The people behind the Parents Circle Families Forum
Board of Directors
- Itai Snir
- Tova Buksbaum
- Assia Leshem
- Ido Argaman
- Yusra Mafhuz
- Ghada Zomlot
- Ahmad AlJafary
- Marwan Shobi
Review Board
Tsurit Sarig
Ferial Horesh-Rosen
Marwan Al Shoubi
George Saadeh
Our Staff
Osama Abu-Ayash
Co-General Director
Osama lives in Beit Ummar in Hebron. He is married and has five children. He has a degree in psychology. Osama lost four family members due to the conflict: His grandfather was killed in 1948, his father was killed in 1982, one of his brothers in law was killed in 2000 and another was killed in 2003.
Osama joined the Parents Circle Families Forum in 2003 and instantly began volunteering. Six years later he officially started working as a project coordinator, a position he filled for four years, and then as project manager. Later he advanced until he recently became Co-General Director.
Osama aspires to promote the Forum’s activities and fulfill its goals, namely ending the Occupation, the killing and the hostilities on both sides and reaching a political settlement through dialogue and reconciliation.
Yuval Rahamim
Co-General Director
Yuval was 8 years old when he lost his father, on the second day of the Six Day War. For years he believed that when he’d grow up, he’d avenge his father’s death, but it never came to pass. In time Yuval recognized that revenge won’t soothe his soul, rather reconciliation and the end of the conflict and the bloodshed.
Yuval is Co-General Director of PCFF with Osama Abu-Ayash. He joined the Forum in 2010 and throughout the years took part and hosted many of the dialogue programs and meetings between Israeli and Palestinians. He also served as the Israeli chairman of the executive committee.
In recent years Yuval has also served as chairman of the Israeli Peace NGO Forum.
Photo: ©️ Andrea Sabbadini
Robi Damelin
Spokesperson and International Relations
Robi joined the PCFF after her son David was killed by a Palestinian sniper. She is the spokesperson and director of International Relations.
She owned a successful Public Relations Company with prestigious clients such as National Geographic, Unilever and the History Channel.
Robi is originally from South Africa and lives in Jaffa. She was voted one of the 50 most influential women in 2015 by ”Women in the World” and received the Women’s Peace Maker award from the Joan Kroc School of Peace Studies , San Diego. She is the protagonist of the award winning documentary, “One Day after Peace” (Director: Erez Laufer).
Robi has dedicated her life to the message of reconciliation and non-violence at the Parents Circle.
Mira Edelstein
Ramat Efal Office Manager and Projects Coordinator
Mira Edelstein is the office manager and project coordinator in the Ramat Efal office of the Parents Circle Families Forum.
She comes to the organization with more than a decade of experience in the NGO peacebuilding field, previously working with Israelis, Palestinians, and Jordanians on shared environmental issues.
She has a Bachelor of Music degree in flute performance from the Mannes School of Music in NYC – but changed her focus after moving to Israel, feeling a great need to be a part of the struggle for a more just and peaceful region.
Out of the office, Mira enjoys family time, hiking and playing music.
Ronit Maor
Accountant
Tax consultant and senior accountant with many years of experience in accounting, specializing in organizations.
She has been accompanying the organization for many years and is very happy to provide her services to the organization that by the nature of its activities demands very challenging work and creative solutions.
Nora Chong
Director of Resource Development
Nora has lived in Israel since 2012 and today lives in Jaffa. She was born and raised outside of Philadelphia, PA, and has a degree in Geology from Bryn Mawr College.
Before joining PCFF’s staff in 2022, Nora worked for Physicians for Human Rights Israel.
She is a graduate of the Habonim Dror youth movement and was also a member of Dror Israel, working for over a decade in the field of informal education.
Yoav Peck
Community Relations Manager
Yoav joined the team at PCFF after completing seven years as co-director of the Sulha Peace Project, bringing Palestinians and Israelis together for people-to-people solidarity-building. He is an independent organizational psychologist, specializing in systemic programs for the advancement of human dignity, working largely in public organizations.
For fifteen years, Yoav was a member of Kibbutz Kfar Hanassi in the Galilee. In addition to agriculture and education, he worked for the kibbutz movement organizational development institute. Yoav has been active in the Israeli peace movement for more than 40 years.
Yoav loves visiting with his children and grandchildren in the far north and south of the country and at his Jerusalem home. He enjoys writing a personal/political blog, playing music, and running in the Jerusalem forest.
