Birth: 1/1/1952 Death:2/3/2016
Born in Fassouta, Galillee, in 1952 to a Christian family; attended the local school, then a secondary school in Nazareth; received his BA, MA and PhD in Philosophy with a focus on Islamic Philosophy from Rome University, in 1976; worked as Lecturer in Arabic Philosophy at Napoli University, Italy, from 1978-80; continued his studies and earned another PhD in Comparative Religious Studies from the Gregorian University, Rome, in 1980/81; served as Director of the ‘Christianity in the Holy Land’ program, at Tantur Ecumenical Institute for Theological Studies in Jerusalem from 1980-88; also was Assistant Professor for Cultural and Religious Studies at the Humanities Dept. of Bethlehem University from 1981-1996; Editor of the quarterly Al-Liqa magazine (Arabic) since 1985; served as Vice-International Pres. at Tantur from 1986-88; since 1988, Director of Al-Liqa Center for Religious and Heritage Studies in the Holy Land, Bethlehem; Editor of the bi-annual Al-Liqa Journal (English) since 1992; was elected mayor of Fassouta Village from 1996-2001; served as Administrative Director of the Notre Dame High School, Mailya (upper Galilee) from 2001-2004; since 2004, Dean of the Theological Dept. at the Mar Elias Educational Institutions in Ibilin, Galilee; has been the editor of 17 volumes on Christian-Muslim dialogue and of 10 volumes on Palestinian contextual theology; has also authored numerous articles, papers and books, incl. Exposition on Christology (Arabic, 1978), and Guide to the Church of the Holy Land (1984).
