We are honoured to announce two distinguished new patrons of our charity: the scholar and public intellectual Yasir Suleiman, CBE and the renowned crime writer Val McDermid.
Yasir Suleiman, CBE is Emeritus Professor of Modern Languages at the University of Cambridge, having begun his career in linguistics, Arabic and Islamic studies at the University of St Andrews. A diaspora Palestinian, he is involved in the promotion of Arabic language and culture, and serves on the board of numerous institutions devoted to this purpose. A recent book, Being Palestinian brings together the deeply moving and personal reflections of diaspora Palestinians like himself.
Val McDermid, FRSE, FRSL is one of Scotland’s best known contemporary writers, and a leading figure in the country’s culture scene. The author of almost forty novels which have sold millions of copies worldwide, she is also a prominent and much-loved public figure and an outspoken advocate for social justice including campaigns such as, recently, Shelter’s “You Are With Us”, seeking to enshrine the right to a home in Scottish law.