Aziz Abu Sarah is a Palestinian peace activist, born and raised in Jerusalem. He became Director of International Relations for the Parents Circle-Families Forum in 2003, and was elected Head of the Board of Directors in 2006. From 2005-2008 he also co-hosted a bilingual radio show on Radio All for Peace 107.2 FM in Jerusalem. Today Aziz works as a lecturer, and has spoken in hundreds of churches, synagogues and mosques on the subject of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, peace, reconciliation, and interfaith dialogue. He has also lectured for countless international organizations and universities, including Georgetown University, Columbia, Princeton, Brandeis, Yale, George Washington, and before the European Parliament and the United Nations. He is highly involved in the Israeli-Palestinian peace movement, and as a result of his work he has been honored to receive the Goldberg Prize for Peace in the Middle East from the Institute of International Education, the Silver Rose Award from the European Parliament, the Eisenhower Medallion and Eliav-Sartawi Award for Middle Eastern Journalism. Aziz is a columnist for Alquds Newspaper and has published articles at Haaretz, Jerusalem Post, Alarabiya, Daily Star and Middle East online and others. He is fluent in English, Arabic, and Hebrew, and is the Director of Middle East Projects at George Mason University’s Center for World Religions, Diplomacy, and Conflict Resolution. you can contact Aziz at [email protected]
A Conflict Close to Home, Aziz’s personal story
A disaster can strike your nation, your state, or even the house of your next door neighbor, but as long as it strikes someone else, it is still a distance away. Like many in Jerusalem, I grew up seeing many people die because of a “worthless conflict.” I felt sad for them, but I continued to live my life just as before. My reaction was the same as others who see an accident on the side of the road, think “how sad,” and drive on. However, my life changed forever the moment the disaster struck my house and my family, and the casualty was my brother. (click here to read the story)