Dr. Samir S. Totah is founder of the Palestinian Cultural Day and co-founder of PAC-SF. He was born in Ramallah, Palestine to Saleem H. Totah and Farideh Nazzal Totah, and grew up with three brothers and four sisters. He immigrated with his family to San Francisco in 1955 and graduated from Balboa High School before continuing his education at San Francisco City College and UCSF, where he earned his Doctor of Pharmacy degree in 1964. He and his wife, Norma Baba Totah, have three sons and six grandchildren. He has dedicated his life to serving his fellow Palestinians, both in Palestine and in the U.S. He has served as past president of both the Ramallah Club of San Francisco and the American Federation of Ramallah Palestine and has worked as a member of the Palestine National Council and chairman of the Palestine Coordinating Committee in San Francisco.

Diyala Shihadih is a first-generation Palestinian-American, born and raised in the Bay Area. She is a PhD Candidate in metabolic biology and has been a community organizer since the age of 15. Her work is firmly rooted in working with, advocating for, and educating the greater Arab community; whether that be educational accessibility, developing social and political consciousness, or understanding our identities as Palestinians in diaspora.

As a board member of San Francisco branch of the Ramallah club for 15 years, and a member of the American Federation of Ramallah Palestine (AFRP ) for over 40 years, Wael “Wayne” Mufarreh is passionate about celebrating and fostering Palestinian culture and community in the Bay Area and beyond. He and his family immigrated from Ramallah to San Francisco when he was just six years old. Since then, serving his community both socially and professionally has been his top priority. In 1982, Wael co-founded B&W Service Center, an auto-repair center in San Francisco’s Mission District and later became a managing partner of BW San Francisco Properties in 2019. Wayne’s volunteer work with the Palestinian community in San Francisco greatly benefits from his extensive business and property management experience.

In 1974, at the age of eight, Najwa Baba immigrated from Ramallah to Texas.  She lived there until 1990 when she married her husband and moved to San Francisco and has been here since.  She has devoted much of her life to volunteering for a variety of non-profits, starting as PTA Vice President in 1996, and later becoming President of the group in 1998.  Najwa has served as Secretary on the board of Ramallah Club of San Francisco, has remained a board member since 2006 and has chaired many other events at the club. She has been the San Francisco correspondent for Hathihe Ramallah Magazine since 2008 and currently serves on the Human Service Network, the Strategic Planning Committee as well as the Credentials Committee for the American Federation of Ramallah Palestine. She has been the Chairwoman of the food committee for Palestine Cultural Festival since 2010, has worked on the Medical Mission since it started in 2011 and was the chairwomen of the San Francisco Convention that was held in Cancun, Mexico in 2016 all while maintaining a job for a credit card processing company.

Afif Baba came to the U.S. at the young age of 5. After his family decided to settle down in San Francisco, Afif became highly involved in the Arab community in the Bay Area. He began helping at Palestine Day at the age of 17 as the youth president of the Ramallah Club. He then went on to become the Young Adults president to now the President of the Ramallah Club of San Francisco for the last 11 years. Afif prides himself on always going out of his way to help the churches and other Arab organizations in the community. Having started his own construction company in 1980, it has helped Afif take on a leadership role both at work and in the Arab community and has given him a voice to speak for the Palestinian people.

https://www.ramallahclubsf.com/

Ateyeh M. Ateyeh was born in 1967 in the Qalandia Refugee Camp north of Jerusalem after his parents fled Sarees, which was ethnically cleansed in 1948 during the creation of the state of Israel. He went to Friends School in Ramallah and graduated in 1986. While at Friends School, he established, with the help of Marwan Barghouti, the Shabiba Movement, which he served as a member of its West Bank central regional committee. He attended Birzeit University until the Israel occupying forces shut it down. Over the years, he was arrested numerous times by the Israel authorities and was issued several probations and travel bans. In 1989, he immigrated to the U.S. and has served as an activist in the Bay Area since then, including serving as one of the founders of PAC-SF. He holds a bachelor’s degree in International Business from San Francisco State University, and he owns and operates Pal Trade International, which imports products from Palestine. He and his wife have four children.

Daoud Eid immigrated to the U.S. from Palestine in 1966 with only a sixth-grade education and all of $5 to his name. Three days later, he began work selling tapestries door to door before buying his first store in San Francisco in the early 1970s. Over the years, he has owned a variety of stores and gas stations and worked remodeling homes for resale. His seven children and 33 grandchildren describe him as smart, charming, well-respected and generous in his work helping Palestinians in the Bay Area and abroad as part of the PLO.

