Sumud’s Board
Noora Dadu, Chair
Noora Dadu is a Finnish-Palestinian actor and playwright. Personal and political intersect in many of their art works. Dadu has written the books Minun Palestiinani ja Fail (2022) and Roolitus (2024).
Majed Abusalama, Vice Chair
Majed Abusalama is a political activist, writer, and researcher who was born and raised in the Jabalia Refugee Camp in Gaza. He emerged as a prominent civil society activist, initiating, organizing, coordinating, and leading various local and international humanitarian and political efforts to break the military siege of Gaza, including initiatives like Beats for Gaza and the Gaza Freedom March.
Since leaving Gaza, Abusalama has been actively involved in anti-racist, migrant, decolonial, and solidarity movements across Europe. He tirelessly works against far-right and fascist forces, continuing his commitment to justice and liberation.
He has co-founded several organizations, including Sumud in Finland, Palestine Speaks in Germany, and Alliance for Palestine in Switzerland.
In Berlin, Abusalama won a 3 year-long, well-known trial named the Humboldt3, where he and another two anti-Zionist activists took Israel to court.
In his PhD research at the Palestine Research Group in Finland, Abusalama investigates the colonial control over the generation of the blockade. He regularly writes for many media outlets including Aljazeera, Mondoweiss, NewArab and others.
Syksy Räsänen, Vice Chair
Syksy Räsänen has been on the board of ICAHD Finland since 2010. He also has been part of the International Solidarity Movement on the West Bank in various years. He is the author of the book Israelin apartheid.
Alisa Ajomaa
Alisa Ajomaa, is a social worker and social scientist from Helsinki who is actively trying to defend human rights. In her work and studies, Alisa has focused on forced displacement. In her life she aims to master the Arabic language and adopt a cat.
Koko Hubara, Secretary
Koko Hubara is a Finnish–Israeli–Yemeni author, writer, journalist and doctoral researcher. Since 2015, Hubara has worked in the fields of literature, journalism, research and within the third sector with questions related to decolonization, intersectional feminism, and antiracism. Koko Hubara is a founding member of Ruskeat Tytöt ry and the anti-Zionist network Nahlieli – Jews for Justice in Palestine.
Lina Jarallah, Secretary
Lina Jarallah is a Finnish-Palestinian activist, yoga teacher and sound healer with a deep concern for the lack of equality, justice, and truth in the world. From a young age, witnessing the impact of the occupation on her family in East Jerusalem, and visiting other parts of Palestine throughout her life has developed into a sensitivity towards the struggles of oppressed indigenous people.
Janette Kotivirta
Janette Kotivirta is a doctoral researcher at the University of Helsinki. Her research engages with the politics of forestry expansion in Uruguay, Finnish complicity in it and its translational resistance. Currently she is active in Students for Palestine Finland. She continues her work for environmental justice with Debt for Climate.
Hichem Naami
Hichem Naami was born in Tunisia, and has a double nationality, Tunisian and Palestinian, as his father is Palestinian. He would love to introduce himself as an artist, because he believes that art in its purest form is resistance. He studied arts and literature in Tunisia and graduated in sport and physical education. He is a well-known filmmaker in Tunisia. He came to Finland with his wife and son in 2023, and has a long-term idea to make change in Finland as a filmmaker and through content creation on social media.
Hanna Niittymäki
Hanna Niittymäki is a Peace Educator and former Special needs teacher. She co-operates with several NGOs and other actors, but her home base is in the peace movement and especially in The Finnish Peace Committee. Peace has been Hanna’s thing since childhood and it is in her agenda to make it the thing for
many others as well.
Sedeer el-Showk
Sedeer el-Showk (he/they, born at 338 ppm) is a writer, scientist, and tinkerer. Their politics are anti-capitalist and anti-colonial. He is on the board of Helsinki Left, helped start Scientist Rebellion Finland, and is in Elokapina. Sedeer joined Sumud in October 2023 and has been helping coordinate the demonstrations in Helsinki since November 2023.
Alaa Altamimi
Alaa Altamimi is a dedicated human rights activist, deeply committed to defending the rights of refugees, advocating for mental well-being, and fight white supremacy, racism, and colonialism. He is also the co-founder of MIITTI Pro Lapinlahti Mielenterveysseura ry, where he works to make a lasting impact on mental health and social justice.
Helga West
Helga West is a civic activist and theologian from Deatnu River Valley, Sápmi. She works on literature, issues of colonialism, and reconciliation in the fields of both art and science.
Eero Yli-Vakkuri
Eero Yli-Vakkuri is a performance artist from Helsinki whose work focuses on public spaces. He is advancing sustainable design through campaigns, workshops and artistic presentations. He prefers to work in groups and to develop antidisciplinary collaborations with specialists from different fields.
Staff
Lili De Paola, Coordinator
Lili De Paola holds master’s degrees in Middle Eastern Studies and Finnish Language. In her studies, she has focused on Saudi Arabia as well as Palestine/Israel.
Ida-Emilia Reini, Executive Director
Ida-Emilia Reini is a literature researcher and anthropologist, specialized in the Middle East and Eastern Europe. Can be found taking blurry film photos or rowing a boat on the tranquil waters of Näsijärvi lake.
Pilvi Nikarmaa, Organisational Assistant
Pilvi Nikarmaa is a Master of Social Sciences with a degree in Global Politics and Communication. Pilvi has worked on human rights issues in Finland and the Horn of Africa and in her free time, she learns to identify bird species.
Kevin Soovik, Intern
Kevin Soovik is a future Master of Social Sciences studying Political History and World Politics. In the free time, Kevin organises for Students for Palestine and participates in reading circles. At Sumud, Kevin is responsible for organizing Sumud’s Palestine Summer School 2025.
Recruitment
Sumud is looking for new board members from all over Finland!
Do you want to be part of building Finland’s largest Palestine organisation and commit to a responsible position for two years? If so, run for the Sumud board! You can also tip us off about a good candidate or ask for more information about the Sumud board by contacting us.
The Sumud board consists of up to 12 members and a chair. Half of the board is elected each year. Sumud aims to have at least one third of its board members be Palestinian.
At Sumud’s annual meeting on June 10, 2025, at 6 pm 5 members and a chair will be elected for a two-year term.
The board is responsible for managing Sumud’s operations. The board role requires a commitment to regular meetings and communication. The board has monthly meetings in Helsinki/hybrid and communicates through emails in between meetings. Board members play an active role in the activities of the organization and work in collaboration with other volunteers, staff and partners of the organization, not just in providing principled leadership. Board position is a volunteer position, for which there is no financial compensation.
The chair is elected separately at the annual meeting. The chair directs the activities of the board and is the main representative of the organisation. The board elects 1-2 vice-chairs from among its members to support the chair.
You can register for the annual meeting as a member of Sumud via this registration form. We hope that candidates will send a short introduction of themselves and their motivation by May 23rd to [email protected]. Please indicate in the message if you want to run for the board but are unable to attend the meeting in person.
Candidates must be members of Sumud and be committed to Sumud’s principles. You can find introductions of the current board and staff, here. We will also organise an online introduction on May 14, at 5-6 pm, where you can ask questions about the Sumud Board and its work.
