Meet the Madison PfP Chapter's Steering Committee

The members of the Steering Committee of the Madison Chapter of Playgrounds for Palestine are Samir El-Omari, Jennifer Loewenstein, Jean-Marc Poisson and Judith Siers-Poisson.

Clockwise from upper left: Judith, Jennifer, Samir, and Jean-Marc

Samir El-Omari is a Palestinian who moved to Madison from Montreal in August 2007. Samir is a licensed professional engineer of Ontario, Canada. He graduated from and did his master degree at Bauhaus university in Weimar, Germany and is currently a Ph.D. candidate at Concordia University Montreal, Canada. He held, for a period of 15 years, several industrial posts in Egypt in construction engineering and management on building projects including hospitals, hotels, power plants, and residential and commercial buildings. In addition to being active with Playgrounds for Palestine, he is also a member of the association for one democratic state Palestine/Israel and the Madison-Rafah Sister City Project. His wife, Nevine El-Nossery, and their children Hana and Zayed, are also helping the with the PfP chapter.

Jennifer Loewenstein is the Associate Director of the Middle East Studies Program at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She is a member of the board of the Israeli Coalition against House Demolitions-USA branch, founder of the Madison-Rafah Sister City Project and a freelance journalist.

Jean-Marc Poisson is a native of Paris, France and came to the U.S. in 1988. He holds a PhD in French Language and Literature from the University of Wisconsin - Madison. He has previously taught at the University of Nebraska - Lincoln, the University of Wisconsin - Madison, and Madison Area Technical College and Edgewood College. He is a freelance translator and interpreter. His and Judith's daughter Ariane is also helping with the chapter.

Judith Siers-Poisson was inspired to found the Madison chapter of Playgrounds for Palestine when she interviewed PfP Founder Susan Abulhawa in Fall 2007. She has worked for a variety of non-profits as a fundraiser since 1996. She is currently the Associate Director of the Center for Media and Democracy. She serves on the board of the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign, and hosts "A Public Affair" on community radio WORT.