Merry Christmas from Bethlehem with Vera Baboun

Merry Christmas from the Amplify Peace Team!We have a special Christmas episode, brought to you directly from Bethlehem! Today we’re talking with an incredible woman - Vera Baboun, she’s a wonderful friend to us at Amplify Peace, and as you’ll hear, she’s an incredibly accomplished leader, an example to us all -  an example for the next generation of women ….AND also she’s an impactful peacemaker.  She believes that QUOTE “building peace is difficult, but living without peace is torment” and this is all about her mission and the reality that she lives. She lives in Bethlehem where she was born and raised . Vera is the 1st ever -  elected Woman Mayor of the City of Bethlehem  She’s a member of the Palestinian National Council and the Palestinian Womens Union.  Vera is a gender researcher and advocate and has an active role in the political empowerment of women in the Middle East. In 2018, she co-created the regional platform for promoting the role of Arab Women in the electoral process which is led by the Organization of Arab Electoral Management Bodies and officially launched in 2019  in Tunis. In 2018, she participated in UN Somalia JPLG program on inclusive governance to enhance the participation of women and youth in central and local governments in Somalia. In 2007, she joined GRACE research network for the empowerment of women in Africa and the Middle East. In 2012, Vera published her qualitative research entitled “Scheherazade’s of Today: Young Palestinian Women use Film, Radio and Platforms to Speak up and Create Change” in a book entitled Women and ICT in Africa and The Middle East; Changing Selves, Changing Societies which includes 27 gender researches by woman researchers from the MENA area. She’s also been a member of the Higher Presidential Committee for Churches’ Affairs/ The Palestine and the Presidential Committee for the Restoration of the Nativity Church.She is currently a member of the Board of Trustees of Bethlehem Development Foundation, the Yasser Arafat Foundation/Palestine, the International Impact Committee for Women Mayors Network, NDI, Washington, the Board of Trustees of Care-i-tas Baby Hospital in Bethlehem, and a member of the Guidance and Training Centre for Family and Children. She  holds a masters degree in literature from the Hebrew university of Jerusalem.  In her most recent book – FOR THE LOVE OF BETHLEHEM MY WALLED CITY - Vera delivers a powerful testimony to the reality of daily life in Bethlehem and Palestine. and offering us a path of freedom, hope and of veracity without compromise.Interviewed by Lisa JerniganHosted by Julie Beanamplifypeace.com