Allied Voices for Israel and Sharaka are bringing three speakers to British Columbia this month for a panel called United We Stand: Voices for Peace in the Middle East.
Luai Ahmed, Fatema Al-Harbi and Tamer Masudin – all Arab advocates for peace and coexistence in the Middle East – will speak in Vancouver Oct. 21 and in Langley Oct. 22.
Ahmed is a Yemeni-Swedish journalist, columnist and social media influencer. He is known for his criticism of radical Islam and antisemitism in the Arab and Muslim world and is an outspoken advocate for LGBTQ+ rights.
Al-Harbi is Sharaka’s Gulf affairs director and heads Sharaka Bahrain. She is an author whose work addresses women’s issues in the Arab world and is a committed advocate for peace. A former Bahraini and GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) athletics champion, she was the first Bahraini youth to visit Israel as part of
Sharaka’s first delegation. She is currently pursuing a PhD in business management and leadership.
Masudin is a Fulbright Scholar, Argov Fellow and Reichman University graduate. An Arab Zionist content creator and former journalist, he is passionate about Israel, storytelling and meaningful dialogue. With a background in government and experience in social media moderation, he brings education, media expertise and humour to conversations about Israel and Israeli society.
Sharaka (meaning “partnership” in Arabic) is a nonprofit, nongovernmental organization founded in 2020 by Israeli, Emirati and Bahraini leaders with the goal of transforming the Abraham Accords into a warm, people-to-people peace. Allied Voices for Israel (AVI) offers a multi-faceted approach to Israel advocacy and education by empowering a new and diverse cohort of Israel advocates at high school and university campuses across Canada.
United We Stand will raise funds for the work of AVI, which includes educational workshops in public and Catholic schools; ambassadorship programs uniting Jewish and non-Jewish student leaders at 30 university campuses across Canada; and broader allyship initiatives, such as co-hosting Canada’s first Jewish-Indigenous Friendship Symposium, working with members of Canada’s Hindu, Iranian, Chinese, Somalilander, Christian and Ethiopian communities to combat hatred, and engaging allies in solidarity programs in Vancouver and beyond.
For tickets to the panel discussion – Vancouver $36/$18, Langley $5 – go to alliedvoicesforisrael.org.
– Courtesy Allied Voices for Israel
