Vita

I studied History, Political Science and German Literature in Cologne. During these years, I also enthusiastically enrolled in courses in art history and sports (at the German Sport University in Cologne).

In 1996-97 I participated in an Overseas Program at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem and studied German history, the history of the shoa and Jewish history. From 2000 bis 2004 I worked as a tour guide and member of the pedagocical team at Haus der Wannseekonferenz in Berlin.

In 1999/2000 I had the chance to study Arabic in Damacus at IFEAD (today IFPO) with a scholarship by the DAAD. My PhD at Zentrum Moderner Orient (ZMO) in Berlin on Palestinian perceptions of Nazi Germany was published in 2007 and you can find here the online PDF.

2004-2006 I worked as Desk Officer for Iraq in the Federal Foreign Office, from 2006-2009 as a Foreign Policy Advisor to the Greens in the German Parliament. The following year I lived in São Paulo, Brazil, traveling across this fascinating country.

From 2011 - 2015 I served as the head of office for the Palestine/Jordan office of the Heinrich-Böll-Foundation in Ramallah, followed by positions at Amnesty International Germany and the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR Berlin).

From 2021 - 2024 I stayed in lovely Thessaloniki, Greece, with my family and worked as a freelance writer, lecturer and consultant.

I am passionate about languages, and after all this wandering around I can (somehow) communicate in Arabic, Hebrew, Portuguese, Persian and Greek in addition to the more obvious French and Spanish.

I also am an ardent supporter of 1. FC Cologne, a once glorious football team which is looking to return to the Bundesliga.