Washington D.C. Internship Program

Meet the Director - Khalil E. Jahshan

Khalil Jahshan is Executive Director of Pepperdine University Seaver College's Washington DC Internship Program and Lecturer in International Studies and Languages. He is a Middle East consultant with extensive expertise in Arab-American bilateral relations and United States policy in the Middle East. Between 2000 and 2003, he served as Executive Vice President of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC), the premier Arab-American civil rights organization, and director of its government affairs affiliate, NAAA-ADC.

(Link to Graphic article, "Man With A Mission")

A native of Nazareth, Palestine, Mr. Jahshan completed his elementary and secondary education there. In 1969, he traveled to the United States to pursue his college education, and received a bachelor's degree in political science and French from Harding University in 1972. Mr. Jahshan began graduate work in political science at Memphis State University, and completed his graduate coursework in political science and Middle East studies at the University of Chicago in 1977. From 1980-82, Mr. Jahshan taught Arabic at the University of Chicago Extension and at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois.

A long-time activist on Arab-American issues, Mr. Jahshan served in 1982-83 as the Director of the national office of the Association of Arab-American University Graduates (AAUG) in Belmont, Massachusetts. In 1983, he relocated to Washington, D.C., and joined the Palestine Research and Educational Center as the Assistant Director as well as Assistant Editor of the Center's bimonthly publication, Palestine Perspectives. Mr. Jahshan joined the National Association of Arab Americans (NAAA) in June 1989 as Associate Executive Director for Public Affairs. Jahshan assumed the position of President of NAAA in December 1990. In this position, his responsibilities included directing the political efforts of the only full-time Arab-American foreign policy lobby based in Washington, D.C. Effective January 1, 2000, NAAA was merged with ADC. Between 1996 and 2003, Jahshan also served as Vice President of the American Committee on Jerusalem.

Over the years, Mr. Jahshan has served as chair of the Council of Presidents of National Arab-American Organizations, a Washington, D.C.-based umbrella group for all politically active Arab-American organizations, which represents a majority of the three million Americans of Arab ancestry. He also serves on the boards of directors and advisory boards of various Middle East-oriented groups, including ANERA, MIFTAH and Search for Common Ground in the Middle East.

Mr. Jahshan remains in continuous contact with Middle East leaders and with high-ranking foreign policy makers and other officials in Washington, both in the executive and legislative branches of the U.S. Government.

Mr. Jahshan is a frequent lecturer before foreign policy panels, academic groups, think tanks, and community gatherings on the Arab-Israeli conflict, the Palestine problem, Israeli politics, and U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East. In addition, he appears frequently on American and international television and radio to discuss American policies and Middle East issues.