Club Z Institute - CLUBZ

Rising 8th through 12th graders are invited to apply to our Club Z Institute.

The Club Z Institute offers a multi-faceted education on Israel, Jewish identity, and Zionism, which grounds modern-day headlines in centuries-old history. Our curriculum explores a range of narratives on Israel and Zionism and addresses contemporary anti-Semitism by delving into its evolution. Club Z’s classroom extends beyond a physical space—we utilize significant real-world examples as teaching opportunities. Our teens participate in events and are active at community rallies that challenge them to become confident and effective leaders.

The institute consists of a Regional Fall Opening Retreat, 13-15 educational meetings, a National Conference over MLK weekend, social activities, and community events. Institute educational sessions are held twice a month throughout the school year.

The Institute’s Israel Education Program focuses on building a comprehensive understanding of Jewish history as it relates to Zionism, the Jewish connection to the land, the Arab-Israeli conflict, and modern-day antisemitism. We provide an accurate historical perspective and give teens the tools to address antisemitism and anti-Israel sentiment at their schools, in their communities, and beyond.

Dalia Ziada is an Egyptian award-winning writer, peace activist, and political analyst specializing in governance, geopolitics, and defense policy in the Middle East and the Eastern Mediterranean. She has been globally recognized for her leading role as a civil rights activist in the Arab Spring revolutions of 2010-2011 and for her uncommon stance as an Arab Muslim intellectual in support of Israel’s war against Hamas in 2023.

Dalia has been active in the people-to-people Muslim-Jewish Dialogue and Arab-Israeli Dialogue for 16 years. Dalia studied international relations, focusing on global security studies, at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University (in the United States).

Dalia worked in leading positions at primary regional and international think tanks and civil society organizations, where she wrote dozens of papers analyzing the geopolitics of the Eastern Mediterranean region, advocated for peace and democracy in the Middle East, and fought tough political and cultural battles against radical Islamist groups in Arab countries.

In November 2023, Dalia had to flee Egypt, running for her life. During the 2023 conflict between Hamas and Israel, Dalia condemned Hamas’ October 7 attack on Israeli civilians and expressed strong support for Israel’s military retaliation against Hamas. Her public stance led to significant backlash in Egypt, resulting in threats to her safety and accusations of espionage and incitement of war crimes. Now, Dalia lives in the United States, where she is determined to continue her fight against radical Islamists and her activism for peace in the Middle East.

As a social entrepreneur, Dalia co-founded and led the Liberal Democracy Institute (LDI) in 2015 and the Center for Middle East and Eastern Mediterranean Studies (MEEM) in 2019. Before that, Dalia served as the Executive Director of the Cairo-based Ibn Khaldun Center for Democratic Studies and as the Regional Director in the Middle East and North Africa of the Washington-based American Islamic Congress (AIC). Dalia is also a member of several regional and international voluntary initiatives for peace and liberalism, such as the Clarity Coalition and Diplomeds. She currently works as a Senior Fellow for Research and Diplomacy at the Israel-based Jerusalem Center for Foreign Affairs (JCFA). Dalia authored the best-selling book “The Curious Case of the Three-Legged Wolf – Egypt: Military, Islamism, and Liberal Democracy” (2019) and other internationally acclaimed books dating back to 2006.

Dalia’s next book project, “The Coalition of Odds” explores the reshuffling of power coalitions in the greater Middle East and their rising influence on the historical and renewed conflicts between modern-day world superpowers.