July 2, 2008
Avi Jorisch is the founder of Palisades West Incorporated, a strategic consulting firm that specializes in issues relating to terrorism and radical Islam. Mr. Jorisch is also the Executive Director of the Illicit Finance Group™, an organization dedicated to assisting countries, agencies and financial institutions combat money laundering and terrorism finance. In addition, he is a Senior Fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and an Adjunct Scholar at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.
Previously, Mr. Jorisch served as a Policy Advisor at the Treasury Department’s office of Terrorism and Financial Intelligence. In that capacity, he served as the head of the U.S. delegation to the Financial Action Taskforce’s Typologies Working Group. Prior to joining the US Government, Mr. Jorisch was the Executive Director of the Coalition Against Terrorist Media, an organization comprised of Muslim, Christian, Jewish and secular organizations concerned about the role terrorist organizations play in funding various media outlets. He is the author of a Washington Institute monograph entitled, Beacon of Hatred: Inside Hizballah's al-Manar Television (2004). As the Institute's Soref fellow from 2001 to 2003, he specialized in Arab and Islamic politics. Mr. Jorisch has also served as an Arab media and terrorism consultant for the Department of Defense.
Mr. Jorisch holds a bachelor's degree in history from Binghamton University and a master's degree in Islamic history from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. In 2000 and 2001, he studied Arabic and Islamic Philosophy through the Center for Arabic Studies Abroad program at the American University in Cairo. He also earned a certificate in Arabic after participating in an intensive summer program at al-Azhar University, the preeminent institution of Sunni Islamic learning.
Mr. Jorisch has traveled extensively in the Middle East, including Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Israel, Gaza, the West Bank, Egypt, Qatar, Turkey, and Morocco. He has written at length about Hizballah and related terrorism issues, with articles appearing in prominent publications such as the Los Angeles Times, Washington Times, Jerusalem Post, and Middle East Quarterly. Mr. Jorisch has also been interviewed by more than 50 media outlets including CNN, ABC News, Fox News, the New York Times and numerous Arabic publications, to comment on terrorism-related matters, including al-Manar and its role in inciting terrorism throughout the world.
Contact Avi via Email.
Lecture Topics:
- A Guide to the Perplexed: How Do Terrorists and Money Launderers Move Their Money and What is the International Community Doing About It? An Insider’s Perspective.
- Hizballah: A Primer to the A-Team of Terrorists
- The Silent War: How the United States is Fighting Iran Economically.
- A Crash Course to Understanding the Arab-Israeli Conflict.
- Radical Islamic Ideologues: The Battle for Hearts & Minds in the Muslim World.
- The Rise of Terrorist Media Outlets: Who, What When, Where and How?
- The Demise of the Jewish State? Implications of Arab Demography to the Future of the State of Israel.