The daughter of a Palestinian Christian Arab and an Iowa Quaker mother, Rosina Hassoun was raised in the United States and holds a Ph.D. from the University of Florida. She works an anthologist and anadjunct Assistant Professor at both Lansing Community College and Michigan State University (MSU). Her research and teaching specialty is in the field of Arab-American Relations. She is also the sole proprietor of Goldfinch Training, a business that provides “multicultural and diversity training” as well as “cultural sensitivity training on the plight of endangered cultures.”

On September 11, 2007, Hassoun spoke at an MSU event titled “Hope Not Hate: The Future of U.S.-Muslim World Relations.” Co-sponsored by the University’s Muslim Students Association and Americans for Informed Democracy, this event aimed to develop “a comprehensive strategy towards more positive relations between the United States and the Muslim World, instead of relations based on fear and misunderstanding.” Other guest speakers included Shereef Akeel and Mohammed Ayoob.

In January 2009, Hassoun authored a piece titled “The War Against Gaza,” in which she condemned Israel’s military efforts to thwart Hamas terrorist activity in the Gaza Strip. She wrote:

“This is a war by the world’s fourth largest military power [Israel] on a detention camp — and make no mistake, that is exactly how this war is viewed in the Arab and Muslim world and increasingly by people across the world. Gaza is surrounded by electrified fences on three sides and the Israeli navy on the fourth side…. Never, not even during the height of European colonial occupation, has the world viewed such an event. The asymmetry of this event is staggering. The violations of common sense, as well as the Fourth Geneva Convention, with the use of mass punishment, make this a war crime and a crime against humanity.”