December 14th, 2021 at 10 AM ET
Elias Deis. Born into a Christian family with a long history of nonviolent resistance in Beit Sahour, Elias Deis’ life was shaped during the First Intifada, watching his father and his community find the path towards justice through peaceful resistance. It was through his Christian upbringing, holding onto Jesus’s sacred words of “loving thy neighbor,” that led Elias into a life journey of engaging his community in transformation.
Through this challenge, he staked out a path of education that would lead him directly into the middle of peacemaking, seeking a deeper understanding of the nature of the violence, the historical roots, and how generational trauma contributes to cycles of unrest and bloodshed. Watching his father Shafeeq lead by example by organizing within the tax-resistance movement in Beit Sahour, being arrested several times, presented him a real-life example of how a community can combat violence in real ways, preparing him to be a community leader.
Said Arikat is a Member of the Palestine Center Committee, and a long time writer and analyst for the Palestinian newspaper al-Quds. He previously served as spokesman and director of public information for the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq, and currently teaches as an adjunct professor at American University in Washington, DC.
