School of Social and Political Science

Background

I am a PhD candidate in the department of Politics and International Relations at the University of Edinburgh. My research explores the historical and contemporary relationship between humanitarianism and settler colonialism through the case of Palestine/Israel. The research project is supervised by Dr. Nicola Perugini and Dr. Nida Alahmad.

Previously I worked for five years as a researcher at a London-based organisation dedicated to defend refugee rights. Before moving to the UK to begin my studies, I grew up between Bologna, Damascus and Occupied Jerusalem. 

Education

PhD Politics and International Relations, University of Edinburgh (2020-)

MSc Politics of Conflicts, Rights and Justice, School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London, (2014-2015)

BA with Honours Politics and International Relations, Kingston University London, (2010-2013)

Funding

2020-2023 Politics and International Relations PhD Scholarship, University of Edinburgh

Teaching Experience

Tutor – Politics of the Middle East, University of Edinburgh (2023 and 2024)

Tutor – International Relations, University of Dundee (2024)

Tutor – International Development, Aid and Humanitarianism, University of Edinburgh (2023/2024)

Tutor – International Cooperation in Europe and Beyond, University of Edinburgh (2021/2022)

Publications

2023 "Outlawing BDS and the Repression of Solidarity with Palestine", The Legal Agenda

2023 "Israeli Judicial Reforms: Bursting the Bubble of a Colonial Court System", The Legal Agenda 

2023 "Israel's new settler governor", Middle East Monitor

2023 “Problematizing Law, Rights and Childhood in Israel/Palestine” by Hedi Viterbo, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2021, Critical Studies on Terrorism, DOI: 10.1080/17539153.2023.2169984

2022 "Refugee crisis: How one girl's death personifies Europe's guilt in Mediterranean tragedy", Middle East Eye

2021 "Incendiary Kites and Balloons: Anti-colonial Resistance in Palestine's Great March of Return", Partecipazione e Conflitto - The Open Journal of Sociopolitical Studies, 14(2), pp. 663-680.

2021 "Normalizing the Siege: The Gaza Reconstruction Mechanism (GRM)" in Michael Sorkin and Deen Sharp eds., Open Gaza: Architectures of Hope, Cairo: American University in Cairo Press. DOI:https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv2ks71tx.17

2021 "Come normalizzare l’assedio: il Meccanismo per la Ricostruzione di Gaza", Historia Magistra. Rivista di storia critica, n. 34, 2020, pp. 21-39. [Italian]

2020 UNRWA at 70: Palestinian Refugees in Context, London: AJCS and PRC. [Arabic translation: https://studies.aljazeera.net/en/publications/unrwa-70-palestinian-refu…;

2018 "Normalizing the Siege: The ‘Gaza Reconstruction Mechanism’ and the Contradictions of Humanitarianism and Reconstruction", The Politics of Post-Conflict Reconstruction, POMEPS Studies, 30.

2018 "Voices of Return: Documenting Israel's Repression of the Great March of Return", London: Palestinian Return Centre.

2018 (with Maya Hammad) "Syria’s Palestinian Refugees: An Account of Violence, Precarious Existence and Uncertain Futures", London: Palestinian Return Centre.

Invited lectures and presentations

2024 Summer School on Palestine Refugees, The Middle East Foundation, Africa Foundation and IST Academy, Turkey.

2024 History of Modern Palestine Seminar, University of Dundee.

2022 Critical Palestinian Studies Lecture Series, Department of Political and Social Sciences, University of Bologna.

2021 Revolutions and Counter-Revolutions in the MENA Region, Monthly Seminar on Social Movements and Political Action, University Institute of Lisbon.

2021 Postcolonial dimensions in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict seminar, Postcolonialism and International Relations course, Scuola Normale Superiore Florence.

2021 Webinar organised by the Office of Market Auken MEP, What is life like for Palestinian refugees in Lebanon? 

Associations

I'm on the editorial committee of the student-run journal Maydan.