Ep. 41: Psychological Dimensions: Trauma Legacies in the Middle East II (Dr. Sami Awad – Holy Land Trust, Bethlehem)

Guest: Dr. Sami Awad – Holy Land Trust, Betlehem; co-director of Nonviolence International Hosts: Alexandria & Yusuf Bio: Dr. Sami Awad was born in the US and grew up in Bethlehem in a Palestinian Christian family. His father comes from a refugee family that lost their home in Jerusalem in 1948, and his mother is from Gaza. He is the nephew of Mubarak Awad, a pioneer of Palestinian nonviolent resistance. He studied Political Science at the University of Kansas and International Relations at the American University in Washington, D.C., focusing on peace and conflict resolution, and later earned a Doctorate in Divinity from the Chicago Theological Seminary. After returning to Palestine, he founded Holy Land Trust, a community-based organization in Bethlehem promoting justice and peace through empowerment, training, and trauma healing. He is a leading voice on the psychological and intergenerational wounds of conflict, emphasizing spiritual and emotional resources to break cycles of violence. After October 7, he was described in DIE ZEIT as a “Palestinian Gandhi.” He is the co-director of Nonviolence International. In this episode: Yusuf and Alexandria speak with Dr. Awad about trauma from a Palestinian perspective. He traces his journey into peace work, shaped by his family’s history, including his grandmother, who taught that revenge had no place even after losing her husband and property in 1948. The conversation explores trauma’s ongoing impact on Palestinian identity, collective memory, and politics: the Nakba as an intergenerational wound, Gaza’s devastation, and October 7. Dr. Awad explains that historical trauma can be addressed during conflict, while immediate trauma can only be confronted once violence subsides. Healing, he says, is guided by truth, empathy, accountability, and respect, transforming suffering into awareness, connection, and constructive action. He outlines a path of “sacred activism,” linking personal and collective healing with social change, showing that true peace requires confronting trauma, restoring dignity, and breaking cycles of fear and violence. This episode was recorded June 4, 2025. Links: Dr. Sami Aawad: https://sami-awad.com/ Non Violence International: https://www.nonviolenceinternational.net/s_awad Holy Land Trust: https://holylandtrust.org/ Disclaimer: Guest opinions are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views of the podcast team. Technical legal terms are explained in Episode 36 with Prof. Claus Kreß; contested histories are addressed by Prof. Gudrun Krämer in Episode 21.