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A Graphic composed by Mentor Ehren Brav
Leveraging the power of AI image generation... Feel free to distribute - I certainly will be.
Christina Goldbaum's latest: Syria, Lebanon, and more
Recent articles, videos and podcasts from on the ground in some of the most fragile places in the world by wonderful alum and Convisero mentor Christina Goldbaum.
Forty Prominent Israelis Express Deep Gratitude to Deputies Behind FT Letter
A group of forty prominent Israeli figures — including former military commanders, diplomats, Knesset members, academics, and civil society leaders — have issued a powerful statement of appreciation to the 36 members of the Board of Deputies of British Jews who signed an open letter in the Financial Times criticizing the Israeli government’s conduct in the Gaza conflict.
The Israeli signatories, among them former IDF commanders, ambassadors, legal scholars, and leading intellectuals, acknowledged the personal risks the deputies face and lauded their "support in the battle we are fighting for the future and soul of Israel." They warned that the government’s current trajectory undermines democratic institutions and prioritizes power consolidation over the safe return of hostages and genuine peace.
The letter criticizes Prime Minister Netanyahu’s government for promoting “Jewish supremacy” and choosing “perpetual warfare” over diplomacy. The signatories underscore the need for unity in the Jewish world to uphold democratic and human values and condemn the silence of many communal leaders in the face of this crisis.
“The toll taken in the lives of Israeli soldiers, the unbearable suffering of the hostages and their families, and the destruction of Gaza... have failed to deter the Netanyahu government,” the letter states, calling instead for a diplomatic path forward.
Among those expressing gratitude are Avraham Burg, former Speaker of the Knesset; Prof. Naomi Chazan; former ambassadors Colette Avital and Alon Liel; former Attorney General Michael Ben-Yair; and dozens of others spanning Israel’s military, academic, and civil service spheres.
Read the full article here: Jewish News – Forty Prominent Israelis Express Gratitude
Holding on to Humanity: The Parents Circle 2024 Annual Report
In a year of unbearable loss and widening divides, the Parents Circle – Families Forum (PCFF) has remained a powerful voice for reconciliation. Founded in 1995, the PCFF is a joint Israeli-Palestinian organization made up of over 800 bereaved families—those who have lost loved ones to the conflict. The 2024 annual report offers a sobering yet hopeful glimpse into how these families have chosen connection over hatred in the wake of October 7, 2023.
From uni-national healing circles to binational Zoom gatherings, from summer camps in Cyprus to legal battles with the Israeli Ministry of Education, PCFF programs persisted even as war and trauma reshaped every part of life. The group welcomed 75 new bereaved families this year, expanding its base of personal stories that serve as catalysts for understanding and peacebuilding.
Highlights of 2024 include:
Over 150 Dialogue Meetings in Israel, Palestine, and globally, including outreach to over 3,000 international participants.
Youth Engagement: 39 Israeli and Palestinian teens attended a joint summer camp in Cyprus.
Care and Solidarity: 500 care packages and 1,200 school kits were distributed to Palestinian families amid deepening humanitarian needs.
Global Advocacy: The “Listening from the Heart” initiative, run in collaboration with Georgetown University, introduced PCFF’s dialogue model across 35 U.S. colleges.
Media and Storytelling: 29 audiovisual testimonials, podcasts, and creative campaigns shared messages of peace and reconciliation worldwide.
Recognition: PCFF received major peace awards, including the Pax Christi International Peace Award and the Danish PL Foundation Freedom Award.
The report also highlights structural challenges. The group faced removal from Israel’s school programming platform—a decision they continue to contest legally. Despite these setbacks, their message has reached more people than ever.
To read the full 2024 annual report, click here.
Esti Shohat Rozenfeld Appointed CEO of Tech2Peace
Esti Shohat Rozenfeld has taken on the role of Chief Executive Officer at Tech2Peace, an initiative focused on fostering Israeli-Palestinian cooperation through technology and dialogue.
With a background in software engineering and over 15 years of experience in the tech sector, Rozenfeld brings both technical expertise and a long-standing commitment to activism. Tech2Peace combines high-tech training with dialogue-based workshops, aiming to build a foundation for cross-border entrepreneurship and collaborative leadership.
In her statement, Rozenfeld emphasized the urgency of leadership during a time marked by instability, polarization, and collective grief:
“In these uncertain and unstable times, we are called to lead — to take action and guide our societies toward a just peace.”
She referenced Marshall Ganz’s definition of leadership as “accepting responsibility for enabling others to achieve shared purpose under conditions of uncertainty,” aligning it with Tech2Peace’s goals of social impact through innovation and cooperation.
