Newsletter: Meet our staff - Monir Zaarour

"Working at the IFJ is not only a job, it is part of me. I grew up helping people in need and my work at the IFJ fits into this". Monir Zaarour, a dual Belgian and Palestinian national, is our coordinator for the Arab World and Middle East. He grew up in Jenin in the West Bank and holds a Masters degree in International conflict analysis.

The father of two joined the IFJ in 2006 after working in a cinema production center in Ramallah, Palestine. He is a former member of the Palestinian writers’ union where he used to edit the union magazine. He won a first prize for young Palestinian writers with his short story “Thirst of saints” and has kept a real thrust for reading, in particular futuristic books. “There is a dangerous contradiction in human beings by not developing emotionally as fast as scientifically and I am really intrigued by this,” he says.

His role at the IFJ consists of developing projects and campaigns strategies as well as mobilising international support to help affiliates in the region. Diplomatic and prudent, his colleagues also describe him as someone who strongly values contact with unions in the region.


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