20 Facts About Susan Abulhawa

Susan Abulhawa is a Palestinian-American scientist, writer and activist.

Susan Abulhawa is a human rights activist and animal rights advocate and founded the children's organization Playgrounds for Palestine.

Susan Abulhawa's parents, born in At-Tur a neighborhood on the Mount of Olives east of the Old City of Jerusalem, were refugees of the 1967 war.

Susan Abulhawa's father, according to one account, "was expelled at gunpoint; her mother, who was studying in Germany at the time, was unable to return and the couple reunited in Jordan before moving to Kuwait, where Abulhawa was born in 1970".

Susan Abulhawa lived in the United States with an uncle until she was 5, then spent several years moving between relatives in Jordan and Kuwait.

Susan Abulhawa lived in Dar al-Tifl al-Arabi, a Jerusalem orphanage, from the age of 10 to 13.

Susan Abulhawa studied Biology at Pfeiffer University in North Carolina and completed a masters in Neuroscience at the University of South Carolina School of Medicine.

In July 2001, Susan Abulhawa founded Playgrounds for Palestine, a non-governmental children's organization dedicated to upholding The Right to Play for Palestinian children and build playgrounds in Palestine and UN refugee camps in Lebanon and Syria.

Susan Abulhawa is involved in the campaign for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions and as a speaker for Al Awda, the Palestinian right of return coalition.

Susan Abulhawa is signatory to the boycott campaign against Israel, including the cultural boycott.

Susan Abulhawa gave the keynote address at one of the first campus BDS conferences at the University of Pennsylvania.

Susan Abulhawa said the BDS movement was "one of the most effective ways to promote Palestinian rights and achieve justice against Israel's ongoing ethnic cleansing".

In 2013, Susan Abulhawa declined an invitation from Al Jazeera to participate in a discussion about the Nakba with three or four Israelis, having been asked by the producer to participate as the only Palestinian as they needed her to "balance things out".

Susan Abulhawa spoke as member of the team in favor of the proposition together with Miko Peled and Mohammed El-Kurd.

Susan Abulhawa responded that The Union seemed to have yielded to demands from Zionists, "as Palestinians struggle to make our voices heard in the midst of a genocide".

Susan Abulhawa criticized the decision, referring to some of the other speakers as "House Arabs" and "cowards and sycophants" for avoiding political discourse.

Susan Abulhawa's writing career began with essays and political commentaries.

Susan Abulhawa's work appeared in newspapers and magazines, including the New York Daily News, Chicago Tribune, The Philadelphia Inquirer, The Internationalist, The Christian Science Monitor and more.

Susan Abulhawa is a contributing author to two anthologies, Shattered Illusions and Searching Jenin.

Susan Abulhawa's debut novel The Scar of David, republished as Mornings in Jenin, is a multigenerational family epic spanning five countries and more than sixty years, focuses on the effects on Palestinians of the Israeli occupation.