‘I Care About Peace’ Series: Preserving Christian Presence in the Birthplace of Jesus (with Rebuilding Alliance)
Panelists
Alice Kisiya, a Palestinian Christian journalist, activist, community leader, and founder of the Save Al-Makhrour Initiative and the Al-Makhrour Community Development Foundation. She advocates for the protection of Palestinian land, Christian heritage, cultural identity, and the rights and resilience of local communities. Through journalism, advocacy, and community work, she raises awareness about land protection, human rights, youth and women’s empowerment, agriculture, and the preservation of the historic Christian presence in the Holy Land.
Mother Agapia, a nun and teacher who lived in Al-Azarya, just over the Mount of Olives, from 1998 to 2005 where she was appointed administrator of the Convent’s Orthodox Girls School of Bethany. Serving at the School during the Second Intifada, she became intimately connected to the lives and struggles of the local Palestinians, both Christian and Muslim. Due to upheaval with both the political situation and within the Church, she returned to New York in 2008, where her current community, the Convent of Saint Nicholas of Myra, was established in May 2009. Her ministry at the Convent has included organizing youth retreats, maintaining her ties to the Holy Land both by organizing twice yearly pilgrimages, and by inviting young Palestinian Christians to the Convent each summer to take part in social, cultural, and religious activities
Co-Moderators
Kyle Cristofalo, Senior Director of Advocacy & Government Relations at Churches for Middle East Peace (CMEP)
Nisreen Malley, Director of Advocacy at Rebuilding Alliance