Rozenfeld joins the organization at a time when civil society efforts remain critical for envisioning and building more inclusive futures across divided communities.
Siwoo Kim – A Life in Music
Siwoo Kim is an acclaimed violinist recognized for his incisive artistry and expressive nuance. Described as “compelling” by The New York Times and praised for his “stylistic sensitivity” by the Chicago Tribune, Siwoo performs internationally as a soloist and chamber musician. He is also the co-founding artistic director of the VIVO Music Festival in Columbus, Ohio.
Born in South Korea to parents who ran a music school, Siwoo began violin at the age of two-and-a-half. After immigrating to the U.S. at age five, he continued his musical studies with the support of his family, ultimately earning undergraduate and graduate degrees from The Juilliard School under Robert Mann and Donald Weilerstein.
Siwoo gave the world premiere of Samuel Adler’s violin concerto and recorded it on Linn Records to mark Adler’s 90th birthday. He made his concerto debut at Carnegie Hall with the Juilliard Orchestra and has since performed with numerous orchestras worldwide, including in the U.S., Europe, Asia, and Africa.
As a chamber musician, Siwoo co-founded Quartet Senza Misura and has collaborated with renowned artists such as Itzhak Perlman, Mitsuko Uchida, Joyce DiDonato, and members of the Juilliard and Guarneri Quartets. He has appeared at festivals including Marlboro, Tivoli, Bergen, Stellenbosch, and Fundación Juan March.
His accolades include the 2012 King Award for Young Artists and top prizes in competitions such as Corpus Christi, Juilliard, Ima Hogg, and Sejong. He is a former fellow of Carnegie Hall’s Ensemble Connect and performs on a 1753 “ex-Birgkit” Giovanni Battista Guadagnini violin on generous loan from Rare Violins In Consortium.
For more on Siwoo Kim’s music and upcoming performances, visit his website: www.siwookim.com
Entrepreneurship Across the Divide: A 50:50 Startups Alumni Gathering
Left to Right
Entrepreneurs from Israel and Palestine, Alumni of the 50:50 Startups program
Lee Tom Dotan, Aseel Farrah, Kassim Bashir
Aseel Farrah
Amir Grinstein and Lee Tom Dotan
Siwoo Kim with Sherman and Iris
Left to Right
Trebuchet Team
Amadeo, Alejandro and Bruno
Infinite License: Reflections on Gaza and Historical Violence
In a powerful essay for The New York Review of Books, historian Omer Bartov explores how the memory of the Holocaust has been distorted to justify the ongoing destruction of Gaza and the silence surrounding it. His article, titled "Infinite License: The World After Gaza," draws troubling parallels between current events and past atrocities.
Bartov opens by recounting the 1904 Herero genocide in German Southwest Africa (modern-day Namibia), where German colonial forces issued an extermination order that resulted in the deaths of tens of thousands of Herero people. He argues that such colonial frameworks of mass violence echo in the way Gaza's destruction has been rationalized and tolerated today.
The piece warns that invoking past traumas like the Holocaust to shield present-day violence erodes moral standards and undermines the very principles of human rights developed in its aftermath. Bartov stresses that this distortion is not only tragic but dangerously corrosive to international law, memory, and justice.
The essay ultimately calls readers to recognize the historical patterns repeating in Gaza — and the urgent need to resist the normalization of unchecked violence.
Read the full article here:
Infinite License: The World After Gaza — The New York Review of Books
How Universities Can Resist Political Attacks on Academic Freedom
As universities across the United States face escalating pressure from the Trump administration's aggressive campaign against higher education, a critical question emerges: How can they defend their independence?
A recent New York Times opinion piece argues that current attacks on universities — framed around issues like antisemitism and D.E.I. — are, in fact, part of a broader agenda rooted in anti-intellectualism and the consolidation of political power. The strategy has included the withdrawal of research grants and targeted financial threats aimed at compelling universities to comply individually, preventing collective resistance.
Columbia University, one of the first institutions targeted, quickly made administrative changes after losing hundreds of millions in funding. Harvard, facing $4 billion in cuts, has resisted — but other institutions have largely remained silent. The situation underscores how universities have prioritized rankings, fundraising, and prestige over their core mission: the production and dissemination of knowledge.
The article draws parallels to historical examples of academic resistance under autocratic regimes — from Poland’s underground "flying universities" to Kosovo’s parallel education systems — demonstrating that when educational institutions focus solely on their fundamental mission, they can withstand political pressure.
The call to action for American universities is clear: act like true centers of learning. This means investing in access to education, focusing less on wealth accumulation and prestige, and embracing their role as defenders of democracy and intellectual freedom.
