Keeping the Dream Alive

In 1969, Israeli soldiers burst into Terry Ahwal's home while she and her family were eating breakfast. More than fifty years later, she still vividly sees her father's arms up in the air while young soldiers kicked him, hit him, and beat him with their automatic weapons. Her mother's shouting and pleading also are seared in Terry's memory. And she still has visions of her and her sister howling from terror as they watched their father dragged into the street.

Keeping the Dream Alive: One Woman's Quest for Justice is Terry Ahwal's story. It details her years growing up as a Palestinian Catholic under Israeli occupation, her reluctant immigration to the United States as a teenager, and her daily battles in becoming a Palestinian American who cares deeply about both her homeland and her adopted country.

As Terry has ascended professional and political life in mainstream America, she also has endured harassment by the Israeli government for daring to speak on behalf of Palestinians. As an adult, she witnessed further horrors when she returned to Palestine with Jewish and Palestinian colleagues, and a U.S. senator, on an economic mission. She has since been banned from returning.

Her goal is not to cast aspersions against the Israeli people, but to support her fellow Palestinians, who have endured much hardship under Israeli rule, and to realize her dreams of seeing a lasting, just peace between Palestinians and Israelis.

Terry Ahwal is a native of Palestine who lived under Israeli occupation until 1972, when as a teenager, she was sent to live with her uncles in Detroit.She was born in Ramallah, Palestine, where her mother and maternal grandparents relocated after being forced to leave their home in Yaffa in 1948.She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Michigan, as well as certifications in leadership training from Notre Dame University, Michigan Political Leadership Program, and Michigan Leadership Program. Now retired, she served as the executive director of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee. She worked more than fifteen years in Wayne County (Michigan) government, where she rose to be an assistant county executive. She also worked as a Director of Development at Madonna University and Vice President of Development at the Detroit Medical Center. She has broad experience in comprehensive fund development and worked on more than twenty national and local political campaigns, including the Bill Clinton for President campaign. She was a convention delegate for Clinton.Terry has extensive volunteer experiences in the United States and abroad. She is a former president of Habitat of Humanity in Detroit, vice president of the YMCA in Livonia, president of the American Federation of Ramallah, Palestine, and numerous board positions. She volunteers with four nonprofit agencies in the Detroit area.She also climbed Mount Kilimanjaro in September 2021.