Learn more about our distinguished board members below.
Subhi D. Ali
M.D., F.A.C.S.
Dr. Subhi Ali is Chairman of the Board. A graduate of Howard University Medical School in Washington, DC, his training in General Surgery was completed at Howard University Hospitals where he was appointed as Assistant Professor of Surgery prior to relocating to Waverly, Tennessee in 1976, where he serves as Chief of Surgery at Three Rivers Hospital. He is currently the President and Treasurer of Howard University’s LaSalle D. Leffall, Jr. Surgical Society Foundation. In Tennessee, he has been active in the Tennessee Medical Association (TMA) since 1980. He served as President of TMA in 2003-04 and chairs the Tennessee Medical Education Fund. In 2004, he was appointed by the Governor to the Tennessee State Board of Medical Examiners where he served for 15 years, and retired as the Chairman in 2019. He is a Fellow of the National Federation of State Medical Boards where he represents the state of Tennessee. Currently, he serves on the boards of several academic and professional organizations. He served as the National President of the State Guard Association of the United States (SGAUS) from 2000-2001, and President of the SGAUS Foundation and editor of the SGAUS journal and website from 2001-2012. He is a retired Brigadier General of the Tennessee State Guard Medical Corps where he served as the Surgeon General from 1991-2001 after serving as Commander of the surgical detachment of the Tennessee Army National Guard. He also served on the Advisory board of the Center for the Study of Human Dignity and Ethics in Health Care at Aquinas College School of Medical Nursing in Nashville, Tennessee. He was appointed to the first board of directors of the Physicians Foundation that was created by the United States Court of Appeals in 2003, and currently serves as the Treasurer and Chairman of the Finance Committee.
Mohayya H. Khilfeh
M.D., M.P.H.
Mohayya H. Khilfeh is Secretary of the Board. She was a pediatrician at Advocate Aurora Medical Group at the South Holland Health Center, Illinois. Her medical career included serving as Clinical Director of Humana Health Center at River Oaks in Calumet City, when she also served as chairwoman of pediatrics at Ingalls Hospital in Harvey, Illinois. She is a Fellow of The American Academy of Pediatrics as well as several other professional societies. She is a former president of the Illinois chapter of the National Arab American Medical Association (NAAMA). She served on the Board of Trustees of An-Najah University in Nablus from 1983 to 1990. She earned a certification from the American Board of Pediatrics, a Master of Public Health from the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC), a Diploma of Child Health from Royal College of Physicians in Glasgow, Britain, and a Medical Degree from the College of Medicine in Baghdad.
Eid B. Mustafa
M.D., F.A.C.S.
Eid B. Mustafa is Vice-Chairman and Treasurer of the Board. He is an honor graduate of Alexandria Medical School. He was trained in general surgery at Howard University in Washington, DC, where he received the Resident of the Year award, and attained plastic surgery training at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island. Dr. Mustafa is in private practice in Wichita Falls, Texas, where he is chief of plastic surgery at United Regional Health Care System and at Kell West Regional Hospital. He served as President of the Wichita County Medical Society, Vice President of the Texas Rehabilitation Commission Medical Committee, and as Treasurer, Vice President, and President of the National Arab American Medical Association (NAAMA), from which he received the NAAMA outstanding physician award. He is a member of many professional associations including ACS, ASPS, ASAPS, and TMA. Dr. Mustafa has served as director of Physicians for Peace for which he is the founder of its Palestine chapter. He also served as President of the North Central Texas Medical Foundation for many years, and is deeply involved in medical volunteer work, particularly in Palestine. Additional awards he has received include the Americanism award from the Daughters of the American Revolution for his international volunteer work and the President’s and Physicians’ Diplomat awards by Physicians for Peace.
Walid M. Keilani
Walid Keilani is currently president of ASG Real Estate Company and senior financial adviser of Alshall Group, which strives to bridge the world of American and Arab businesses engaged in real estate. He is one of the founders of both companies. Mr. Keilani, born in Nablus, Palestine, is an economist with experience in financial restructuring, asset management and feasibility studies. He received an MS in economics from Utah State University in 1968 and a bachelor’s degree from Ain Shams University, Egypt in 1961. He served as an economic consultant in Canada from 1973-74 and a finance expert at the World Bank in Washington, D.C. from 1974-1977. Mr. Keilani is a poet and member of the Jordanian Writers Union.
Osamah Khalil
Ph.D.
Dr. Osamah Khalil is an Associate Professor of History at Syracuse University’s Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs. He is the author of America’s Dream Palace: Middle East Expertise and the Rise of the National Security State (Harvard University Press, 2016) and the editor of United States Relations with China and Iran: Toward the Asian Century (Bloomsbury Press, 2019). Khalil is a frequent media commentator and contributor for local, national, and international media outlets.
