Cofounders
Mélissa Rahmouni is the co-founder of ArabsThink.com. She has written for Libération (French daily), Courrier International, and Open Democracy and has lectured several times at the European Parliament. She was the former president of the Sciences Po Monde Arabe (Sciences Po Arab World) association. Mélissa completed her Bachelor’s degree at Sciences Po, with a focus on Middle Eastern and North African studies. She also graduated from Sciences Po in 2014, with a Master degree in International Security and Energy. Mélissa was chargée de mission for the Tunis-based NGO Al-Bawsala – Promoting Democracy in Tunisia, and also worked in Egypt in 2012 and 2013.
Tamer Mallat is the co-founder of ArabsThink.com. Tamer has written for The Daily Star (Lebanon) and Al-Ayyam (Syria), and is contributor to the Yearbook of Islamic and Middle Eastern Law. He obtained his Bachelor’s degree in 2011 from Sciences Po, with a focus in the Middle East and broader Arab world and completed his Master’s degree in economic law at Sciences Po Law School in 2014, where he presided over the Sciences Po Monde Arabe (Sciences Po Arab World) association. Tamer is presently a Juris doctor candidate at Columbia Law School. Click here for articles by the author; follow @tmallat on twitter.
Executive Editors
Bart Hesseling is affiliated with the Centre for International Studies and Diplomacy at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London. He is currently studying Arabic at the Institut National des Langues et Civilisations Orientales (Langues O’) in Paris. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in social sciences from University College Roosevelt Academy in Middelburg (The Netherlands). Bart has previously worked in a variety of sectors, including government ministries, think-tanks and international organizations, always with a focus on the Middle East. His interests include politics and civil society in the Arab Gulf states, Euro-Arab relations and Middle Eastern cooking. Click here for articles by the author; follow @bhesseling on twitter.
Antoine Alhéritière is a Foreign Service Officer and Middle East and North Africa Expert at the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He holds a Master’s degree in Public Administration and Bachelor’s degree in Middle Eastern Studies from Sciences Po. In 2011, Antoine spent a year studying Arab history and Arabic at the French Institute for the Near East (IFPO) in Damascus. Click here for articles by the author. Follow @a_alheritiere on twitter.
Oussama Hariri holds a Bachelor’s degree in Translation (Arabic, English, French and Spanish) from the Saint-Joseph University in Beirut. He spent one year in Germany learning German before moving to France, where he is currently a Master’s student in geopolitics at the University of Paris-8 Vincennes Saint-Denis. His main focus concerns Lebanese and Syrian state of affairs. Click here for articles by the author.
Editors
Basile Roze studies Journalism and International Affairs at Sciences Po Paris. After completing a dual degree in social sciences and literature at Sciences Po and La Sorbonne Paris IV, he studied Arabic and Middle Eastern affairs at the University of Cambridge. Basile currently presides over the Sciences Po Monde Arabe (Sciences Po Arab World) association. Click here for articles by the author.
David Apelbaum graduated from Sciences Po Law School in 2010 and from Paris-II University Law School in 2011. David is an attorney specialized in criminal defense. A founder of the Sciences Po Monde Arabe association (Sciences Po Arab World) in 2006, David was the former president of the association from 2009 to 2011. His main areas of interest are the following: the social and workers’ movements in the Arab world; the politics of Maghreb; the Israeli-Palestinian conflict; and Western perceptions of the Arab world. Click here for articles by the author.
Ismael Zniber is a student at Descartes high school in Rabat. He is an editor at Wikipedia since 2012. Ismael is particularly interested in Moroccan cultural and socio-political affairs and history. He is also member of several associations including CAPDEMA. Click here for articles by the author.
Youssef Ait Benasser is a student at Sciences Po Paris specialized in the Middle East and broader Arab world. He is currently a research assistant at the University of Southern California (USC). Youssef is also interning at the Levantine Cultural Center in Los Angeles. He has a Baccalauréat in Experimental Sciences and Modern Languages & Literature. He is committed to many activities, with an orientation towards education systems and infrastructure improvement. He believes that the new generation needs to be prepared for the challenges they have to bear with. This awareness can only be achieved through empathy and debate. That is why he decided to join ArabsThink.com as a regular columnist. Click here for articles by the author.
Takuya Matsuda is a second year Master’s student at Johns Hopkins University-School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) in Washington DC, where he majors in Middle East and South Asia studies. Takuya holds a Bachelor’s degree in International Relations from Keio University in Tokyo. He frequently spends time in Iran as a researcher and to study Farsi. Click here for articles by the author; follow @tg676 on twitter.
Aïcha Gaaya is a student at Sciences Po Paris specialized in the Middle East and the broader Arab world. She is a founding member of “Al-Iltizam Assiyassi” (The Political Commitment) association. Click here for articles by the author; follow @aichagaaya on twitter.
Sabah Haider is a filmmaker and writer based between Beirut, Paris and Montreal. She is a interdisciplinary PhD Student in Anthropology, History and Film at the EHESS in Paris and Concordia University in Montreal, where she works on constructing visual and ethnographic post 1967 histories of Palestine. She holds an MA in Film Studies from the University College London, where she was awarded the Provost’s Award for Public Engagement. Between 2009 and 2012 Haider taught filmmaking to children in Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon, and scriptwriting at the American University in Dubai. Her short films have screened at over 50 international festivals and have been broadcast on Turkish television (TNT) and the BBC. She is currently working on her first feature film. Click here for articles by the author.
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