Spotlight On Our Board

PHF is aided by an Advisory Board composed of dedicated and talented personalities in the intellectual, cultural and artistic fields. 

Joseph Yacoub Qutub  

Mr. Joseph Qutub was born in Jerusalem, Palestine. He attended the Friends Boys School in Ramallah, where he met Mr. Rolla Foley his music teacher. With great foresight, Mr. Foley started a collection of costumes and musical instruments from Palestine. As his student, Joseph assisted him in gathering these artifacts from the different villages in Palestine.

Mr. Foley, who planned to open a museum for Palestinian costumes in Illinois, passed away in 1970 before fulfilling this dream. His wife, Ulla Foley, kept the collection intact until she met the Munayyers through Joseph and decided to sell them the entire collection. The late Dr. Foley assisted Joseph and many other Palestinian students by securing scholarships for them to study in the United States.

After graduating from Indiana State University, Mr. Qutub founded Arab Student Aid International to help needy, highly qualified Arab students to pursue higher education in the United States. Twenty-one years later, ASAI has given over 18 million dollars in grants and loans to help thousands of students earn their degrees.

Mr. Joseph Qutub met his wife Annie at ISU. They have three married children: Jack, Sami and Jo Anne, and four grandchildren.

Inea Bushnaq  

Ms. Bushnaq was born in Jerusalem, Al Quds, but like so many Palestinians has spent most of her life outside Palestine. Nakbah drove her family to England in 1948. There she received most of her schooling, studying Latin, Greek and Classical Archaeology at Cambridge University. In 1967 she left the Middle East a second time and has been living in New York ever since.

Inea has worked in publishing houses in Europe and New York, and now teaches part time in New York public schools and writes freelance.

Among her published work is a translation from Arabic of Sabri Jiryis's book The Arabs in Israel and a collection of 130 traditional stories from all over the Arab World, Arab Folktales.

Inea Bushnaq lives with her spouse, Robert and daughter Nadia in New York City.

Nadim Kassem MD, 

Dr. Kassem was born in Rama of Upper Galilee, Palestine. He graduated from the prestigious Arab College in Jerusalem. In1948 the catastrophe drove his family north, and became a refugee in Lebanon.

He returned to his native village in 1952, and graduated from the Hebrew University Medical School in Jerusalem in 1965.

Dr. Kassem has served as Vice-president at Biotechnology General Corporation and as Senior Director of Medical Research at Schering-Plough Research Center in New Jersey.

Dr. Kassem is married to May Halaway of Lebanon. They have four children, Juhayna, Nabil, Raniya and Jawad.

Theodore A. Baramki MD  

Dr. Theodore Baramki was born in Jerusalem, Palestine, on May 6, 1931. He graduated from St. George High School in Jerusalem and in 1957 graduated from Cairo University School of Medicine.

Dr. Baramki is instructor in Gynecology and Obstetrics and Chair in Reproductive Endocrinology at the John Hopkins University School of Medicine.

He is the recipient of the Medal of Independence (First Class), from the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, and the Award for Excellence in Resident Education, Council on Resident Education in Obstetrics Gynecology in 1995.

Dr. Theodore Baramki has over fifty publications and has been a visiting professor at many universities around the world.

Dr. Baramki and his wife Ingrid live in Baltimore, Maryland.

Hania Salam Osman

Mrs. Hania Salam Osman of Washington DC, accepted PHF’s invitation to join the Foundation's Advisory Board. PHF’s invitation to Mrs. Osman was offered in appreciation of the generous donation made by Mrs. Osman and her brother Ousama Salam of their late sister Hala's collection of Arab costumes to the Palestinian Heritage Foundation.  

Hania Salam Osman was born in Beirut, Lebanon. She is the daughter of Malek Salam and Najwa Karami. Hania graduated from Beirut College for Women in 1966.  She is married to Ghassan Osman and has three daughters: Ghida, Nayla and Maria and four grandchildren. 

Simon Hikmat Shaheen 

Simon Shaheen was born in Upper Galilee, Palestine to a musically talented family. At the age of five, Simon began studying the 'oud with his father, Hikmat Shaheen, renowned composer and teacher of Arabic music. At seven, he entered the Rubin Conservatory in Haifa to study violin and Western classical music.

In 1980 he moved to New York where he completed his graduate studies in performance at the Manhattan School of Music, and later in performance and music education at Columbia University.

A respected composer, Shaheen is a virtuoso whose performances include venues in the United States at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, and the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, among others. Shaheen also tours throughout Canada, Europe and the Arab World, performing at major concert halls and festivals such as the Museum of Canadian Civilization, Le Palais des Arts in Belgium, the Lille Festival in France, the Arab Music Festival at the Opera House in Cairo, Sarajevo Opera House, the Royal Cultural Center in Amman, Jordan and Theatre de la Ville in Beirut, Lebanon.

In 1994, Shaheen was presented with the National Endowment of the Arts Heritage Award, in recognition of his contribution to the arts as a performer, composer and educator.

Charles Fouad Abboud MD  

Dr. Abboud was born January 1939 in Jaffa, Palestine. In 1948 the Palestinian catastrophe drove his family south, and he became a refugee in Egypt.

Dr. Charles Abboud graduated from the English Mission High School in Cairo, Egypt in 1955 and from Cairo University School of Medicine, in 1962.

Before coming to the United States Dr. Abboud worked at the government Internal Medicine Hospital and the Luzmilla Hospital in Amman, Jordan.

In 1970 Dr. Charles Abboud joined the Endocrinology Department at the Mayo Clinic, Rochester Minnesota.

At present, Dr. Abboud is Professor of Medicine, serves as consultant for Endocrinology and Internal Medicine and Director of the Endocrine Testing Center at the Mayo Clinic.

He is the recipient of many awards including Teacher of the Year, Mayo Medical School,1987 through 1994, The Mayo Distinguished Clinician Award, Distinguished Educator Award and The Outstanding Faculty Member Award between 1996 and 2000.

Dr. Abboud is married to Rosalina Liongson MD. They have three children: Mark Charles, Lilian Rose and Lana Lynn.

Dr. John Mahoney  

Dr. John Mahoney is currently Executive Director of Americans for Middle East Understanding, a job he has held since 1978. Prior to joining AMEU, Dr. Mahoney served in the Management Training Department of Aramco in Dahran, Saudi Arabia (1977-1978).

From 1975 to 1977, he worked as a consultant for the Catholic Near East Welfare Association in New York City.

From 1969 to 1975, he served as Chairman of the Department of Philosophy at Franklin College in Lugano, Switzerland.

From 1964 to 1969, he was Professor of Philosophy at Pope John XXIII Seminary, Regis College, and Lowell State University, all in Massachusetts.

Dr. Mahoney holds a Doctorate in Philosophy from the Gregorian University in Rome, Italy.