If universities fail to resist now, the consequences could be irreversible.
Read the full article here: New York Times: This Is How Universities Can Escape Trump’s Trap, if They Dare
Sherif Mansour Joins Brave New Films
We are pleased to share that Sherif Mansour, a member of Convisero, has recently joined Brave New Films as their new Outreach and Distribution Coordinator.
Sherif Mansour is an Egyptian-American democracy and human rights advocate with extensive experience supporting press freedom and civil society initiatives. He previously served as the Middle East and North Africa Program Coordinator at the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), where he led efforts to defend journalists operating in some of the world’s most challenging environments. Before that, he worked as a Senior Program Officer at Freedom House, where he was involved in training democracy activists across the Arab world.
At Brave New Films, Sherif will focus on expanding the organization’s reach through strategic outreach and distribution efforts, ensuring that critical stories promoting justice, equality, and human rights reach broader audiences.
We congratulate Sherif on this new role and look forward to following his continued work advocating for human rights and freedom of expression.
Selendy Gay Signs Amicus Brief in Support of Perkins Coie
Through the support of the Harvard AAUP and the National AAUP, Selendy Gay stood alongside 500 of the nation's leading law firms on April 4, 2025, by signing an amicus brief defending Perkins Coie against a controversial Executive Order issued on March 6, 2025.
The brief asserts that the Executive Order, and similar actions, threaten the foundations of constitutional governance and undermine the rule of law. It calls upon the judiciary to intervene swiftly and decisively to halt this misuse of executive authority.
Read the full announcement and amicus brief here:
Selendy Gay Signs Amicus Brief in Support of Perkins Coie
+972 Magazine Receives Harvard Nieman Fellows' Lyons Award for Conscience and Integrity in Journalism
We are proud to share that +972 Magazine has been honored by the 2025 Nieman Fellows at Harvard University with the prestigious Louis M. Lyons Award for Conscience and Integrity in Journalism.
This recognition affirms the vital work of +972 Magazine in providing independent, human-centered reporting and analysis from the ground in Israel-Palestine, even amidst some of the most challenging and volatile times.
The Nieman Fellows commended +972 for its "vital, human-centered reporting on the war in Gaza" and its unwavering commitment to "documenting the human cost of war and occupation" with "great moral conscience and deep integrity."
Established in 1964, the Louis M. Lyons Award honors individuals and organizations demonstrating extraordinary conscience and integrity in journalism and public communication. It is named after Louis M. Lyons, former curator of the Nieman Foundation and a fierce advocate for press freedom.
In the past year, +972 Magazine and its partners at Local Call have earned wide acclaim for courageous journalism. Highlights include:
Editor-in-Chief Ghousoon Bisharat honored on Difference Day at Vrije Universiteit Brussel.
Writers Meron Rapoport, Yuval Abraham, and Basel Adra receiving international accolades, including the Golden Doves for Peace and the Anna Politkovskaya–Arman Soldin Prize.
The Luchetta Foundation granting +972 Magazine a Special Award for "outstanding work."
This award underscores +972's commitment to ethical, independent journalism and amplifying the voices often marginalized in global narratives.
Learn more about +972 Magazine here: www.972mag.com
C4ADS Releases 2024 Annual Report on Global Security and Data-Driven Impact
The Center for Advanced Defense Studies (C4ADS) has published its 2024 Annual Report, offering insights into its global efforts to expose and disrupt illicit networks that pose threats to international security.
The report highlights C4ADS's commitment to using open-source data, cutting-edge analytics, and cross-sector collaboration to address complex transnational issues, including environmental crime, corruption, and weapons trafficking.
This year’s report outlines strategic case studies, capacity-building initiatives, and partnerships that have strengthened accountability and transparency worldwide. It also showcases how C4ADS has supported journalists, civil society, and governments through their innovative data platforms and intelligence tools.
Explore the full report and learn how C4ADS is using data for global impact:
C4ADS 2024 Annual Report
Institute for Nonviolence Chicago: 2024 Impact Report
The Institute for Nonviolence Chicago has released its 2024 Impact Report, offering a comprehensive look at its efforts to foster peace, reduce violence, and build community resilience across Chicago.
This year’s report highlights significant strides in outreach, case management, and community engagement. From supporting young people in crisis to mediating gang conflicts and providing trauma-informed care, the Institute’s work continues to be a critical force for healing in neighborhoods disproportionately affected by gun violence.
The report also details collaboration with local partners, success stories from frontline outreach workers, and strategic growth in data-driven programming—all rooted in the principles of Kingian Nonviolence.
