From the River to the Sea: Humanizing Freedom is part memoir, part historical reckoning, and part call to action, sharing your story as a Palestinian Christian born in Haifa, offering reflections on leadership, justice, and interconnectedness. Why was this an important book for you to write?

For me, writing this book was not a choice; it was a calling. I had no intention of writing it, and in fact, I was in the middle of chapter four of my upcoming book, “Unfollow the Leader”, when I put it aside, because From the River to the Sea: Humanizing Freedom demanded to be written. The truth had to be spoken, and it came from the deepest part of me.

At first, I wondered how this connected with Dreem Coaching & Consulting, but I came to see it is at the very core of everything we do. You cannot separate business from advocacy, or leadership from humanity. To live aligned with your values is to live fully; to deny them is to become a shell of yourself, trapped in a surface-level existence.

I dug into my soul to give voice to one of the world’s greatest human catastrophes and injustices. Just three weeks after finishing the manuscript and securing Red Thread as my publisher, the situation on the ground took an unthinkable turn, worsening with every passing day. Each time we thought it could not get worse, it multiplied tenfold.

This book was born out of both love and necessity. As a Palestinian, I carry the stories of my family, my people, and my homeland within me. For too long, our voices were silenced, our pain minimised, our humanity stripped away. Writing this was my way of reclaiming our story, showing that behind every headline are real lives, families, dreams, and losses.

The journey of writing has deepened me as a coach, strategist, leader, mother, sister, partner, and friend. It has made me more human. More than history or politics, this book is about love, leadership, justice, and the choices we make each day to live with compassion and integrity.

What is a common misconception you feel people have about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict?

People are often told that the situation is complicated or that it has been going on for centuries. It is neither. This is not an ancient feud; it is an eight-decade-long story of dispossession and occupation, beginning with the loss of Palestinian territories in 1948 with the Nakba (The catastrophe). To call it a “conflict” between two equal sides who cannot get along is deeply misleading. That framing erases the reality of power imbalance and decades of systematic oppression, and how the atrocities of the Jewish Holocaust were, in many ways, transferred onto the Palestinian population in Palestine. When we said never again, that was meant to be upheld as “never again for anybody”

At its core, this was never a battle between Jew and Muslim. Palestinians, whether Jewish, Christian, or Muslim, before 1948 lived together in harmony, as part of a well-functioning social and cultural ecosystem. This was never about religion; it has always been about basic human rights, dignity, and freedom.

Another tragic misconception is that Palestinians are defined only by anger or victimhood. Palestinians have been dehumanised to such an extent that the injustice has been allowed to continue to the unbelievable level we are witnessing today. Yet despite this, we are a people full of resilience, creativity, humour, and extraordinary love for life. When you meet Palestinians, wherever in the world, you encounter a community that continues to nurture hope and joy despite unimaginable hardship. That human dimension is too often ignored, but it is essential to understanding who we are.

Finally, you often hear the misconception that this can never be resolved.  That is simply not true. There is a way forward for all people to live on equal terms, from the River to the Sea.  Peace with justice is possible if all people are afforded the same rights, including the right of return for all. 

What were some ideas that were important for you to share in this book?

I wanted to share three core ideas.

First, that history matters. We cannot heal or move forward if we continue to deny or distort what happened in 1948 during the Nakba, or what continues to happen today. Facing the truth is painful, but it is also the only path towards justice and peace for all.

Second, that leadership is not just about politics or boardrooms. It is about how we show up every day. Fear and division have always been used to justify oppression. Love, courage, and clarity are the antidotes, whether in our families, our communities, or on the world stage.

Third, that interconnectedness is real. The struggles of Palestinians are tied to the struggles of Indigenous peoples in Australia, to movements against slavery and apartheid, to anyone who has been dehumanised. I hoped to remind readers that justice for one group cannot come at the expense of another. It’s either freedom for all, or freedom for none.  It is a clear choice we all must make.

What is one thing that you hope readers take away from From the River to the Sea: Humanizing Freedom?

I hope readers walk away with a deeper sense of empathy and responsibility. This is not just a book about Palestine; it is a book about what it means to be human. If even one reader puts it down and chooses to listen differently, to question the narratives they’ve been told, or to act with more courage in their own sphere of influence, then the book has done its work.

More than anything, I want people to know that freedom is not an abstract idea; it is about human lives. And we all have a role to play in shaping a world where dignity, equality, and compassion are not negotiable.

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