In This Story
Activism runs in Laila Mokhiber’s blood.
Well before she became the director of communications at UNRWA USA, the nonprofit that provides support for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees, Mokhiber was a child holding protest signs in human rights demonstrations. Before then, her mother held her as a baby in the gallery of the Supreme Court, as her father argued to incorporate Arab Americans into the Civil Rights Act in 1987.
The George Mason University alumna has also made a name for herself. In 2020, she was named one of the top 40 influential Arab Americans under 40 by the Arab America Foundation.
“I was very humbled,” said Mokhiber, who graduated with a BA in global affairs in 2009. “The work I do is a labor of love, and if this brings more attention to the cause that I work on… I’m pleased to have received this recognition.”
UNRWA USA raises awareness about the plight of Palestinian refugees to support their humanitarian needs.
“We’re trying to create our own narrative around who Palestine refugees are and demystifying what it means to be a refugee,” Mokhiber said. “I love being able to advocate for the people who I see as my sisters and brothers and be able to measure the impact.”
The nonprofit and its annual Gaza 5K support UNRWA, mental health, and urgent assistance for those living in and around refugee camps, said Mokhiber, who leads a content team that helps tell their stories.
“To be that link and bring their stories to my fellow Americans, I see that as a great responsibility and duty,” she said. “Once you see what life under occupation looks like with your own eyes, you can’t ever stop speaking up or advocating about it.”
Mokhiber’s work has sent her to Gaza several times—a rare privilege for an Arab American, due to the area’s land, sea and air blockade.
Each time, she brings back stories and is inspired by Palestinians she meets who make an impact with nearly nothing, and are resilient despite supplies not being allowed into Gaza. Those included a young man who built a 3D printer from recycled materials to print life-saving tourniquets, and a young woman who took rubble from bombed buildings and engineered a way to turn it into bricks to help families rebuild.
Since speaking with Mokhiber, Gaza suffered an 11-day onslaught in which she said an Israeli military airstrike destroyed the facility where these 3D-printed medical devices are made.
Mokhiber, who also co-hosts the Latitude Adjustment Podcast, said she seeks to advocate for people who don’t have a platform to do so themselves. Her time at Mason, where she studied music and global affairs with a focus on the Middle East, continues to be influential.
“I had the great privilege of studying under Mason professors Bassam Haddad and Sumaiya Hamdani, and the context of the region I learned from them is really helpful to know how to navigate it and translate it to other people in my work today,” she said.
Mokhiber also stayed connected. During the COVID pandemic, she co-hosted virtual music sessions with Haddad that raised tens of thousands of dollars for organizations like UNRWA USA.
“Laila is an exemplary conscientious force and human being,” Haddad said. “Her impact manifests in myriad ways, but the most powerful is the extent to which she empowers individuals and groups by bringing them together for good.”
The same was true on campus, where Mokhiber said she expanded her community in student organizations like the Arab Student Association, Students for Justice in Palestine, and Orthodox Christian Fellowship.
“I amplified what these organizations were doing as an outreach chair and did communications, which is how I ended up in my current line of work,” said Mokhiber, who also worked as an outreach and communications coordinator for the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC).
“I loved my days at Mason because it exposed me to a rich diversity of people and perspectives that encouraged my curiosity about the world and would have taken years of global travel to gain.”
