Meet the Staff of Holy Land Trust
Bet Lahem Live is an initiative of Holy Land Trust, a Palestinian Non-Profit Organization (NGO) located in the heart of Bethlehem, on Star Street. We create the space for the healing of historic wounds, in order to transform communities and build a future that makes the Holy Land a global model for understanding, respect, justice, equality and peace.
After more than 15 years of community engagement, HLT continues to focus on nonviolence as the catalyst to end all forms of conflict and establish an enduring and comprehensive peace in the Holy Land.
Sami Awad, Founder and Director
Sami Awad is the Executive Director of Holy Land Trust. At a young age, Sami was influenced by the teaching of his uncle Mubarak Awad, the Palestinian activist who promoted nonviolent resistance to the occupation during the first Intifada (popular uprising) and was arrested and deported by the Israeli government for his peaceful / nonviolent activities. Through working with Mubarak, Sami was introduced to great leaders and visionaries of the global nonviolence movement; from Jesus to Gandhi to King.
Sami has engaged himself locally and globally through promoting and engaging in nonviolence, healing and transformation work. Holy Land Trust is committed to supporting, training and developing NVC in the Holy Land.
Sami Awad holds an Honorary Doctoral Degree in Divinity from the Chicago Theological Seminary, a Master’s Degree in International Relations from the American University in Washington D.C. and an undergraduate degree in Political Science from the University of Kansas.
Lara Mitri, Operations and Administrative Manager
Lara Mitri is the Operations and Administrative Manager at Holy Land Trust. Lara received a Bachelor’s degree in 2001 in English Literature from Bethlehem University. In 2010, she earned two diplomas in Project Management; one through an Italian program based in Rome, and the other from Bethlehem University.
Lara has worked for Holy Land Trust since March of 2015 and previously served as the Events Coordinator. Under this role, she was the manager of the annual Bethlehem Live Festival for 2015. In her new role as Operations and Administrative Manager, she is responsible for providing support and managing the HLT team and office, which includes general administration as well as facilitating the flow of programs , events , policies , systems , finances and accounting. She enjoys working at Holy Land Trust because it has been a place where she has been able to learn and grow in her area of work.
Said Zarzar, Events Coordinator
Said Zarzar is the Events Coordinator at Holy Land Trust. He began his work for Holy Land Trust in August of 2012. As an events coordinator, his job responsibilities include acting as art director for the annual Bet Lahem Live Festival, working with the logistics of the Travel and Encounter program, and coordinating all other events hosted by Holy Land Trust.
Said graduated from Bethlehem University with a Bachelor’s in Literature and Translation in 2010 but his real passion is theatre. Said has been coaching and directing theatre productions for six years. At Holy Land Trust, he is able to channel this passion into positively impacting the community. He believes theatre is a weapon and through acting, dancing, and putting on productions, performers can use their voice and their skills to tell their stories without being rejected or ignored. In this way, Said feels that theatre is a tool by which an understanding of all groups can be achieved.
Antwan Saca, Director of Programs
Antwan serves as the Director of Programs at the Holy Land Trust. He was born in the city of Jerusalem and grew up in Bethlehem. Since the age of 18, Antwan has been engaged in the civil society to work towards a vision of peace in the Holy Land. With day dreams of the day of peace, Antwan grew up believing in the possibilities, and working on realizing this vision.
After almost 15 years of grassroots political activism, Antwan bases his knowledge, experience and activism on the concept of compassionate activism. He invests much time in understanding and localizing the knowledge of how the past and present experiences, both individual and collective, shape the vision for peace within communities. He seeks to understand how past and present trauma affects local communities struggling for peace.
Antwan previously worked has served in various civil society organizations working on both sides of this conflict such as the Holy Land Christian Ecumenical Foundation, the Applied Research Institute — Jerusalem (ARIJ) also served as a youth leader in the OneVoice Movement and programs. He graduated from Arab American University of Jenin (AAUJ) with a Bachelor’s degree in Public Law.
Cody O’Rourke, Communications and Fundraising
Cody, originally from Michigan, has been doing work for peace and justice in the Holy Land since 2005. He has lived in Palestine for five years, since the birth of his son and favorite person, Alex. He has worked with Holy Land Trust since December. Cody does all of the marketing and media, including videos and website design, in addition to his work with fundraising. Cody came to HLT because he knew that the organization embodies a key component of justice work, which other organizations have not yet adopted in their strategies: the focus on building communities of trust and respect in the peacemaking process. He believes that this kind of work is not just about challenging injustices, it’s also building something at the same time; it’s about community-building.
Cody believes that Bet Lahem Live is an opportunity for Bethlehem to recreate itself in its own image. He loves that the festival empowers the community to reclaim its own culture and share its unique identity with the world.
Elias Deis, Director of International Programs
Elias Deis is the Project Manager at Holy Land Trust. He received a Bachelor’s degree in 2001, from the Tourism Department of Bethlehem University. He also received certification from Bethlehem Bible College, from their Tour Guide program in 2010.
Because of the outbreak of the second Intifada in 2001, and the subsequent decrease in tourism to the West Bank, Elias began to work alongside several organizations that collaborated with internationals on matters such as resistance and solidarity.
Since beginning at Holy Land Trust in March 2007, Elias has been able to actively help build relationships between the local communities and the international community, as well as serve the immediate local population. He enjoys working at HLT because it mixes two of his passions: tourism and activism.
Dima Hayek, Accountant
Dima Hayek is the accountant at Holy Land Trust. She graduated from the Bethlehem University with a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration in 2007.
Dima has worked for Holy Land Trust since 2010. She values working with HLT because of its friendly atmosphere, and appreciates how the employees embrace both creativity and new ideas. Additionally, Dima enjoys working at Holy Land Trust because she is able to part of an organization that has a vision and a plan to pursues peace in the Holy Land, a peace she believes will come one day.
Thomas Trischler, Development Manager
Thomas Trischler is the Development Manager at Holy Land Trust. He is originally from Germany and received a master’s degree in Political Science from Potsdam University in 2007. Prior to obtaining his master’s degree, he was an exchange student at Tel Aviv University. During this time, he volunteered for eighteen months at a home for Holocaust survivors and became interested in how the Germans played a role in the Middle East conflict.
Thomas is now working with the German government in their Civil Peace Service Program (CPS) which, “…supports projects aimed at non-violent conflict resolutions in various countries worldwide. It [sends] experts to assist local partner [organizations].” Through the CPS, Thomas was paired with Holy Land Trust in May 2015.
Samer Nasser, IT Manager
Samer Nasser is the IT Manager at Holy Land Trust. He graduated from Al-Quds University in 2004, with a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science. Additionally, he is a Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist (MCTS and a Microsoft Certified IT Professional (MCITP).
Samer has worked for Holy Land Trust since 2014 and he manages all IT duties, tech support, network administration, and web mastering. He also works full-time tech support at Bethlehem University.
Samer enjoys working at Holy Land Trust because of its friendly atmosphere, and the way the staff acts like family to one another. He also enjoys that, through his work, he is able to assist HLT as they help the community.
Adnan Araj, Office Support and Maintenance
Adnan is the Office Support Maintenance personnel at Holy Land Trust. He began working here in 2000 and handles all of the day to day operations to make sure the office functions smoothly and efficiently. If anyone needs anything, Adnan is the guy for the task!
