dr. Yehudah Mirsky is an associate professor of the practice of Near Eastern and Judaic Studies at Brandeis University. In the past, he worked as an aide to Senators Bob Kerrey and Al Gore, and as special advisor in the US State Department's human rights bureau under the Clinton Administration. He has written widely on politics, theology and culture for a number of publications including The New Republic and The Economist, and is a Contributing Editor of the Jerusalem Report and is on the editorial board of Eretz Acheret. The courses he teaches at Brandeis focus, among other issues, on understanding the nexus of religion, state and society in Israel.
AB Troen,
Brandeis University
Abraham "AB" Troen is a junior at Brandeis University. Born in Israel, he grew up in Southern Israel, the United States and England. At 18, he joined the Israel Defense Forces as a Combat Paramedic. Before transferring to Brandeis, he attended the Sam Spiegel Film Academy in Jerusalem, and worked as photographer and cinematographer for Eretz Acheret Magazine, Magen David Adom (Israel's national emergency medical service) and various international production companies filming in Israel.
Shai Bazak,
Consul General of Israel to the New England Area
Mr. Shai Bazak is the Consul General of Israel to New England. In the past he served as the media director and spokesperson for Benjamin Netanyahu for four years, including during his first term as a prime minister (1996-1998). Before New England, Mr. Bazak was the Consul General of Israel to Florida and Puerto Rico (1998-2000). He also worked as a political journalist and strategic consultant, and as a lecturer of media and spokesmanship at the Interdisciplinary Center in Herzliya.
