Dr. Layla Al-Marayati (MPAC)

Dr. Layla Al-Marayati is the spokesperson and past president of the Muslim Women’s League (MWL), a Los Angeles based organization dedicated to disseminating accurate information about Islam and women and to strengthening the role of Muslim women in society. Dr. Al-Marayati has written articles and participated in numerous conferences addressing issues of concern to Muslim women; topics include basic women’s rights in Islam, reproductive health and sexuality, stereotyping, violence against women and so on. In addition, Dr. Al-Marayati spearheaded the MWL’s efforts on behalf of rape survivors from the war in Bosnia in 1993 and she was a member of the official US Delegation to the UN Conference on Women in Beijing in 1995. Dr. Layla Al-Marayati has also participated in numerous activities related to international religious freedom. She served as a Presidential appointee to the Commission on International Religious Freedom from 1999 to May 2001. Prior to that, she was a member of the State Department Advisory Committee on Religious Freedom Abroad. She has testified before Congress and as part of the US delegation to the OSCE Human Dimensions meeting in Poland regarding religious intolerance against Muslims in Europe.

As an America of Palestinian descent, Dr. Al-Marayati frequently speakers about the rights of Palestinians. She is a member of the Board of Directors of KinderUSA, a newly formed charity whose primary focus at this time is on addressing the health and educational needs of Palestinian children living in the West Bank and Gaza. She just returned from a humanitarian mission on behalf of KinderUSA to West Bank and Gaza in October.

Dr. Al-Marayati’s articles have been published in the Los Angeles Times, the Chicago Tribune, on Beliefnet and elsewhere throughout the United States. She has appeared on local and national television and radio programs, addressing issues of concern to Muslims in America.

Dr. Al-Marayati is a Board-certified obstetrician-gynecologist in private practice in Southern California. She is married to Salam Al-Marayati and is the mother of three children: Malek, Zayd, and Jinan.

From: http://www.ing.org/celebrating/events/ann_dinner.asp