Rajai Khoury
M.D., F.A.C.S., RPVI
Rajai Khoury was born in Ramallah, Palestine in 1950. After graduating from the Friends School in Ramallah, he attended the American University in Beirut, where he received his medical degree. He completed his training in general surgery and cardiovascular surgery in 1982, and practiced cardiac, thoracic, and vascular surgery for 35 years. Dr. Khoury is certified by the Boards of Surgery, Thoracic Surgery, Venous and Lymphatic Diseases, and RPVI. He is a member of several professional organizations including The American College of Surgery, Society of Thoracic Surgery, American Venous Lymphatic Society, and American Venous Forum. Dr. Khoury established and presided over the Khoury Surgical Group, Khoury Surgical Associates, Khoury Vascular and Vein, and The Vein Clinic of the Ohio Valley. He served on the boards of multiple healthcare establishments and continues to be an advisor and a medical volunteer with multiple organizations. Currently, he is in the practice of vein and vascular medicine along with medical community development under Wheeling Hospital, a division of West Virginia University Medicine. Dr. Rajai Khoury is married to Dr. Nahla Nassar Khoury. Together they have three children who are practicing physicians, they also are grandparents to two future doctors, ages 4 and 7.
Tawfik Z. Ramadan
M.D., M.P.H.
Tawfik Ramadan is currently a pediatrician at Southern Oklahoma Pediatrics, a private practice, and neonatology director of the NICU (Neonatal Intensive Care Unit) at Valley View Regional Hospital in Ada, Oklahoma. He was also director in the development and establishment of a pediatric ward and NICU at Valley View Regional Hospital. Dr. Ramadan has been a medical officer in Palestine and Jordan for UNRWA (United Nations Relief and Works Agency). He is founder and coordinator of Outreach Clinic, a volunteer physician at Compassionate Clinic and a team member for Physicians for Peace. He is a member of the American Academy of Pediatrics, Society for Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics, American Medical Association and the Oklahoma State Medical Association.
Ruba Sarsour
DO
Dr. Ruba Sarsour is dual board-certified in Internal Medicine and Nephrology. A graduate of the Friends School in Ramallah, Palestine, she earned her undergraduate degree at East Carolina University (ECU) in North Carolina and her medical degree from the Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine (VCOM). She went on to complete her residency and fellowship training at ECU, earning multiple awards during her medical career, including Resident of the Year, and authored the “Renal Disorders in the ICU” chapter in the OMICS Group eBooks – Bedside Critical Care Guide.
Dr. Sarsour is the founder and president of Hanan Relief Group (HRG), the only nonprofit organization working with refugees in the U.S. while also operating directly on the ground in Palestine. The organization focuses on economic sustainability and resilience, creating pathways for individuals and families to achieve long-term independence. Under her leadership, HRG recently became an accredited USCIS representative organization, enabling the team to provide essential legal services such as asylum applications and status adjustments.
In addition, Dr. Sarsour serves on the board of Physicians for Palestine, a medical-focused nonprofit dedicated to strengthening Palestine’s medical infrastructure into a sustainable system that integrates care, quality, innovation, and measurable impact.
Beyond her professional achievements, Dr. Sarsour is a proud wife and mother of two children, balancing her dedication to family with her unwavering commitment to humanitarian work and advancing health equity.
Samera Sood
Samera Sood is the immediate former President of the Southern California chapter of the Palestinian American Women’s Association (PAWA), with which she has been active since the association’s founding in 1986. In addition to her work with PAWA, she was a leading board member of Al-Awda and the Los Angeles chapter of ADC, representing Al-Awda at the UNESCO International Conference in Paris in 2008. In 2004, she participated in a fact-finding mission to refugee camps in Syria and Lebanon and in 2009, she was also a part of George Galloway’s trip to break the siege on Gaza. A native of Deir Debwan in Palestine, Ms. Sood is also a business woman.
Anan Qaddumi
Anan Qaddumi is a partner of the Interfield Group, an architectural and multi-disciplinary engineering firm with offices in Houston and Beirut, and is a managing partner of LMR Development Group, a vertically-integrated developer/ builder of residential communities in Houston. Anan is additionally a founding partner of Dunyha.com, a real estate development group focused in the short-term rental space in Texas. An Eagle Scout, Anan has Bachelors Degrees in Architectural Engineering and Plan II Honors Liberal Arts from the University of Texas at Austin and a Masters of Business Administration from Rice University. Anan additionally studied at Bir Zeit University. While in college, Anan served in the US Navy Reserves for eight years. Anan is a founder and the current President of the Palestinian American Cultural Center in Houston, a Founder and Trustee of the Arab American Cultural Center in Houston, and a founder of the American Coalition for Justice and Peace. Anan has maintained very close ties to Palestine, particularly to Jerusalem and his villages of Jinsafut and Kafr Qaddum. Anan is married to Sara Freitekh Qaddumi, and they are the proud parents of four children, two of whom are active members of the Palestine Solidarity Committee at the University of Texas.