Read the full report and explore how nonviolence is making a difference:
2024 Impact Report – Institute for Nonviolence Chicago
No Woman’s Land: Behind the Scenes of a Groundbreaking War Documentary
Kiana and Mélissa visiting a women's center in Badakhshan
Between January and June 2024, photojournalist Kiana Hayeri and researcher Mélissa Cornet traveled across seven provinces in Afghanistan, documenting the lives of over 100 women and girls living under Taliban rule. Their project, No Woman’s Land, offers a rare and intimate view into everyday acts of resistance in a country where women’s freedoms have been systematically stripped away.
Using light, shadow, and collaboration, they created dignified, anonymous portraits, accompanied by deeply researched interviews. The project captures small moments of joy and humanity—dancing, art, celebration—as powerful forms of protest.
Security, consent, and ethics were central to their process, as they navigated high-risk environments without a security team. Their work highlights the urgency of listening to women on the ground—and preserving their stories.
No Woman’s Land has won multiple international awards, including the 2025 World Press Photo Award and Pictures of the Year International, and was made possible through the 14th Carmignac Photojournalism Award. A Kickstarter campaign is now live to support its upcoming photo book.
Watch the behind-the-scenes feature:
No Woman’s Land – Dispatches, The VII Foundation
Feromics: Revolutionizing Iron Biology for Human Health
Feromics, a biotechnology company based in Toronto, Canada, is pioneering a new frontier in health innovation through its focus on iron biology. The company is developing a first-in-class platform to detect, monitor, and modulate iron at the molecular level—an area of research with far-reaching implications for chronic diseases.
At the helm of this transformative work is Dr. Shai Schubert, CEO and Co-Founder of Feromics—and a member of Convisero. Dr. Schubert is driven by a mission to bring cutting-edge treatments to underserved patients. Before launching Feromics, he co-founded and led technology development in several biotechnology and medical device companies.
Dr. Schubert holds a Ph.D. in biotechnology from the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology and completed his postdoctoral training at the prestigious Harvard-MIT Program in Health Sciences and Technology (HST), Biomedical Engineering Center. His multidisciplinary expertise and entrepreneurial leadership are central to Feromics' vision of redefining iron biology for clinical innovation.
Iron, a vital mineral in the human body, plays a key role in oxygen transport, energy production, and immune function. However, dysregulated iron levels have been linked to a wide range of health conditions, including inflammation, neurodegenerative diseases, cardiovascular disorders, and cancer.
Feromics' platform leverages cutting-edge tools in molecular diagnostics, bioinformatics, and protein engineering to provide more precise, non-invasive insights into iron metabolism. Their mission is to harness this knowledge to improve clinical outcomes, from early detection and prevention to personalized treatments.
Learn more about their work:
Feromics – Company Website
Congo Basin Carbon Research: A Critical Front in the Climate Crisis
The Congo Basin, often overshadowed by the Amazon in global climate discourse, is emerging as one of the most vital ecosystems in the fight against climate change. A new report from National Geographic highlights how this vast tropical forest stores massive amounts of carbon and plays a crucial role in regulating the Earth’s climate.
Unlike other major carbon sinks, the Congo Basin has received limited international funding and attention. Yet its peatlands alone may store the equivalent of 20 years’ worth of fossil fuel emissions from the United States. With increased deforestation, logging, and land conversion threatening these reserves, scientists and local researchers are racing to understand how much carbon is stored—and how much could be released.
This research is also deeply tied to justice and equity. Many of the researchers involved are from the Congo itself, working to assert regional ownership over data and climate strategies. Their work not only protects the planet but also strengthens scientific sovereignty in a region long overlooked in global environmental efforts.
The photographs accompanying this report were taken by Nichole Sobecki, a member of Convisero and award-winning photographer based in Nairobi. Her work chronicles how climate change is reshaping our planet and humanity’s connection to it. The report also features the investigative journalism of Mélanie Gouby, a London-based filmmaker and journalist who has spent more than a decade covering conflict, inequality, and environmental issues across Africa.
This story appears in the April 2025 issue of National Geographic Magazine. The nonprofit National Geographic Society, committed to illuminating and protecting the wonder of our world, funded the work of Explorers Mélanie Gouby and Nichole Sobecki.
To learn more about the Congo Basin’s critical role and the scientists leading the charge, read the full article here:
National Geographic – Congo Basin Carbon Research
The Stringer: Uncovering Truths, Rewriting History
Premiering at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival, The Stringer is a groundbreaking documentary directed by Bao Nguyen and produced by The VII Foundation in partnership with XRM Media. With over 250 reviews and media stories, it has become one of the most discussed films in Sundance history.
