Our Team

BPMC Team

  • Ben White

    Executive Director

    Ben is the founder and Executive Director of The Britain Palestine Media Centre. He is an author and analyst, who has been visiting, researching, and writing about Palestine for two decades. Ben’s articles have been published in many international outlets, including The Guardian, The Independent, and the Journal of Palestine Studies.

  • Alysia Grapek

    Head of European Partnerships

    Alysia is the Britain Palestine Media Centre’s Head of European Partnerships. She joined the Centre in 2021 after a year spent running an international media campaign to prevent the deportation of Syrian refugees in Denmark. She is an editor and writer with experience in media engagement, research, and fact-checking, utilising those skills as an advocate for human rights and social justice. Alysia holds a Master’s Degree in Cultural Studies and Communication.

  • Alex Bustos

    Senior Reseacher

    Alex is Senior Researcher at the Britain Palestine Media Centre. He previously spent almost four years working to amplify Palestinian voices through independent media. He holds a Master’s degree in Near and Middle Eastern Studies at SOAS University of London and has an interest in history and politics.

  • Rania Kawwas-Isaac

    Finance Manager

    Rania is the Finance Manager at The Britain Palestine Media Centre. With over 20 years of experience working with various organizations, NGOs and refugee camps in Palestine, she specialises in financial management, budgeting, and strategic planning. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from Bethlehem University and has a proven track record of enhancing financial efficiency in nonprofit settings. Rania is committed to optimising financial operations and supporting the Centre’s mission to amplify Palestinian voices.

  • Haneen Kinani

    Senior Media Information Officer

    Haneen is the Britain Palestine Media Centre’s Senior Media Information Officer. She is a researcher, a writer, and has worked on shifting the policy and discourse on Palestine through media engagement and advocacy. She is a University of Oxford alumna, with a Masters in Refugee and Forced Migration Studies.

  • Nick McAlpin

    Senior Media Engagement Officer

    Nick is the Britain Palestine Media Centre’s Senior Media Engagement Officer. He previously spent three-and-a-half years as a journalist at The New Arab, reporting on Palestine, its diplomatic relations, and international solidarity work. Nick began freelancing in 2019 and has written for outlets ranging from The Independent to The Bradford Telegraph and Argus. He holds an MPhil in Social Anthropology from the University of Cambridge and speaks French and Arabic, having lived in Jordan.

  • Hala Qassis

    Palestine Country Officer

    Palestinian journalist and human rights advocate working at the intersection of media, advocacy, and international law. Passionate about amplifying Palestinian voices through ethical storytelling and strategic communications.

Governance Committee

  • Samer Abdelnour

    Samer is Senior Lecturer in Strategic Management at University of Edinburgh Business School, with a research focus on how enterprise and humanitarian technology interventions influence new forms of actors and organising in complex institutional settings. He currently serves on the advisory boards of Sitti Soap, a Toronto-based social enterprise that employs refugee women in Jordan, and Embassy Cultural House, a community arts/activist initiative based in London, Canada. Samer also co-founded the transnational think tank Al-Shabaka, The Palestinian Policy Network, and served for many years as a board member. He previously held roles at University College London and Rotterdam School of Management.

  • Maha Al Farra

    Maha is the Managing Director at the Galilee Foundation, a charity dedicated to providing educational opportunities to underprivileged and exceptionally talented Palestinian youth in the West Bank and Israel. In this role, she oversees strategic partnerships with Palestinian civil society organisations, and coordinates PR campaigns and fundraising initiatives. With a background spanning over 12 years in journalism at Al Jazeera English across different broadcast centres, including the HQ in Doha, Kuala Lumpur, and London, she led the interviews team, and was part of the news and planning desks. Maha is committed to amplifying the voices of disadvantaged communities, ensuring that they are heard in public and private sectors alike, ultimately to achieve empowerment.

  • Sara Husseini

    Sara Husseini brings more than a decade of experience in strategic communications, diplomacy, and political advocacy to the governance committee. She is Director of the British Palestinian Council, an independent voice on British policy towards Palestine. Among previous roles, Sara has served as an advisor to the Secretary General of the PLO and the Palestinian Ambassador to Berlin, and supported the work of several civil society organisations, both in Palestine and in the Diaspora. Sara holds a BA in German Studies and European History, a masters in Islamic Studies, and a PhD in early Christian-Muslim relations. Hailing originally from Jerusalem, she is currently based in London.

  • Alaa Tartir

    Dr. Alaa Tartir is a Senior Researcher and Academic Coordinator at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies (IHEID) in Geneva, Switzerland. Tartir is also a Global Fellow at the Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO), and a Policy and Program Advisor to Al- Shabaka: The Palestinian Policy Network. Tartir can be followed on Twitter (@alaatartir), and his publications can be accessed at www.alaatartir.com.

