Huwaida Arraf is a Palestinian-American lawyer and human rights advocate. She received her Bachelor's degree from the University of Michigan, and her Juris Doctor from the American University Washington College of Law, where she focused her studies on international human rights and humanitarian law. In 2001 Huwaida co-founded the International Solidarity Movement (ISM), which has twice been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. Huwaida is co-editor of the book “Peace Under Fire: Israel, Palestine, and the International Solidarity Movement.”Huwaida was one of the initiators and organizers of a delegation of American lawyers to Gaza in February 2009, and co-authored the report on their findings, "Onslaught: Israel's Attack on Gaza and the Rule of Law." Huwaida is the former Chairperson of the Free Gaza Movement. Since August 2008, she has led 5 successful sea voyages to the Gaza Strip to confront and challenge Israel's illegal blockade. Huwaida was one of the primary organizers of the Gaza Freedom Flotilla and was traveling with it when it was lethally attacked by Israeli forces on 31 May 2010.In 2012 Huwaida helped conceive of and launch the Witness Bahrain initiative, an effort to provide human rights observers on the ground in Bahrain, where an uprising for democracy is being violently repressed. She was arrested by Bahraini authorities and deported for her work.