Discover Sumud: Our Mission, Vision, and Values Explained

Who we are

A large crowd of protestors is marching with various signs and banners, including messages like "Ceasefire Now!" and displaying Palestinian flags. The protest appears to be in a city setting with buildings and transport visible in the background.

Sumud is an intersectional organisation that works in Finland for ending Israeli apartheid, occupation, colonialism and genocide and for the realisation of Palestinian human and political rights.

As part of the global movement in solidarity with the Palestinian people, our goal is to end Finnish support for Israeli apartheid and turn it into support for democracy, decolonisation and human rights.

We support the Palestinian civil society call for boycotts, divestments and sanctions. We also support the BDS call’s demand for Israel to end occupation and colonisation of Arab lands, grant equality to Palestinian citizens of Israel, and implement the right of Palestinian refugees to return.

Sumud is opposed to all forms of colonialism, racism – including antisemitism and islamophobia – as well as sexism, transphobia, homophobia, ableism, and all other forms of bigotry. Sumud does not take sides in party politics in any country.

We work with a lot of organisations and communities in Finland – Palestinian, queer, peace, art, music and other groups and individuals. We have chapters in different cities in Finland.

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Sumud’s Board

Noora Dadu, Chair

Noora Dadu is a Finnish-Palestinian actor and playwright. Personal and political intersect in many of their art works. Dadu has written the books Minun Palestiinani ja Fail (2022) and Roolitus (2024).

Syksy Räsänen, Vice Chair

Syksy Räsänen has been on the board of ICAHD Finland since 2010. He also has been part of the International Solidarity Movement on the West Bank in various years. He is the author of the book Israelin apartheid.

Majed Abusalama, Vice Chair

Majed Abusalama is a political activist, writer, and researcher who was born and raised in the Jabalia Refugee Camp in Gaza. He emerged as a prominent civil society activist, initiating, organizing, coordinating, and leading various local and international humanitarian and political efforts to break the military siege of Gaza, including initiatives like Beats for Gaza and the Gaza Freedom March.

Since leaving Gaza, Abusalama has been actively involved in anti-racist, migrant, decolonial, and solidarity movements across Europe. He tirelessly works against far-right and fascist forces, continuing his commitment to justice and liberation.

He has co-founded several organizations, including Sumud in Finland, Palestine Speaks in Germany, and Alliance for Palestine in Switzerland.

In Berlin, Abusalama won a 3 year-long, well-known trial named the Humboldt3, where he and another two anti-Zionist activists took Israel to court.

In his PhD research at the Palestine Research Group in Finland, Abusalama investigates the colonial control over the generation of the blockade. He regularly writes for many media outlets including Aljazeera, Mondoweiss, NewArab and others.

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Alisa Ajomaa, Secretary

Alisa Ajomaa, is a social worker and social scientist from Helsinki who is actively trying to defend human rights. In her work and studies, Alisa has focused on forced displacement. In her life she aims to master the Arabic language and adopt a cat.

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Ida-Emilia Reini, Treasurer

Ida-Emilia Reini is a literature researcher and anthropologist, specialized in the Middle East and Eastern Europe. Can be found taking blurry film photos or rowing a boat on the tranquil waters of Näsijärvi lake.

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Jasmina Amzil

Jasmina is an aspiring jewelry artisan. She has previously worked in communications, culture and business, and as part of Ruskeat Tytöt ry.

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Shareef Askar

Shareef Askar is a Finnish media artist and independent movie maker with Palestinian roots. He is currently finishing his master’s degree studies in the New Media Design and Production program in Aalto University. In the past years, he has used his voice and art for Palestinian solidarity creating constructive dialogue around themes related to human rights. Shareef grew up in a politically and artistically oriented family environment where his grandfather, father and sister were inspiring Palestinian artists. Because of this, visually vivid human rights and social justice narratives are a recurring element in his art and activism.

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Janette Kotivirta

Janette Kotivirta is a doctoral researcher at the University of Helsinki. Her research engages with the politics of forestry expansion in Uruguay, Finnish complicity in it and its translational resistance. Currently she is active in Students for Palestine Finland. She continues her work for environmental justice with Debt for Climate.

Nora Sayyad

Nora Sayyad is a Finnish-Palestinian photographer, visual storyteller, and civic activist from Turku. She works within culture, art, identities, and intersectionality.

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Sedeer el-Showk

Sedeer el-Showk (he/they, born at 338 ppm) is a writer, scientist, and tinkerer. Their politics are anti-capitalist and anti-colonial. He is on the board of Helsinki Left, helped start Scientist Rebellion Finland, and is in Elokapina. Sedeer joined Sumud in October 2023 and has been helping coordinate the demonstrations in Helsinki since November 2023.

Helga West

Helga West is a civic activist and theologian from Deatnu River Valley, Sápmi. She works on literature, issues of colonialism, and reconciliation in the fields of both art and science.

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Eero Yli-Vakkuri

Eero Yli-Vakkuri is a performance artist from Helsinki whose work focuses on public spaces. He is advancing sustainable design through campaigns, workshops and artistic presentations. He prefers to work in groups and to develop antidisciplinary collaborations with specialists from different fields.

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Staff

Lili De Paola, Coordinator

Lili De Paola holds master’s degrees in Middle Eastern Studies and Finnish Language. In her studies, she has focused on Saudi Arabia as well as Palestine/Israel.

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XXA, organisation assistant

Our organization’s assistant, who goes by the pseudonym XXA, considers being both Stateless and Palestinian as their superpowers. They unapologetically advocate for Palestinian rights and try their best to amplify the voices of marginalized communities.