Ziad Asali

Ziad J. Asali, M.D., is the President and founder of the American Task Force on Palestine, a 501(c) 3 non-profit, non-partisan organization based in Washington, DC.

Education

Dr. Asali was born in Jerusalem, where he completed his elementary and secondary education. Dr. Asali received a B.S. from the American University of Beirut (AUB) in 1963 and an M.D. from AUB Medical School in 1967.

Activism

Dr. Asali is a long-time activist on Middle East issues. He has been a member of the Chairman's Council of American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) since 1982, and has served as ADC’s President from 2001-2003. He served as the President of the Arab-American University Graduates (AAUG) from 1993-1995, and was Chairman of the American Committee on Jerusalem (ACJ), which he co-founded, from 1995-2003.

Dr. Asali has testified before the Senate on the issue of Palestinian education. On February 10, 2005, Asali testified before a full committee hearing of the House International Relations Committee on “the way forward in the Middle East peace process.” He served as a member of the United States official delegation to the funeral of Chairman Yasser Arafat and as a member of the United States official delegation to observe the Palestinian Presidential elections in January 2005. He also was a delegate with the National Democratic Institute (NDI) to monitor the Palestinian Legislative election in January 2006.

Medical career

Dr. Asali completed his residency in Internal Medicine and Endocrinology at the Latter Day Saints Hospital in Salt Lake City, Utah. Dr. Asali practiced medicine in Saudi Arabia and Jerusalem before returning to the US in 1973. Dr. Asali was the Medical Director, Laboratory Director, and Chairman of the Board at the Christian County Medical Clinic and St. Vincent Memorial Hospital in Taylorville, Illinois, until he retired in 2000. He remains licensed to practice medicine in Illinois, Virginia, and Washington, D.C. He is a member of several medical societies such as the American Medical Association, the American Society of Internal Medicine and the American Academy of Medical Directors. He is a Diplomat of the Board of Internal Medicine and a Fellow of the American College of Physicians.

Media and publications

* "Coronary Artery Spasm Causing Myocardial Infarction" (1983)
* “Expedition to Jerusalem” (1990)
* “Zionist Studies of the Crusades” (1992)
* “From Crusades to Zionism” (1993) Asali has been featured in Al Ahram Weekly, the Washington Times, and in the Forward. He has contributed and written for the Los Angeles Times, Detroit Free Press, Washington Post, Boston Globe, Miami Herald, and The Daily Star. He has provided television commentary and interviews for CNN, CBS, Charlie Rose, MSNBC, FOX News, BBC, C-Span, Voice of America and numerous syndicated cable programs. He has also appeared on several Arabic television networks, including Al Jazeera, Al-Arabiya, Al-Hurra, Nile TV, ART, Egyptian TV, Abu Dhabi TV, and the Dubai satellite channel. His opinions have also appeared in newspapers throughout the Arab World including Al-Hayat, Al-Ahram, Al-Rai, Al Khaleej, Jordan Times and Akhbar Al-Arab.

He is a regular speaker at international conferences, Arab-American conventions and academic groups. He has spoken at Carnegie Mellon, Columbia, Cornell Universities, George Washington, Georgetown University and Harvard.

Awards

“Arab American of the Year,” Arab American Community Center for Economic and Social Services (AACCESS) of Ohio, 2006

Television appearances

* [http://www.americantaskforce.org/media/bbc11507.php BBC News January 15, 2007]
* [http://www.americantaskforce.org/media/videos/wasjournal1219061.wmv CSPAN Washington Journal, December 19, 2006, Part 1]
* [http://www.americantaskforce.org/media/videos/wasjournal1219062.wmv CSPAN Washington Journal, December 19, 2006, Part 2]
* [http://www.americantaskforce.org/media/videos/drasali_wmv_medium_dl.wmv CSPAN Washington Journal, July 30, 2006]
* [http://www.americantaskforce.org/media/videos/ziadbbc72306.wmv BBC World News, July 23, 2006]

ee also

American Task Force on Palestine

Hussein Ibish

External links

* [http://www.atfp.net American Task Force on Palestine]