Nayef Al Smadi is a founding member and former international executive board member of the Palestinian Youth Movement and a founder of Jafra Foundation for Relief and Youth Development.  He is a Palestinian refugee born in Yarmouk camp in Damascus, Syria, and holds a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from Damascus University.  He has been a part of different Palestinian organizations and initiatives over the years.

https://palestinianyouthmovement.com/sf-bay-area

Samir Nassar was born in Bethlehem, Palestine, in February 1951. He graduated from high school in 1969 before immigrating to the U.S., where he earned his AA degree in business administration. He returned to Palestine in 1971 to help with the family business. There, he met Georgette “Juju” Hihi , and the two wed in 1974, a year before returning to the U.S. They are proud of their sons, Samer and Suheil, who graduated from UC Berkeley and SF State. After working in the retail and café business for 40 years, Samir retired to become a full time grandfather to four beautiful grandchildren. He is one of PAC-SF’s founders and a board member representing The Bethlehem Association, which he has served as an active board member since 1987.

https://bethlehemassoc.org

Mona Saadeh-Totah was born in Jerusalem in 1955 and raised in Birzeit until 11, when she moved to Ramallah. There, she worked as a teacher in the Ahliyeh Elementary School and then served at the Ministry of Interior of Israel, office of Citizens Affairs in Ramallah. She immigrated to the U.S. in 1978 and completed her studies in Austin, Texas, before moving in 1990 to the Bay Area, where she married George B. Totah in 1997. She worked as the executive secretary to the Consul General of Egypt in San Francisco for 11 years. She also owned and operated many businesses in Austin, San Francisco and Vacaville.She currently serves on the board of PAC-SF. In addition, she serves as president of Birzeit Society Northern California Chapter and on its national board of directors. She was also active in several Arab American organizations such as U.S. Omen and the Arab Cultural Center.

https://www.birzeitsociety.org/

Fuad Atyeh came to the U.S. in 1969 and studied business administration at San Francisco City College and San Francisco State University. He later returned to City College to teach small business management and also founded the Arab Grocers Association, later serving as president of that group. Over the years, he owned and operated several retail and wholesale businesses. He helped to organize and participated in the very first Palestinian Cultural Day. Under San Francisco Mayor Frank Jordan, he served on the Small Business Commission as well as the Hate Crime Commission under District Attorney Arlo Smith. He co-founded the Palestinian American Congress and served as national president for two terms. He served as president and on the board of trustees of the Arab Cultural Center and is a member of the Palestinian National Council. He and his wife have five children and seven grandchildren.

Zeiad Abbas Shamrouch, is the Middle East Children’s Alliance Executive Director. A Palestinian refugee from the Dheisheh Refugee Camp in the West Bank, he completed his master’s degree in Social Justice and International Relations from the World Learning School for International Training Graduate Institute. He is also the cofounder of the Ibdaa Cultural Center in Dheisheh as well as a filmmaker, journalist and educator who has worked with Palestinian and international media. He has participated in the production of several documentary films, including managing the production of and co-producing “Promises,” which was nominated for an Academy Award in 2002.

Randa Shatara was born and raised in Damascus Syria, where she received her bachelor’s degree in English Literature from Damascus University. In 1982, she immigrated to the U.S., and studied Computer Programming and worked at the Arab Culture Center in San Francisco, where she became engrossed in the Arab community in the Bay Area and abroad. Randa’s involvement in the community includes the Association of the Arab-American University Graduates, which she served as president between 1985 and 1986, and the American-Arab Anti-Discrimation Committee, where she served as a board member from 1983 to 1987. From 1988 to 2014, she concentrated both on raising up three happy, successful children and focusing on her career while continuing to participate in community organizations as time allowed. In 2014, she once again took a leadership role in the community when she was invited to be a board member at large with PAC-SF to help with the renewed Palestine Cultural Day. She continues to be a dedicated member of the Arab community in the Bay Area.

Samer Elbandak, who was born in Bethlehem, Palestine, moved in 1991 at 17 to the San Francisco Bay Area, where he obtained his high school diploma. He continued his college education in business administration and marketing. Since then, he has been active in the Palestinian and Arab-American community. He co-founded the Nor Cal Arab American Directory and has served in many organizations, including New Generation of Palestine, the Arab American Catholic Community, The Bethlehem Association, USPCN, PDYO and PAC-SF, where he sits on the board.

Khalil Barhoum was born in Bethlehem, Palestine, after his family was driven out of their hometown Al-Malha, a suburb of Jerusalem, in 1948 following the establishment of Israel. He came to the U.S. on a Rotary International scholarship where he earned his first Master’s degree in English Literature.

He earned a second Master’s and a Ph.D. degree in Linguistics from Georgetown University. Upon graduating from Georgetown, he joined Stanford University in California and taught in the Department of Linguistics. Currently, he is Coordinator of its Program of African and Middle Eastern Languages and Literatures in the Division of Cultures, Literatures, and Languages.

Dr. Barhoum served as national President of AAUG (the Association of Arab-American University Graduates) and twice served as the organization’s president of the California Chapter. He also served as Chair of the Council of Presidents of Arab American  Organizations in the San Francisco Bay Area and as president of the ADC Chapter in Northern California. More recently he co-founded and was co-chair of the Palestinian American Coalition in the Bay Area. Presently he is a member of the international advisory board of UPA (United Palestinian Appeal). Dr. Barhoum is married and has three children.