Nora Lester Murad lives in Jerusalem, where she writes literary fiction and commentary. Her blog, The View from My Window in Palestine, addresses issues of aid, development and daily life under military occupation. She founded the Dalia Association, Palestine's first community foundation, and served as director until 2010. Murad holds a PhD from Fielding Graduate Institute in Santa Barbara, California, focused on social change and structural inequality; a Master of Arts in Intercultural Relations from Lesley University, with an emphasis on conflict management and training; and a Bachelor of Arts in Middle East Studies from the University of California in Los Angeles, during which she studied at the American University in Cairo and the Hebrew University in Jerusalem.