Dr Awad is a Palestinian Christian who is executive director of the Holy Land Trust, and lives in Bethlehem, on the West Bank.
Born in the United States to Palestinian parents, Dr Awad is in Dunedin to give the 14th annual open peace lecture at the University of Otago’s St David lecture theatre on Monday.
The Holy Land Trust is a non-profit organisation based in Bethlehem which strives to enable advocates for peace to ‘‘amplify their voices’’ and ‘‘create a new momentum for peacemaking’’.
One of the biggest challenges preventing a viable peace process was a ‘‘the lack of mutual trust and respect between different groups’’, especially between Israelis and Palestinians and a mutual fear, based on past experiences.
‘‘But I’m optimistic,’’ he said.
Many Palestinians and Israelis had lost hope that a peace agreement could be achieved, but people were also seeking new solutions.
Young people were saying ‘‘enough is enough’’, and there was scope to develop greater understanding between Israelis and Palestinians at grassroots level and to ‘‘create a space for healing’’.
He acknowledged that problems facing the search for peace had worsened, but he believed a new dialogue could be developed through religion, including his own Christian faith, and the efforts of women, including the Women Wage Peace movement.
Successful peace outcomes in South Africa, in Northern Ireland and in parts of Latin America remained inspirational, he said.
The annual lecture series has been organised by the Dunedin Abrahamic Interfaith Group and is supported by the Otago Tertiary Chaplaincy.
