Oqab Alawawdeh was born in 1984, residing in Drijat village in the Negev, father of five daughters and one son. Holds a Bachelor’s degree in English Literature with honors and is currently pursuing a Master’s degree in Media Studies.

Previously served as a parliamentary adviser in the Knesset and as the assistant to the head of the Al-Qasoum Regional Council. Completed several professional courses in media and leadership, enhancing his experience in organizational and community work.

Currently, he is the Hadash Coordinator in the Negev and a committed activist against discrimination toward the Arab community, promoting equality, shared society, and opposing home demolition policies, while raising Negev issues on both the public and political agenda.

Liron Lavi is the co-director of an Israeli–Palestinian dialogue program that brings together women from both sides of the conflict, driven by the aspiration to create meaningful and transformative conversations that can shape a different reality for all. She previously served as the CEO of Politically Correct, an independent media organization working to shape feminist discourse in Israeli media. She began her path there as the organization’s social media manager, expanded its target audiences, and founded a bi-national training program for Jewish and Palestinian women journalists, equipping them with tools to enter the media world.
Liron is an activist, editor, and writer for various media outlets. She leads projects focused on gender representation in media and works to transform public discourse, expose gender and class distortions, and create a more critical, fair, and balanced media environment.
She lives in Jaffa, originally from Sderot, is partnered with Yael, and is a mother of three. She identifies as a lesbian, Moroccan, feminist woman.

Sana Ibn Bari is a certified attorney with 15 years of experience in civil society, specializing in human rights. She currently serves as a Grants Manager at the NIF and has previously worked with leading organizations, including the ACRI as an attorney. She also served as a project manager at the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation, where she focused on issues affecting Israel’s Palestinian community.

Ezri Kedar is the CEO of Keshet Association – Community | Culture | Environment
and head of the Bedouin Communities Program of the Negev Highlands within the organization.
A resident of Mitzpe Ramon and a longtime environmental activist.
A landscape photographer, filmmaker, musician, and devoted lover of the desert.

Sliman Alhawashlah, Co-CEO of the Regional Council for Unrecognized Villages, holds a master’s degree and works to promote recognition of Bedouin villages in the Negev while leading collaborations with government authorities and civil society organizations. He works to strengthen residents’ rights and to develop services and infrastructure through professional, focused efforts aimed at equality and community empowerment.

Ofer Dagan, Co-Director of the Sikkuy–Aufoq Association.
Throughout most of his professional life, Ofer has been active in advancing equality and partnership between Jews and Arabs through influencing government policy. At Sikkuy–Aufoq, he led the monitoring of the implementation of Government Resolution 922 — the five-year economic development plan for Arab society — as well as the initiative and formulation process of its successor, Government Resolution 550. In addition, he laid the groundwork for the organization’s work in the Negev to improve infrastructure and services for residents of the unrecognized Bedouin villages, a field in which he had previously worked through several organizations, including the Negev Coexistence Forum, Shatil, and Power to the Workers.
He specializes in policy-change tools — research, advocacy, and public action — as well as evaluation, measurement, and strategic planning.
He holds a bachelor’s degree in behavioral sciences and a master’s degree in organizational sociology, both from Ben-Gurion University of the Negev. His thesis examined the individual farms (“Havot HaBodedim”) in the Negev and their impact on the physical, social, and imagined space of the region.
Ofer was born and raised at Kibbutz Revadim and has spent most of his adult life in Be’er Sheva with his partner.

Huda Abu Obaid is the Executive Director of the Negev Coexistence Forum for Civil Equality (NCF), where she leads efforts to advance justice and equality for Palestinian Bedouin communities in the Naqab/Negev. A committed human and civil rights advocate, she brings extensive experience from roles with organizations such as Sidreh, AJEEC, and Gisha, as well as a long history of grassroots activism, including co-founding the Elhirk Alshbabi movement against the Prawer Plan. Huda holds degrees in Middle East & Gender Studies and Law, and is a graduate of several prominent leadership programs. Born and raised in Lakiya, she continues to serve her community with a strong commitment to equality, inclusion, and indigenous rights.

Ziad is the founder and CEO of Task Go Ltd., a company providing economic, municipal, and financial consulting services to local authorities. Over the past three years, he has served as an advisor to the National Council of Arab Mayors and has coordinated the Council’s activities in the Negev.
Ziad holds a bachelor’s degree in economics and business administration from Ben-Gurion University, an MBA with a specialization in finance and capital markets from Ono Academic College, an additional bachelor’s degree in accounting from the College of Management, and another bachelor’s degree in law from the Sha’arei Mishpat Academic Center.
Ziad served for 22 years as the treasurer of the Lakiya Local Council. In this role, he was responsible for managing all financial affairs of the council, including budgeting, procurement, revenue collection, accounting, payroll, and bookkeeping. He also acted as an economic advisor to the mayor and the council. Together with other treasurers in the Negev, he founded the Forum of Treasurers of Arab Local Authorities in the South and was one of the key leaders of advocacy efforts with the government regarding Government Resolution 1279.
In his position at the National Council, Ziad was responsible for the Council’s activity in the Negev and was a member of the standing committee for Government Resolution 1279. He works in cooperation with civil society organizations and local authorities to advance the needs of the Arab community in the Negev.
Ziad resides in the town of Lakiya in the south. He is married to Takwa and is the father of Mohammad, Sultan, Lian, and Amro.

One of the founders and leaders of the Faithful Left, and a key figure in the religious action group “Bnei Avraham,” which works alongside Palestinian activists in the West Bank. In the past, he founded several social initiatives, including “Shigaon”, a technological-education program that operated in the unrecognized Bedouin villages of the Negev. Dvir holds a bachelor’s degree in sociology and a master’s degree in public policy. Alongside his activism, he manages programs at the JDC, where he leads processes aimed at making educational frameworks more inclusive, including within youth movements. Dvir grew up and was educated in Yeruham, and in recent years has been living in Jerusalem. In addition to his public work, he studies and teaches Jewish texts, including as part of his thesis work on ethics in the writings of Rabbi Yitzhak Arama, written at Tel Aviv University.

Maya Bengal is the Head of Communications and Spokesperson for the Democrats party, and a senior strategic–political advisor. In the past, she was a senior journalist — a political and diplomatic commentator for Maariv and a host of current-affairs programs on television and radio. In public service, she served as a senior advisor to Justice Minister Tzipi Livni and accompanied the political negotiation process with the Palestinians. Over the years, she has worked with leaders of the democratic–liberal camp, including Yair Lapid and Ehud Barak.

Avi Dabush was born in Ashkelon to a religious, right-wing, Mizrahi family. He was educated in Religious Zionist institutions and served as a counselor in the Bnei Akiva youth movement.
After his military service, he led the establishment of a school for boys with autism and served as its principal.
Since 2002 he has been active in civil society organizations, leading social and environmental campaigns, supporting community organizing, and founding and directing movements such as the Peripheries Movement, the Negev Council, and the Movement for the Future of the Western Negev. He has initiated and led the Democracy Protest in the Negev since January 2023.
Between 2015 and 2019 he ran for office within the Meretz party and established its Peripheries Headquarters.
Since 2019 he has served as the head of “Rabbis’ Voice for Human Rights” (formerly Rabbis for Human Rights). He published the book The Peripheries’ Revolt. He is an ordained Israeli rabbi, certified by the Hartman Institute’s Beit Midrash and the Oranim Midrasha.
He is a survivor of the massacre in Kibbutz Nirim. He returned home with his family after nearly two years of evacuation. He is married to Anat, and they have four children.