Dunya Alwan and Hannah Mermelstein met in June 2003 and have worked together on several projects since then, both in the United States and in the West Bank. Both are members of the International Women's Peace Service (IWPS), whose mission is to support Palestinian led nonviolent resistance to Israeli occupation.
Both Dunya and Hannah have planned and led numerous international delegations through the West Bank.
Dunya is Iraqi-American of both Muslim and Jewish descent. Born in the United States, she has lived, worked, traveled and studied in the Middle East and North Africa, including in Egypt, Morocco, Jordan, Palestine, Israel, Iraq, Syria, and Lebanon.
Trained as an architect, just prior to the first Gulf war she moved toward social justice work. Since then her work has included making public art and documentary video, doing violence prevention education and providing programming in the Massachusetts women’s prison. Dunya began working in human rightsand education in Palestine in 2002.
Hannah is an American Jew born and raised on the east coast of the United States. Her passion for social justice led her to a degree in International and Intercultural Studies, Women's Studies, and Peace Studies.
Hannah turned her energies to the Middle East as the second intifada intensified and she could not ignore the injustices happening in her name as a Jew and with her money as an American. After a year in Boston working as a community organizer in public housing, facilitating anti-oppression classes with White People Challenging Racism, and participating in local Palestine solidarity work, Hannah began working in human rights and education in Palestine in September 2003. Recently Hannah completed a quilt and CD project called Needle in the Groove to raise money for a Palestinian girls' group.