Fellows

Dr. Sanaa Alsarghali is the founder of the center. She is the first female obtaining a PhD in Constitutional Law in Palestine. She ‎received her PhD from Lancaster University and an LLM in law from Durham University. In ‎‎2016 she became the first female Assistant Professor at an-Najah law school in Palestine. ‎

Sanaa was awarded a full scholarship to study constitutional Law in order to participate ‎in the constitutional building in Palestine after her return from the UK.  Her thesis was an ‎analysis of the Palestinian Basic Law in light of Constitutionalism theory with a special ‎focus on the Semi-Presidential system’s application. Sanaa’s thesis made suggestions for ‎future constitutional designs in Palestine. ‎

In 2018 she was elected as the Chairwoman of ‘Women, Media and Development’ (TAM), ‎an NGO that intends to change the stereotypical image of the Palestinian women in the ‎Media. This made Sanaa the youngest Chairwoman of an active NGO in Palestine.  ‎Previously, she worked with TAM as a TV presenter through Al Fajer TV local station. Her ‎social and political talk show 'TAM Time' was screened on the Palestinian National TV for ‎two years.  ‎

In Late 2018 she became the acting director of the Constitutional Studies Centre which ‎she also co-founded at An-Najah University. The centre started making local impact by its ‎public educational videos on the constitutional situation in Palestine. She is also credited ‎with introducing new teaching themes at the university, notably ‘Constitutional Law and ‎Gender’. Her text book: The Constitution we Desire? A Women’s perspective (completed in ‎Arabic) will be ready for launching this September. ‎she is currently working with the Palestinian Initiative for Democratic Dialogue (Miftah), ‎TAM, and the Centre on the constitutional educational campaign which is raising ‎awareness amongst Palestinians about their constitutional rights. ‎

In December 2018 Sanaa received the Outstanding Alumni Award from Lancaster ‎University. The Alumni Award recognises Lancaster graduates who have made a ‎substantial contribution in their field and have developed an outstanding national or ‎international reputation amongst their peers. Dr. Alsarghali was the first Arab Palestinian ‎Alumni to gain this award. ‎

During her time at Melbourne University as a Kathleen Fitzpatrick Visiting Fellow in ‎Constitutional Law in July and August 2019, Sanaa intends to continue working on her ‎book titled ‘Constitutionalism in Palestine’.‎

Before joining the Faculty of Law at An-Najah, Dr. Daoud worked as a lecturer for three years at Arab American University in Jenin. In 2007, Dr. Daoud came to An-Najah University and shortly thereafter, in January 2008, he served as the Dean of law faculty until 2017. In the past, the Faculty of Law at An-Najah was solely a teaching institution. A visionary, Dr. Daoud utilized his own experience of studying abroad as a reference to open the faculty of law to new legal cultures, to the international world as well as to new cultural perceptions and differences.

https://staff.najah.edu/en/profiles/2486/

An- Najah national University- associate professor and Dean of Faculty of ‎Education and Teacher training

Dr. Saida Affouneh is the founder and director of the E-Learning Center ‎‎(ELC) in An-Najah National University.‎

Dr. Saida Affouneh was also working as consultant to develop a national ‎policy paper for open education, a Project sponsored by AQAQ (Accreditation ‎and Quality Assurance Commission) and AMIDEAST.‎

She was the Chairperson of the international conference for learning and ‎teaching in the digital world 2014, organized by the E-Learning center at An- ‎Najah National University with 1200 attendees.‎

She was the Chairperson of the international conference for learning and ‎teaching in the digital world 2017 (smart world).‎

She has been granted by Sloan Consortium to participate in an online ‎leadership program in 2013, as the first scholar from the Middle East.‎

Dr. Saida Affouneh has worked in three different universities where two of ‎them are conventional universities, while the third is an open one. The ‎experience of open and traditional education have given Saida a variety of ‎experience and enabled her to understand the different a aspects of distance ‎learning

‎“Go with the horse that pulls” An Emerging model of e-learning in Palestine: ‎The Case of An-Najah National University.‎

The Reality of Education System in Palestine after 1994. An-Najah National ‎University Journal.‎

Towards A Better Quality of Education in Palestine. A book under publication ‎‎(2011-2012).‎

