Stav Salpeter: Co-President
Norwegian-Israeli; MA (Hons) International Relations & International Law
Stav Salpeter is a Founder and Co-President of EUPIDS. As a Norwegian-Israeli that has grown up across the world, she is passionate about intercultural dialogue. Her work as an assistant teacher at the Hadassah School for Hospitalised Children on the border between East and West Jerusalem allowed her to see the pressing need for Palestinian-Israeli dialogue, which she decided to bring to Edinburgh. Stav is the recipient of the 2020 UJS Interfaith Activist Award for her work in promoting intercultural, interreligious, and interdenominational dialogue and for her activism against religious discrimination on campus.
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Yasmin Kanaan: Co-President
Palestinian, Jordanian, Lebanese; MA (Hons) History & English Literature
Yasmin is the Co-President of EUPIDS. As a Palestinian, she feel strongly about the conflict, as it personally affects her home, family and sense of identity. She decided to join EUPIDS because it provides her with a safe space where she can express her own voice, as well as hear opinions from people with different nationalities and backgrounds who are interested in the conflict.
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Lara De Mets: Logistics Officer
Belgian; (Postgraduate) LLM International Law
Lara first got interested in the Israel-Palestine conflict during my undergraduate degree, where she studied it extensively and when she got the opportunity to visit the region for three weeks to meet with actors on both sides of the conflict. Being in the region and seeing the reality of the conflict with her own eyes really stressed how important dialogue is. It also highlighted to her how important it is to create a nonpartisan space to discuss these issues on campus (and more widely), which is why she am really excited to help EUPIDS in achieving this goal.
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Sammy McKinney: Treasurer
British; MA (Hons) Politics and Philosophy
Israel-Palestine is a topic that has always fascinated Sammy and reading and thinking about the conflict is what motivated him to study politics in the first place. Having visited Israel many times, he is always looking to learn more about Israeli and Palestinian politics, culture and languages. He thinks that conversations on this topic require nuance, civility and appreciation of different perspectives, without which no progress can be made. For Sammy, EUPIDS is a unique space for bringing these to bear and he is very excited to be a part of it this year!
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Thomas Sweeney: Secretary
British-American; MA (Hons) International Relations
Thomas is the EUPIDS Logistics Officer. He has been part of EUPIDS since it started and he believes it is a hugely important society which has really made a difference at Edinburgh and across the UK. He grew up in South-West London and have spent much time with family and friends in the US. He visited both Israel and Palestine in the summer of 2018 and this solidified for him a clear desire to learn as much about the conflict as possible and make change.
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Cole Grady: Media and Marketing Officer
American; MA (Hons) Social Anthropology with Development
Cole is the Media and Marketing Officer for EUPIDS. He initially joined the society because he was curious and wanted to learn more, but he soon realised just how important such a group is. He truly believes in the impact we are making and is incredibly proud to be part of it. He hopes to play a role in EUPIDS throughout the rest of his university experience & will certainly never forget his time spent working to propagate such a vital message.
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Gerard Murphy: Postgraduate Outreach Officer
British; MSc (hons) Applied Linguistics
Gerard is British but lived in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia for 15 years. His experiences there helped to form a strong opinion about the conflict and a passion to make a real difference. He believes EUPIDS is a great platform to express and discuss contrasting opinions and learn more about such an important global issue.
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