Hisham Sharabi
Ph.D.
Hisham Sharabi (deceased) was Chairman of the Board from 1977-2005 and a founding member of The Jerusalem Fund. At his passing, he was professor emeritus of European Intellectual History and was the Omar al-Mukhtar Professor of Arab Culture at Georgetown University in Washington DC. Former President William J. Clinton was one of his many distinguished students. He authored 18 books, and numerous articles and monographs. He helped found the Association of Arab-American University Graduates as well as the Center for Contemporary Arab Studies at Georgetown University, among other organizations.
George Hishmeh
George Hishmeh (deceased) was a founding member of The Jerusalem Fund. He was on the staff of the Washington Post and Chicago Sun-Times and editor of Mideast Magazine before joining the U.S. Information Agency as senior writer/editor, where he helped to start the Arabic-language service. Since his retirement from USIA, he has written for the Jordan Times, Gulf News, and the Daily Star. He is President of the Washington Association of Arab Journalists.
Samih Farsoun
Ph.D.
Samih Farsoun (deceased) was one of the first members of The Jerusalem Fund Board of Directors, and was a founding member of the Center for Policy Analysis on Palestine, now The Palestine Center. Before his passing in June 2005, he served as Dean of Academic Affairs and the College of Arts and Sciences at the newly established American University of Kuwait. Prior to that he was Professor of Sociology at the American University in Washington, DC, a position he held for 30 years. His books include Palestine and the Palestinians and Culture and Customs of the Palestinians. He published over 75 papers, chapters, and articles.
The Palestine Center Committee
Said Arikat
Said Arikat is a Member of the Palestine Center Committee and the Washington bureau chief for the Palestinian newspaper al-Quds, a daily for which he is a writer, columnist, and analyst. He previously served as spokesman and director of public information for the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq, and currently teaches as an adjunct professor at American University in Washington, DC.
Edmund Ghareeb, Ph. D.
Edmund Ghareeb is an internationally recognized expert on the Middle East, the Arab and American media, US-Arab relations and International Affairs. He has taught at Georgetown University, George Washington University, the University of Virginia, Pepperdine University, McGill University and Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service in Qatar.
Ghareeb was the American University’s Center for Global Peace’s first Mustafa Barzani Distinguished Scholar in Kurdish Studies. He launched the first regularly offered courses on Kurdish history, politics and society in the US. He also served as coordinator for the Middle East program at the American University’s School of International Service. Dr. Ghareeb has lectured widely (in the US, Europe, and the Arab world) on Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, the Arab Israeli conflict, the Kurds, the Gulf region, US-Arab relations, US media coverage of the Middle East, the Information Revolution in the Arab World and on ethnic and religious identity issues. He served as reviewer for the UNDP and lectured at UN organized conferences in Brazil, Austria, Portugal, and Switzerland. He has lectured at numerous American, European, Arab, and Asian universities and think tanks and testified before the US Congress. Ghareeb was also an advisor on M.A. and PhD at the above-mentioned universities, as well as others such as the American University of Beirut, St. Andrew’s University (Britain), and others.
Ghareeb is the author or co-author of several widely acclaimed books including, “Al Harakah Al Qawmiyya Al Kurdiyya” (The Kurdish Nationalist Movement), “War in the Gulf”, “The Kurdish Question in Iraq”, “The Historical Dictionary of Iraq”, and “Iraq Refugees”. He is also the author, editor or co-editor of several books and monographs including “Split Vision: The Portrayal of Arabs in the American Media”, a pioneering work on the US media coverage of the Arab World, “Perspectives on the United Arab Emirates”, and “Enemy of the Sun”, a Palestinian poetry anthology. His Arabic language works include “American Policy toward the Arab World”, “The Gulf Strategic Report “and “The Information Revolution in the Arab World “(these works were co-authored with other scholars). He is also the author of numerous articles, encyclopaedia entries, book chapters and reviews.
He worked as a consultant and journalist for many years. He was a Washington correspondent for The Beirut Daily Star and Al-Hayat newspapers and for Al-Ittihad and Emirates News and a contributor to Al-Mustaqbal magazine (Paris) and Events magazine (London). He was Advisory Board member of a number of media organizations, Middle East International London, and Institutions including The National Newspaper Association and of the Association’s Foundation. He is the former vice-president and president of the Arab American University Graduates Association.
Ghareeb has been a contributing analyst to the Associated Press on US foreign and domestic policies, Fr24, the BBC radio and TV, Al-Jazeera and Abu Dhabi TV. In addition, he is a frequent commentator and analyst for numerous media outlets. These include PBS, NPR, CNN, C-Span, Deutsche Welle, RT (Arabic and English), CGTN, Al Arabiyya, MBC, Al Hadath, Al Ikhbariya, Sky News, Al Youm, among others.
