About Us

"We are, each of us angels with only one wing; and we can only fly by embracing one another." - Luciano de Crescenzo

Tarek Abuata grew up in Bethlehem, Palestine, and moved to the United
States along with his family at the age of 12, two years after the 1987 Palestinian Uprising. After receiving his J.D. with a focus in International Law from the University of Texas Law School in 2002, he spent a year in Palestine working with the Negotiations Support Unit. a group of advisers to the Palestinian Negotiations. He's been involved in many
Tarek has been involved in various nonviolence workshops, most recently a nonviolence training in February '08 in Bethlehem. The Training was led by Dr. Bernard La Fayette, one of the leaders of the Civil Rights Movement in the United States, and Charles Alphin, Cpt, Retired. Tarek serves LTN as the Executive Director.

David Delewski worked many years in youth education and empowerment. He served as a youth minister for 10 years in the Arlington Catholic Diocese, Virginia, where he led and facilitated retreats, workshops, and reflective groups. David also taught English to youth at Pilimar School in Rio Piedras, Puerto Rico for one year. Following a pilgrimage to the Holy Land in 1995, David was inspired to help the growing peace movement in the region with his years of experience in youth and church ministry, and his passion for justice. Upon the return from his most recent journey to Palestine/Israel in January 2008, his passion for human rights has been reignited and is excited to share his participation the Nonviolence Training in Bethlehem as well as his travel experiences throughout Palestine/ Israel. David serves LTN as an Outreach Coordinator and participates on the Curriculum Planning Committee for The Living Nonviolence Summer Camp 2008.

Lara Nasser Langley grew up in Ramallah Palestine. As an Episcopalian, she was very active in church youth organizations in the West Bank which made her aware of issues of peace and justice at a young age. She attended Birzeit University for one year but had to move to the US due to the eruption of the first Intifada which resulted in the closure of schools and universities. Lara received a Bachelors of Science in Accounting from Old Dominion University in Norfolk Virginia in 1991, and earned her CPA in 1994 in Chicago, Illinois. Lara worked in various companies in the past 10 years as a financial reporting accountant. Currently she is the controller for a software company. Though Lara’s formative years were in the midst of ongoing violence, she has embraced nonviolence as the only way to bring everlasting peace to Palestine. Lara serves on LTN's Board of Directors.


	Rev. Dr. Susan Karen Hedahl is professor of homiletics at the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Gettysburg. She has taught in seminaries for her entire career with a vocational focus on teaching homiletics which emphasizes context, justice and imagination.
Her teaching is buttressed by a long publishing career. Teaching and travels include work in Tanzania, East Africa and Russia. Areas of research include early Church sermonic rhetoric, women and proclamation, preaching in the Abrahamic family of religions. She is a member of many organizations ranging from the Academy of Homiletics to SinC, "Sisters in Crime," an international organization of mystery writers. Susan serves LTN as the Gettysburg Outreach Coordinator.


	Dr. Jean Martensen is a long time peace activist in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). Her work has taken her to conflicted areas of the world, such as El Salvador, Israel/Palestine, the former Soviet Union, and Ireland.
Jean was the director for peace education in the ELCA’s Division for Church in Society and for studies and leadership in the Commission for Women. Since retiring in November 2001, she has served as co-chair of the World Council of Churches U.S. Conference's Decade to Overcome Violence Committee. She has also served on the board of Lutheran Peace Fellowship, Global Peace Services, USA, and the Justice for Women Working Group of the NCCC. Jean is currently serving as treasurer of the board of the Center on Conscience and War. Jean is currently serving as Treasurer of the board of the Center on Conscience and War.


	Joyce Ibrahim a Palestinian, has attained a Bachelor of Science in Foreign Service from Georgetown University and Masters of International Relations from John Hopkins, School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) Washington, D.C. As Director of the the director of Washington Dialogue Events for the Project on Middle East Democracy, an advocacy organization dedicated to examining how genuine democracies can emerge in the Middle East. Prior to that, she spent a summer with the United Nation's In 2005, she worked as a camp counselor with Seeds of Peace, where she counseled Israeli and
Palestinian teenagers in conflict resolution. She interned at the Foundation for Middle East Peace as a researcher on Palestine/Israel, and at the Holy Land Christian Ecumenical Foundation as the Youth and Arab Outreach Coordinator. Joyce serves LTN as Vice-President of the Board.


	Valerie Minerovic earned both a bachelors and a masters degree in International Relations from Syracuse University. She has a variety of experience in mediation, facilitation and training, focusing on youth
empowerment. Valerie organizes and oversees leadership and career development conferences for high school youth through her work with the Congressional Youth Leadership Council. Valerie serves LTN as Secretary of the Board.


	Anne Lipe, Ph.D. MT-BC has been a music therapist for twenty-five years. Currently, she has worked with the Heartland Home Health and Hospice, serving clients throughout Montgomery County, MD.
As a music therapy educator, she has taught at Marywood University, Elizabethtown College and Tennessee Technological University. She also has published research in the areas of music therapy assessment among people with dementia and the relationships between music, spirituality and health. She fell in love with Palestine and the Palestinian people after traveling to the region in 2003 with Wheat Ridge Ministries. Anne is delighted to be a part of the LTN family and found the Living Nonviolence Summer program to be a rewarding facet of her work in Music Therapy. Dr. Anne Lipe is currently serving as The Assistant Professor of Music Therapy at Converse College, Spartanburg, SC.


	Luma Haj grew up in Amman, Jordan. Her love for Palestine and her passion for peace and justice were rooted in her at an early age. As a daughter of Palestinian refugees, she grew up hearing her familyґs
stories and memories of Birzeit and Yafa. Luma attended Beirut Arab University where she earned her Business Administration and Accounting degrees. In 1991, she moved to the US and worked as the office manager for eight years at the Holy Land Christian Ecumenical Foundation, an organization committed to maintaining the presence and growth of the Arab Christians in the Holy Land. Currently, Luma is the Executive Assistant for WHUT at Howard University. With her continuing commitment to nonviolence and peace in Palestine/Israel, Luma is proud to serve on LTN Board of Directors.

Advisory Council

Reverend Canon Roy Enquist

Dr. Bernard Lafayette
Civil Rights Movement activist, co-founder of SNCC (Student Nonviolence Coordinating Committee), currently director of the Center for Nonviolence and Peace Studies in R.I.

Ann Von Lossberg
Over 20 years experiences in the nonprofit and public sector, and grassroots community development

Reverend Canon John Peterson: Director of the Center for Global Justice and Reconciliation at the Washington National Cathedral

Mai Abdul Rahman:
A Palestinian American, lives in Washington D.C. and is an organizer, activist and journalist. She is an active member of WIAMEP
Washington Interfaith Alliance for Middle East Peace, (WIAMEP). Mai founded American Palestinian Women's Association, has organized humanitarian relief programs to aid Palestinians, and serves on the boards of several other non-profit organizations. Mai is a Doctorate student at Howard University's
School of Education, Policy and Administration program. As a United Nations consultant, she
assisted in developing short and long term strategies for Birzeit University in the occupied West Bank. She developed the fundraising document "Creating a World of Possibilities & Building a Future of Hope". Mai hosted and produced "Spotlight on Education" A Local Television Program for Community Youth that addressed the many issues that face our schools and youth in the District of Coumbia.