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About Us
The Ḥafathah Collective was born from the shared goal of bridging traditional human rights work and creative storytelling. As practitioners and students in empirical fields, we recognize how human rights research and advocacy can risk decentering the voices of those it aims to serve. We believe in integrating art within the fields of law and human rights to bring a fuller, more layered and colored perspective to justice.
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By curating exhibits we hope to further artists’ original goals—healing the wounds caused by injustice, documenting their experiences, and expressing through art what may be impossible to express through words.
Sumaya Tabbah
Sumaya Tabbah is a researcher focused on the protection of civilians during armed conflict, carceral systems, and the use of torture by state and non-state actors. She has previously worked as an Arabic translator on topics including refugees, prison literature, and media in conflict zones. Her interests lie at the intersection of reconciliation and human rights. She holds an MA in International Peace and Conflict Resolution with a focus on reconciliation and justice from American University, and a BA in political science from the University of Michigan. She speaks English, Arabic, and Russian. She has previously published with the Institute for Palestine Studies, the Tahrir Institute for Middle East Policy, the MENA Prison Forum, and Inkstick Media.
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Email: sumayatabbah@gmail.com
Susan Aboeid
​​Susan Aboeid’s work focuses on humanitarian disarmament and the protection of civilians from indiscriminate weapons such as landmines, cluster munitions, incendiary weapons, and the potential use of autonomous weapons. She is an ‘Emerging Weapons Expert’ with the Forum on the Arms Trade and explores the impact and implications of weapons systems on communities of color and in the Global South. Susan holds a BA in Modern Middle Eastern Studies from Yale University and is a JD candidate at Georgetown University Law Center. She speaks English and Arabic.
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Email: susanaboeid@gmail.com
Supna Kapoor
Supna Kapoor is deeply interested in storytelling and art as tools for social justice. She has worked in the Conservation Center at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, as an oral history interviewer for Million Dollar Hoods’ “Archiving the Age of Mass Incarceration” project, and has compiled digital media sources and digital artwork documenting Los Angeles’ Indigenous communities’ water sovereignty advocacy efforts as a part of UCLA and the National Science Foundation’s “Diverse Perspectives on Water” project. Supna developed an interest in the MENA region through her work in refugee resettlement with the International Rescue Committee in Charlottesville, Virginia. Supna holds a BA in Anthropology and a minor in Art History from the University of California, Los Angeles, and is a JD candidate at Georgetown University Law Center. ​
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Email: supnakapoor@gmail.com