Project Team
Abier Bushnaq
Studied English and Arabic literature along with Islamic studies in Bamberg and Bonn. PhD on the historical novel in Egypt. She works as an editor and information specialist at DB Kommunikationstechnik GmbH in Karlsruhe. Since 2004 she has been counselling refugees, also in deportation prisons, and is an active member of the Ibn Rushd Fund for Freedom of Thought. In 2014 she was awarded the Integration Prize of Karlsruhe. She was Chairman of the Literary Circle for Creative Writing in Karlsruhe 2015-2018 and is a translator and artist.
Nabil Bushnaq
Nabil Bushnaq, born 1940 in Ramleh, Palestine (today Israel). Founder of the Ibn Rushd Fund for Freedom of Thought in Germany and its first chairman. He obtained his school leaving certificate in Cairo. Between 1957 and 1964 he studied medicine in both Münster and Freiburg/Germany. After becoming a doctor he practiced gynaecology in both Germany and the Arab world. He was an essential contributor for founding the blood bank in Nablus and was socially involved in the association Friends of An-Najah University. He is particularly interested in the development of democratic thought and modernization within the Arab world.
Hamid Fadlalla
Born 1936 in Omdurman/Sudan, he is a medical specialist and a human rights activist. He is a founding member of OMRAS, an organization in Germany that campaigns for human rights in Arab countries. He is also a founding member of the Ibn Rushd Fund for Freedom of Thought and was a board member of trustees of the Arab Organization for Human Rights in Cairo. He writes short stories and his essays focus on questions such as immigration and integration within German society.
Fadia Foda
A Palestinian born in Lebanon. She is a social worker who is engaged in the field of refugee relief and integration. She is translator and author of numerous research papers and studies on the topics of migration and integration within Germany. She was a board member of the General Union of Palestinian Women in Lebanon and is an active member of the Ibn Rushd Fund for Freedom of Thought. She has translated many essays from Arabic into German and published several studies.