Students Attitudes Towars E-Learning in Al-Quds Open University. Al-Quds ‎Open University Journal, 2010.‎

https://staff.najah.edu/en/profiles/2637/

Dr. Joni Aasi is the Professor of public law and political science at An-Najah University, and also Director of UNESCO Chair on Democracy and Human Rights since 2013. In research and teaching his focus is on international law, citizenship and statehood, constitutional transformations and comparative democratization processes. He has worked at BirZeit University for more than 13 years and was a visiting scholar or invited professor at European universities, including Institute of Political Studies Lyon, France, University Rennes 2, France, Palermo University, Italy, to name a few. He has also worked as a legal expert with Palestinian Authority and with international and local NGO’s, including World Health Organization, UNESCO Office of Ramallah, Palestinian Hydrology Group, TRC and Hurriyyat, and the Centers of Community Service at An-Najah University.

https://staff.najah.edu/en/profiles/2674/

Dr Simon Mabon is Senior Lecturer in International Relations at Lancaster University where he is also Director of the Richardson Institute, the UK’s oldest peace and conflict research centre. His research falls at the intersection of International Political Theory and Middle East Studies, with a focus on sovereignty and the rivalry between Saudi Arabia and Iran. Mabon is the author of Saudi Arabia and Iran: Power and Rivalry in the Middle East (I.B. Tauris) and has had articles published in Middle East Journal, Middle East Policy, Third World Quarterly, Politics Religion and Ideology, Studies in Conflict and Terrorism, E-International Relations , and Global Discourse. He is currently working on a book on sovereignty in the contemporary Middle East (Manchester University Press) and a follow up to Saudi Arabia and Iran (Cambridge University Press). Mabon is also the co-author of The Origins of ISIS (I.B. Tauris) British Foreign Policy Since World War II (Routledge), Hezbollah: From Islamic Resistance to Government (Praeger), and co-editor of Sectarianism (Routledge) Securitization in the non-west (Routledge) and Terrorism and Political Violence (Sage). Mabon regularly appears on international media outlets and have discussed international affairs and Middle Eastern politics with BBC News, BBC World, CNN, Al Jazeera CNBC, Sky News, ABC Australia, TRT Turkey, France24, Deutsche Welle, Al Arabiya, BBC 5 live, LBC, ABC Australia, CBC Canada, and others. He served as Academic Advisor to the House of Lords International Relations Committee inquiry into the UK relations with the Middle East during the 2016-17 academic year. Mabon has spoken at a range of international events including at the United Nations, the European Parliament, Harvard University, GeorgeTown University Doha, the University of St Andrews, King's College London, the University of Leeds, the University of Aarhus, An Najah University Palestine, the People’s College Nanded, and many others. He is a regular tweeter (@drmabon), avid snowboarder, Arsenal fan, and musician https://www.lancaster.ac.uk/ppr/about-us/people/simon-mabon

Ahmed Beshtawi is a researcher and an academic at An-Najah National University. He has received his PhD in International Llaw from the Univeristy of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia. His PhD examined the role of international law in countering Israel's hydro-hegemony over water resources in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. Ahmed has recived his Master degree in private law from An-najah National University and his master dissertation focused on the licenicng contract to expliot patents. Prior joining An-Najah National University, Ahmed has worked as a legal advisor in the Palestinian Water Authority. Further, he has joined the Palestinian Bar Association and worked as an independet lawyer as well as in some legal firms. Ahmed's reserach interests include: international humanitarian law, internatioal human rights law, natural resoruces law, international water law and international relations.

https://staff.najah.edu/en/profiles/2469/

I have a PhD in Sociology from Goldsmiths- University of London. My doctoral research focused on the experience of Palestinian women’s incarceration in Israeli prisons. I have finished two masters: the first master in social work from McGill University/ Canada (2007-2008). The second masters in Gender and Development from Birzet University/ Palestine. Currently, I am the head of the Sociology and Social Work Department, and the coordinator of the Women Studies masters program at An-Najah National University.

