About

The Arab Center for Alternative Planning (ACAP) is a non-governmental, non-profit organization which has played a key role in representing the genuine needs and interests of the Arab citizens of Israel on issues of planning, land, housing, and development for over 21 years. Amongst its priorities, ACAP works toward equality and integration of Israel’s Arab citizens into full public life. Reflecting that commitment, ACAP incubated Qadaya in 2020.

Click here for ACAP’s website

We are a leadership and campaign initiative focusing on mobilizing and organizing the participation of Palestinian citizens in Israel through local organizing campaigns. We do this as a means to promote community responsibility and expand civic participation to advance social and economic justice.

Our initiative aims to formulate and organize leadership groups in various social, political and economic fields and work with them within efficient programs and projects aimed at educating leaders politically and giving them intellectual tools to deal with their political reality. We are developing a training project that gives these leaders tools and mechanisms of action that would contribute in answering the question of what to do about current challenges. Our work translates these intellectual and practical tools into “projects and initiatives” that contribute to improving living conditions and achieving legitimate demands. We believe that crystallizing, organizing and empowering these leadership groups contributes to enhancing confidence in our shared society and the ability of collective action to effect change and confidence in the capabilities of the individual, as well as the collective society in order to change and maximize the idea of political action and engagement in order to improve living conditions for all citizens and change the political scene, and our ambition is to see the results of our work in the next elections cycles to comes.

Our Goals

Developing leadership skills and provide practical tools for potential Arab leaders in order to lead social and political change in the public sphere.

Creating a common language, as well as personal and shared political intellectual refinement, through deepening and conceptual learning.

Networking between potential leaders and encourage collaborations and lead joint actions for the benefit of their community.

Meet Our Team!

Dr. Samer Swaid (Ph.D.)

Samer is the director of The Arab Center for Alternative Planning (ACAP). Samer has a PhD from the School of Political Science at Haifa University, where he focused his studies researching Palestinian discourse in Israel as a case study for national minority discourse. In conjunction with his professional responsibilities, he is a post-doc fellow at the University College London continuing his research on different political leaderships of national minorities. Samer was previously the Parliamentarian aid to MK Hanna Swaid, and he has been involved in various community-based, political, social, and bi-national programs throughout his life. Samer founded El ‘Etelaf and Qadaya.

Dr. Mohammad Khalaily (Ph.D.)

Mohammad has a PhD from the School of Political Science at Haifa University, where he focused his studies on clans in the Arab communities in Israel. During his early academic work Mohammad wrote his thesis on the fading power of the Arab parties in municipal elections in Israel, a paper that was awarded outstanding academic work by the Israeli Association for Political Science. Among his professional responsibilities, Muhammad currently teaches in the department of Political Science at Haifa University focusing on majority and minority relationships, local democracy, and social structures. He previously served as the parliamentary aid to MK Dr. Yousef Jabareen. Mohammad joined El ‘Etelaf as one of Samer’s partners in managing the campaign, and is currently the director of Qadaya.

Adella Shlon Biadi

Adella is a licensed organizational consultant and has a BA in English Literature and Education, as well as an MA in Political Science from Haifa University. With a rich past of community involvement, she has previously worked as a project manager at Mossawa Center, Kayan, Al-Amer, and JDC & Lotem. In 2020 Adela joined IDEA: The Center for Liberal Democracy as a fellow in the “Nativ” program, an ideological and political training for senior officials in the public sector. Adella joined El ‘Etelaf in 2020 as one of the main campaign coordinators and is currently Qadaya’s program manager.

Jana Boulus

Jana obtained an MSc in English Literature and Modernity from the University of Edinburgh with a dissertation focus on feminism and Arab women writers, and a BA in Haifa University with a double major in English Literature and General Fine Arts. Jana is a TEDx speaker, and has been involved in political, social, and youth related work throughout her life, having worked previously for Human Rights Watch, Seeds of Peace, Adalah, MEET, and B’Tselem. Her latest engagement prior to joining ACAP’s team was with Humanity Crew as a programs coordinator. Jana joined El ‘Etelaf in 2020 to document, report, and consult on the campaign and is currently Qadaya’s resource development manager and international relations coordinator.

Firas Khawaled

Firas obtained an MA in Communications from Netanya Academic College, and in conjunction with his responsibilities in Qadaya, he is a project manager at Ajyal Youth Movement. Firas is a previous Mandel Leadership Institute graduate, as well as a MAOZ graduate - a trust-based network of influential and diverse leaders. Firas has a rich past of community activism. Firas joined El ‘Etelaf in 2020 as a field coordinator, and is currently Qadaya’s project coordinator.