Nadine Quomsieh
Beit Jala Projects Manager
Nadine, from Beit Sahour, married and a mother of three children. She was born in Bethlehem and raised in St. Louis, Missouri where she received her BA in business management and operations, completed many courses in comparative literature and cultures, and received an Associate’s degree in Fashion & Graphic Design. In 2008 she decided to move back to her hometown and teach Fashion Design to young women.
Nadine always had a passion for supporting peacemaking and justice efforts in Palestine. Thus she began taking courses on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict then joined the PCFF cadre in 2014.
“If you want to make peace with your enemy, you have to work with your enemy. Then he becomes your partner.” ~ Nelson Mandela
Rakefet Enoch
Ramat Efal Projects Manager
Rakefet Enoch joined the PCFF in 2010 as the Israeli project manager. Rakefet has a BA degree in law, a profession she focused on for years until she decided the right place for her was working with social organizations.
Rakefet joined the PCFF after four years as VP of “One in Nine”, an organization that supports women with breast cancer. There she managed a program – “Protecting Patients’ Rights” where she applied her experience in law.
Rakefet’s affiliation to activities for peace began when she lived in the US for a few years and worked as activity coordinator at “Beit Shalom”, an umbrella organization that endeavors to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and promote peace.
Mirvat AlAzzeh
Beit Jala Office Manager & Media Advisor
Mirvat AlAzzeh joined PCFF as the office manager and media advisor in 2021. She was born in Saudi Arabia and moved to Jerusalem to earn a Bachelor’s degree in English Literature and Multimedia as well as a diploma in Office Management. Soon after, she achieved a Masters’s degree in Human Rights and Social Sciences from Italy.
Mirvat brings 15 years of experience working in media. She has reported on every aspect of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict while bringing the nuance of human rights stories to the front of her work. She has worked for multiple international and local news organizations. Mirvat is dedicated to bringing her expertise from reporting on the field to the PCFF office.
Mirvat is the loving mother of two amazing children. She is an animal lover and is passionate about the environment. In her free time, she loves to go scuba diving, volunteering at animal shelters, and practicing Yoga.
Liat Bolzman
Youth Programs Coordinator
Liat joined the organization after a decade of working in civil society organizations in education, community work, activism and campaigning. She facilitated bi-national groups at Sadaka-Reut, she was head of the activism division and later community coordinator at Amnesty International Israel.
As part of her life and work in these organizations, Liat participated in many battles for social justice and human rights for all. She was active in Combatants for Peace and in recent years focused on the issue of refugees and asylum seekers in Israel and around the world.
Liat has a BA degree in Education and Dance Theater and an MA in Social Work as a Human Rights Profession from the Alice Salomon University in Germany.
After completing her studies in Berlin, Liat returned to Israel out of a sense of calling and desire to focus on bringing about dialogue and reconciliation to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and promote peace.
Liat has one child, she is a yoga instructor, dancer and actor who aspires to live a communal and political life.
Salam Sbitan
Beit Jala Projects Coordinator
Married, from Halhul, Palestine. Completed her university studies in the field of English literature. She previously worked in travel and tourism field and then moved to give private education to children. She always had a passion to work in the humanitarian field, as this passion was one of the reasons why she studied English literature to be able to reach her dream.
She volunteered in many organizations that were concerned about conflict resolution during her university studies. And took many courses about dealing with people with special needs. She stills striving to complete what she aspired to, by spreading peace, humanity and participating in making a peace imprint in her community.
As a result of her belief in the necessity of stopping the conflict and saving blood, she joined The Parents Circle Forum.
Mohammad Albaw
New Media Manager
Mohammad Albaw lives in Halhul in Hebron. He is married and has four children.
Muhammad joined the Parents Circle Families Forum in 2005 out of a sense of calling. Thanks to his command of the Hebrew language, he took part in the Forum’s dialogue meetings in schools and universities in Israel, as well as dialogue meetings on the Palestinian side.
During his years with the Forum, Muhammad has facilitated many groups in the Narrative Project and has also trained other Palestinian members so they can conduct dialogue meetings on both sides.
As of 2018, Muhammad has been a staff member of the PCFF. He is in charge of media and ties with the Palestinian PCFF members, the organization and planning of dialogue meetings on the Palestinian side and all projects that pertain to the members on the Palestinian side.