RECORDING | IATF Annual Meeting – The Year in Arab society and Jewish Arab Relations in Israel

About the Speakers:

Shahira Shalaby, Haifa’s deputy mayor and a city councilor, holds a masters’ degree in Religion Studies, and a bachelor’s degree in Social Work. She is engaged in social activism at the local, national, and international levels and has held several positions in social change organizations. Shahira was among the founders of the Palestinian Feminist Movement in Israel and has established several initiatives and organizations working to improve the status of Arab women in Israel.

Shahira has consulted for social change organizations on issues of leadership, planning and strategic thinking, teamwork, developing and managing resources, and community work. She is a group facilitator, specializing in dialogue and conflict resolution, as well as facilitator training.

Mohammed Wattad (LL.B., LL.M., JSD) is an Associate Professor and the Dean of Law at Zefat Academic College and a Senior Researcher at the Institute for National Security Studies at Tel-Aviv University.

Prof. Wattad is a legal scholar specializing in international and comparative criminal law, the laws of war, the laws on terrorism, the rule of law, and other issues concerning the Arab minority citizens of Israel.

He is the 2020 winner of the prestigious Zeltner Young Scholar Award. Between 2003 and 2004, he served as a legal clerk at the Supreme Court of Israel under the supervision of Justice Dalia Dorner. Since 2009, he has served as a member of the General Assembly and the Presidential Board of Israel Press Council. Since 2020 he serves as a member of the Israeli Institute for Press and Media Board of Governance.

Prof. Wattad holds many important public and professional positions including as a member of the Public Committee for Recommending Nominees for the Position of the Knesset’s Legal Advisor, and member of the Bar Examination Committee. 

Barak Loozon serves as the Executive Director of the Israel Office at the San Francisco Jewish Community Federation. He has devoted his career to strengthening Israel’s democracy, creating equal opportunity, and reshaping the Israel-Diaspora relationship.

Barak is a founding member of the “Living Together Center” and on the board of numerous organizations aimed at promoting the common good in Israel. Barak is a graduate of the Negotiation Strategies Institute (NSI) executive program, aimed at promoting communication across disputing governments and other groups affected by the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. He recently joined his fellow graduates in building a research-driven model for conflict resolution: “Bridging Insights.”

Barak holds a BA in criminology and political science from Bar-Ilan University, an MA in Administration and Education Policy from Tel Aviv University and MPA in Government Studies from Harvard University as a Wexner Israel Fellow