Mohammed Dajani Daoudi
Professor Mohammed S. Dajani Daoudi is a Jerusalemite scholar and peace activist. He holds a doctorate from the University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC (1981) and another from the University of Texas at Austin, Texas (1984). He is the author of numerous books and academic articles. In 2007, he established the Wasatia moderation movement and the Wasatia Academic Institute. In March 2014, he was forced to resign from his posts as Rector of Libraries and founding director of the American Studies Institute at Al-Quds University (2002-2014) for taking his students on an educational trip to the Nazi death concentration camp in Auschwitz to teach them empathy, compassion, and tolerance. He received death threats and his car was torched. In 2014, Tufts University bestowed upon him the Dr. Jean Mayer Global Citizenship Award for his ongoing work to build peace, encourage dialogue, and find alternatives to extremism. In 2015-2017, Dajani joined the Washington Institute for Near East Policy as a Weston Fellow. In March 2023, the Austrian Parliament awarded him the Simon Wiesenthal Prize for his commitment to combating antisemitism. In September 2023, Dajani received from Queens College, City University of New York the Excellence in Leadership Award.
