Who We Are

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The Debate for Peace program is part of the Interfaith Encounters Association and supported by the US Embassy in Israel.
Directors:
Steven Aiello has been involved in Jewish-Arab MUN work in Israel since 2011, and has run over 30 conferences and 20 delegations abroad. Steven is Jewish, Israeli and Italian-American. He studied economics (BA, NYU), diplomacy and conflict resolution (MA, IDC), and Islamic Studies (MA, Tel Aviv University) and is currently a PhD student at the European Wasatia Graduate School for Peace and Conflict Resolution focused on how Islam and Judaism address peace, conflict and “the Other”.
Steven is an Executive Board member for the NGO Committee on Sustainable Development-NY, Project Officer and Dialogue Expert at Asfar, and regional coordinator for the Bosch Alumni Network and Writers Matter. He is a native English speaker, fluent in Hebrew, and  can make a fool of himself proficiently in Arabic.

Nooralhuda Hoji is a Muslim born Palestinian Israeli. She has been involved in interfaith MUN programming since she was 14, winning awards at the first MUN conferences held in Petah Tiqva and at the IDC Herzliya, where she competed with college students. Originally from Qalansawa, Nooralhuda is pursuing her BA in Germany. Speaking four languages fluently, she tries to be vocal about issues that are important to her, mainly through Debate for Peace and its mission to empower youth and encourage conversation.

Regional director (Negev):

Sharehan Alwakily is a political science student at Haifa University in Israel. She was the first Bedouin woman to study diplomacy at Reichman university. Sharehan comes from an unrecognized village in southern Israel, and forged her path to the top private university in Israel via her dedication to education, and especially extracurricular programs supported by the US State Department. Sharehan became one of the most active members of Debate for Peace, despite having to travel six hours roundtrip to get to Tel Aviv from her village. After graduating high school, Sharehan worked at the first boarding school for Bedouin students in Israel, where she served as a mentor. She has spoken at synagogues and mosques and various communities in the Netherlands, UK, US east and west coast, as well as online. She introduced the Moot Court project at the United Nations in Jan. 2023 as part of an international initiative to raise awareness about the Holocaust and promote human rights and coexistence.

Facilitator:

Hala Abusaris, is an Arab Muslim who has been actively volunteering and contributing to her community since middle school. As an Ecopeace alumna and Creating Friendships For Peace facilitator, Hala aims to promote cross cultural understanding and environmental stewardship. While pursuing a university degree in linguistics and education, she remains dedicated to inspiring the next generation to be a gift to those around them: in other words, impactful leaders.

She is a language “nerd” as people say; Hala is a native Arabic speaker who understands five more languages.