Sami Awad

Sami Awad is the Executive Director of Holy Land Trust (HLT), a Palestinian nonprofit organization which he founded in 1998 in Bethlehem. HLT works with the Palestinian community at both the grassroots and leadership levels in developing nonviolent approaches that aim to end the Israeli occupation and build a future founded on the principles of nonviolence, equality, justice, and peaceful coexistence.

In 2006, he ran as an independent candidate in the Palestinian Legislative Council Elections (the Palestinian Parliament). He also established the Travel and Encounter Program, which aims to provide tourists and pilgrims with unique religious and political experiences in Palestine; the Palestine News Network, the first independent press agency in Palestine and a major source of news on life in Palestine today; and Al-Kul Television. He has traveled to several countries to speak about non-violence. Sami is one of the subjects in the documentary Litlte Town of Bethlehem.