The film follows a whistleblower’s revelation that launches a two-year journalistic investigation led by Gary Knight and a team of award-winning reporters, uncovering a decades-old scandal involving the authorship of one of the Vietnam War’s most iconic images — the “napalm girl” photograph. At its core, The Stringer is an urgent and reflective critique of the systemic exploitation of freelance and local journalists, especially in conflict zones.
The investigation challenges long-held narratives, forcing the journalism industry to reckon with questions of authorship, journalistic ethics, and racial injustice. As Bao Nguyen explains in his director’s statement, the film underscores the enduring presence of marginalized voices, asserting that they were never silent — only ignored.
“The truth cannot be twisted, or torn apart,” says a legendary Vietnamese journalist interviewed in the film. “Because if so, it’s no longer the truth and we will have lost our moral compass.”
The Stringer is a story that many in the profession did not want told. But it is a vital reckoning with history — one that exemplifies the role of journalism not just as the first draft of history, but also as its necessary second draft.
With reporting by Fiona Turner, Terri Lichstein, Lê Vân, and Gary Knight, and cinematography by Andrew Yuyi Truong, Bao Nguyen, and Ray Lavers, the film stands as both an investigative achievement and a cinematic milestone.
Read more and explore the full project here:
The Stringer – The VII Foundation
More on The Stringer in the press:
Authoritarianism’s Leading Edge: The Case of Rumeysa Ozturk
Concerns over civil liberties and due process have grown following the detention of Rumeysa Ozturk, a Turkish graduate student at Tufts University, by federal agents earlier this week. The incident, captured on security footage, shows plainclothes agents—many with their faces obscured—detaining Ozturk without any prior public indication of criminal behavior.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), someone matching Ozturk’s name is now listed in a detention facility in Louisiana. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced that Ozturk’s student visa had been revoked, alongside 300 others. A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson has claimed that Ozturk engaged in “activities in support of Hamas,” yet no formal charges have been filed and no evidence has been made public.
The only publicly known detail about Ozturk’s activities is her authorship of an opinion piece in the Tufts student newspaper criticizing the university’s support for Israel. This has raised alarms about the potential criminalization of dissent and free expression.
As journalist Meher Ahmad notes, this case may signal a shift in ICE’s operations — targeting noncitizens for deportation without accusations or convictions of any crime, effectively bypassing the legal system. While the federal government claims legal authority for these actions under certain statutes, critics argue that this amounts to circumventing the courts and undermining constitutional protections.
An investigation published by Mother Jones raises further doubts about the legitimacy and accountability of these detentions, suggesting that the U.S. government may be using immigration enforcement as an extrajudicial tool of suppression.
The implications of this case are serious, particularly for international students and immigrant communities. As debates over speech, dissent, and national security intensify, the need to uphold due process and civil rights remains more urgent than ever.
Read more from:
1. Federal Government Detains International Student at Tufts
2. A Video From Tufts Captures the Fear and Aggression in Trump’s Crackdown
3. Over 2,000 protest in wake of student detainment
Power Ukraine: Supporting Civilian Resilience Amid War
Elle Ota - a member of Convisero
As the full-scale war in Ukraine approaches its third anniversary, the Putin regime continues its daily attacks on Ukraine’s civilian infrastructure, targeting electric grids, power plants, and energy facilities. These assaults have left more than one million Ukrainians without access to electricity, heat, or the Internet, severely impacting their ability to stay warm, communicate, and carry on with daily life.
In response, the Human Rights Foundation (HRF) launched the Power Ukraine campaign in December to provide portable generators and charging stations to communities most affected by the conflict, particularly in the Kharkiv and Sumy regions. The campaign focused on reaching internally displaced civilians and frontline areas where needs are most urgent.
Over the course of the campaign, HRF raised over $59,000, which was used to deliver 60 portable generators to households and five charging stations to hospitals. These efforts enabled communities to regain access to power for heating and communication, and supported the continuity of medical care in severely affected regions.
The initiative highlights the essential role of energy access in conflict zones and underscores the importance of targeted, community-based humanitarian efforts. Among those leading this work on the ground was Elle Ota, HRF Program Officer and member of Convisero, who personally traveled with a team to remote villages to deliver the generators and charging stations. Her direct involvement helped ensure that aid reached those most in need and embodied the spirit of frontline solidarity.
Learn more and donate to help HRF Power Ukraine at:
Power Ukraine – Human Rights Foundation
Watch a message of gratitude from HRF’s Power Ukraine campaign:
YouTube – Power Ukraine Impact