Draft:Jadd Hashem

Jadd Hashem photo

A photo of Jadd Hashem after his senior year of high school

Jadd Hashem is a Palestinian-American peace activist, student, and Vice President/Head of Palestinian Dialogue at Atidna International, the first and only organization dedicated to creating joint dialogue and peace initiatives between Jewish/Israeli and Arab/Palestinian students on college campuses. Hashem is also on the Board of Directors of Roots – Judur – Shorashim, the only organization working to bring together Jews and Arabs in the West Bank for joint initiatives promoting mutual understanding, reconciliation, and nonviolence.

Early life and education

Jadd Hashem was born in Dallas, Texas, and he is of Palestinian descent from his father’s side. Hashem’s father was born and raised in Nablus, Palestine. Hashem had distant family members affected by the war in Gaza, and they have escaped Gaza for Egypt and the West Bank. He also has family still living in Nablus.

Hashem attended Colleyville Heritage High School in Colleyville, Texas, and currently attends the University of Texas at Austin. Hashem is an undergraduate student majoring in government and minoring in Middle Eastern studies.

Hashem is also the Vice President of Atidna International and the Palestinian Head of Dialogue. Hashem is active in local politics, and he campaigns for the total equality of Palestinians and Israelis in the Holy Land.

Activism and views

“The majority of what you hear, you’re not necessarily supposed to agree with,” Hashem, a UT sophomore, said. “We’re supposed to have healthy disagreement to understand one another to make progress down the road, at least at our university.”

Hashem, alongside Atidna President Elijah Kahlenberg, orchestrated a joint vigil on the UT Austin campus on November 7, commemorating all innocent lives lost in Israel and Palestine from the recent tragedies. The vigil featured numerous speakers and had a crowd of around 80 people. Hashem, who is Palestinian-American, said the group’s vigil was emotional and peaceful.

Hashem says it’s possible to be both pro-Palestinian and pro-Israeli, citing that it is important to be “pro-human being.” He mentions that human rights “must extend to everybody on an equal level.”

Hashem, who has had family members affected by the war, says that dialogue is the least that Palestinians and Jews can do to accomplish a grassroots mission of peace and nonviolence.

Hashem says the key to ending the conflict and bloodshed is by viewing each other as one family, particularly through unity and a common identity.

On the equality of Palestinians and Israelis, Hashem has stated that the "map tells a story...[Israel] failed on delivering equal dignity for all people. When I refer to the map, I think about the villages of Palestinians hundreds of years ago, who now have been destroyed or people who had to move.”

Hashem condemned the Hamas attacks on Israel on October 7, but urged people to understand why the event happened, saying that it didn’t “happen in a vacuum.” Hashem has been immensely critical of Israel’s bombardment of Gaza. He has called Israel’s actions a “plausible genocide,” and he has accused Israel of numerous war crimes under international humanitarian law.

Hashem has been immensely critical of UT Austin’s responses to the Israel-Hamas war, particularly noting how the university has been virtually silent about the suffering of Palestinians both overseas and in the United States, while only making real efforts to protect Israeli and Jewish voices.

Hashem is a supporter of the confederation model of the one-state solution. Hashem often cites the right of return for both Palestinians and Jews as the main reason why. Hashem says the goal of Atidna is to “break down the tribalistic nature” on campuses and to “bring people together who have never spoken to each other.”

Hashem has voiced support of dialogue between Israeli (or Jewish) and Palestinian students to resolve disagreements on college campuses. “Many Israelis have never spoken to a Palestinian and vice versa. When that happens, you can’t help but become tribal about your people. And I have felt that as I talked to more Jewish and Israeli students, I became more aware not just of their identity, but also of my own identity, frankly, because of how similar we are,” Hashem said.

Hashem spoke on a group founded in Israel also called Atidna. “It is sad that a right-wing group based out of Israel, which sadly does not stand for, in our opinion, truly unifying values, is trying to co-opt a name like Atidna,” Hashem said. “If anything, this gives us more incentive to continue using the name Atidna to reclaim it as a name for an organization that is actually working towards a just and equitable future between Jews/Israelis and Arabs/Palestinians.”

Hashem calls for both Palestinians and Israelis to denounce all forms of terrorism, which includes violence in response to systemic oppression like occupation.

Hashem said that Atidna International is an important organization because "in a conflict like this, there needs to be a space for dialogue… to have a mutual understanding.”

In April 2024, Jadd Hashem and Elijah Kahlenberg set up a table between Texas Hillel’s annual Israel Block Party at the University of Texas at Austin and a protest of the event organized by the Palestinian Solidarity Committee. They had a sign taped in front of their table that read: “One Palestinian. One Jew. Two Brothers. Ask us anything.”

Hashem has participated in pro-Palestinian demonstrations on the UT Austin campus calling for divestment and a ceasefire.

Hashem has commented on United States politicians through social media. He has called former US President Donald Trump a threat to democracy. He has also stated that he is disappointed by the Biden Administration's support of Israel's invasion of Gaza.

Media

Hashem’s work with Atidna has been highlighted by several news outlets, including ABC News’ Nightline, Good Morning America, Al Jazeera English, The Daily Texan, Axios, NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas Tribune, Austin-American Statesman, the Forward, and Chronicle of Higher Education. He has also written an op-ed with Kahlenberg for Newsday.