https://staff.najah.edu/en/profiles/2560/

Mona Nabil Demaidi did her MSc in Software Engineering and Data Management at the University of Manchester, UK  and PhD between Birmingham City University and the University of Manchester, UK with a specialization in Advanced Software Engineering. Mona joined An-najah National University in 2016, to become the youngest female with a PhD certificate at the faculty of engineering and Information Technology. Her research focuses on building personalized learning environments using machine learning. In 2018,  she published a book and two journal papers which introduces a new platform for auto-generating assessment questions using semantic web. Besides her academic work, Mona is an active member of several societies which globally support women in the technology sector. She has been working with Women in Engineering and Arab Women in computing since 2014, and in 2017 she became the first female supervisor of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)  at An-najah national university student branch. Being a key part in such societies, Mona organized several initiatives which aim to empower women and reduce the unemployment rate in Palestine. In the technology sector in Palestine, the number of undergraduates females is high, however,  in the tech industry, the unemployment rate for women is 60% which is three times more compared with males. Mona studied the reasons behind the high percentage and started applying several activities at the university and in the Palestinian community, to encourage women and help them improve their technical and communication skills. Currently, the IEEE committee at the university has more than 50%, female members. In addition, in most of the technical activities held by IEEE, females form more than 57%.  Besides IEEE, Mona is working on encouraging women to attend regional conferences in the MENA region by helping them apply for scholarships to attend the Arab Women in Computing conference which is the biggest conference in the region that celebrates and support women. Mona believes that exposing Palestinian undergraduate women to regional and international experiences is essential, as it helps them enhance their communication and networking skills. Moreover, attending such events will have a great impact on Palestinian society, as women will have equal job opportunities as males.  

Mona's ambition to help Palestinian women was not limited to Palestine or the MENA region. She was always looking for opportunities to improve the network for Palestinian women and help them conncet with Europe and USA.  Therefore, In 2019, Mona became the co-managing director for Girls in Tech in Palestine which is the first chapter in the MENA region. Currently, Mona is integrating all material provided by Girls in Tech to support women in Palestine by giving them free online courses from the top technology companies worldwide and providing them with access to international job openings and mentoring opportunities. Mona believes that gender equality in the tech industry could only be achieved when women in Palestine have all the local and international support they need from a very young age. 

Motivating and talented educator-driven to inspire students to pursue academic and personal excellence. Strives to create a challenging and engaging learning environment in which students become life-long scholars and learners. I am currently an assistant professor at Faculty of Education and Teacher Training at An-Najah National University. I teach courses related to Teaching English as a foreign language in addition to other instructional method courses. Before this, I worked as an English teacher in Palestinian Refugee camp schools for five years.

Noor Adas started her career at An-Najah in 2014. She teaches Criminal Law  courses in the BA program. Inspired to be the judge one day, Noor obtained her Masters degree in Judicial Studies at Zayed University in Abu Dhabi.

At An-Najah University, in addition to teaching, Noor has worked as a legal researcher and data collector for the EU project that recently developed two Masters programs at An-Najah, Birzeit and Al-Quds universities. In addition to deepening her legal knowledge, this research experience has taught her about interactions with varied segments in both academic and private sectors. Noor has recently finished working on a research paper about organ transplant law, which is yet to be endorsed and published. Her current research foci include the legal management and regulation of organ transplants and also, the criminal responsibility for business and legal entities as a result of money laundering crimes.

https://staff.najah.edu/en/profiles/2718/

Rachel is an interdisciplinary design researcher specialising in the politics of participatory and co-design practice in cross-cultural development of digital technology to support gender equality. As part of her fellowship she is working on cross-cultural understandings of participation, social innovation and design practice to support awareness of the consequences of harmful global material flows and interactions associated with technology use.

She received her PhD at Culture Lab, Newcastle University in 2015 focusing on artful long-term interaction design with an international women’s centre in the UK. Working with volunteers and women’s agencies she co-created counter-narratives for design of future digital services with third-sector and cultural heritage organisations. More recently she has worked as a post-doctoral researcher in a number of cross-disciplinary teams designing for alternative grass-roots approaches to re-envision future plans for ‘Smart Cities’. This has included the creation and evaluation of critical kits for supporting immigrant women’s heritage, participatory arts reflection, and discursive action on poverty and trust in communities of practice experiencing marginalisation and stigma.

Prior to research she ran a small business, Twisted Digits UK, working on international cultural programmes with arts organisations, theatre companies and third-sector organisations on digital media education resources and exhibitions. Partners and funders have included Barnardo’s, Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Arts Council England, Creative Partnerships, Seven Stories, KIAC, The Forge, Heritage Lottery Fund, Natural England, and Tyne and Wear Archives and Museums. 

He joined the School of Geography, Politics and Sociology in 2019 as a NUAcT Research Fellow. Before joining Newcastle He held faculty positions at the University of Oulu in Finland and Northumbria University. At Oulu He worked on RELATE, an Academy of Finland Centre of Excellence focused on the territorial politics of bordering, identities and transnationalisation. At Northumbrria He worked in the Centre for International Development in the Department of Social Science. He completed his  post-graduate studies at University College London and King's College London