  • Tasneem Aliewi

    Tasneem is the Founder and Director of Bread and Roses Consulting, a London-based headhunting and people strategy consultancy working across executive and specialist search, university partnerships, and AI advisory. In this role, she builds close, embedded relationships with the organisations she works with, helping them think differently about how they find, develop, and retain talent, rather than running searches at arm’s length. With a background spanning senior roles in talent and recruitment, including as a Partner at Albany Beck — where she served as Global Head of Emerging Talent Management Solutions for major financial services clients — and as Global Account Director at FDM Group, Tasneem brings over a decade of experience across executive search and talent strategy. She is committed to building more thoughtful, values-led approaches to how organisations grow their teams, ensuring that good work offers both security and opportunity.

Advisory Group

  • Selma Dabbagh

    Selma is a British Palestinian lawyer and writer of fiction, based in London. She has worked as a lawyer in the field of human rights and international criminal law for non-governmental organisations and law firms in Cairo, Jerusalem and London. Her novel ‘Out of It,’ (Bloomsbury, 2011) was set between Gaza, London and the Gulf. She has also published short stories and had her radio plays produced by the BBC and GDR in Germany.

  • Rola el-Chami

    Rola is currently working at Saïd Business School, Oxford University as the Head of Partnerships, managing partners across different sectors for the Future of Marketing Initiative. She is also a Human Rights activist, and founded the charity Survive for Women – which she led for a decade – to raise awareness and support women subjected to domestic violence in the Middle East. Rola is a former advisor to the Women in Business Summit, and is the Ambassador to the Next Generation of female leaders, member of the Young Diverse World Changers and Women of the Future Network.

  • Antony Lerman

    Antony Lerman is a Senior Fellow at the Bruno Kreisky Forum for International Dialogue, Vienna, and an Honorary Fellow at the Parkes Institute for the Study of Jewish/non-Jewish Relations at the University of Southampton. Antony is also Associate Editor of international journal Patterns of Prejudice, and author of The Making and Unmaking of a Zionist: A personal and Political Journey. He was the founding Director of the Institute for Jewish Policy Research in London, and his articles have appeared in publications such as The Guardian, Independent, Ha’aretz, and New York Times.

  • Layla Maghribi

    Layla Maghribi is a British-Arab journalist who has written and produced stories for some of the leading international media outlets, including CNN, Reuters and The National. She grew up in London, and after graduating from UCL with a degree in History and Italian, studied Law and pursued a brief stint as a commercial lawyer – before opting for a career on the road meeting exceptional people and discovering incredible stories. Layla has a special interest in social issues affecting Arabic-speaking communities, particularly in relation to culture, immigration and mental health.

  • Mazen Masri

    Mazen is Senior Lecturer in Law at City, University of London. His areas of expertise are constitutional law and public international law and he is the author of 'The Dynamics of Exclusionary Constitutionalism: Israel as a Jewish and Democratic State' (Hart Publishing, 2017). Mazen is a qualified lawyer, Israeli Bar Association member, and previously served as legal advisor to the Palestine Liberation Organisation's Negotiations Affairs Department.

  • Tariq Nafi

    Tariq is a producer and reporter for ‘The Listening Post’ on Al Jazeera English. He previously worked as a producer and programme editor at the channel’s ‘Inside Story’.

  • Mary Nazzal-Batayneh

    Named one of Forbes’ ‘Most Powerful Arab Women’, Mary has been recognised for her legal activism, business success, and community impact. After positioning Landmark Hotel as a leading local business, she currently serves as Chairperson. She also created 17 Ventures, which is focused on building impact economies. Mary's latest venture is MVMNT which is a regional leader in holistic wellness to the region. Mary invests in, and actively supports, entrepreneurship programmes for Palestinian startups. Mary has served on numerous Boards involved with Palestinian issues over many decades, and is a qualified Barrister (Bar of England & Wales).

  • Awatef Sheikh

    Awatef is the co-founder and CEO of Ajyal Foundation for Education, a charity passionate about improving access to quality and innovative education in Palestine and the wider Middle East. Awatef was previously the managing director of the Galilee Foundation, and has worked extensively with civil society organisations active among Palestinians in the West Bank and within Israel. She has worked as a journalist, and has a Political Sociology MSc from the London School of Economics.

  • Rafeef Ziadah

    Rafeef is Lecturer in Politics and Public Policy at The Department of International Development, King’s College London. Rafeef is also an acclaimed spoken word artist, whose third and most recent album, ‘Three Generations’, is a selection of spoken word poems with original music compositions. Rafeef was previously Lecturer in Comparative Politics of the Middle East at the Department of Politics and International Studies, SOAS, University of London.