Ali Abu Awwad

Refugees from Al-Qubayba near Bayt Jibrin, Awwad's family was forced off their land in the 1948 Palestine war (The Nakba) and subsequently settled in Beit Ummar.

Awwad, born in Halhoul in Hebron Governorate in the West Bank, was raised in a politically active family and at a young age, following in his mother's footsteps, became a member of Fatah.

(His mother was a close associate of Yasser Arafat and was a leader of Fatah in the region).

Prior to becoming a nonviolent activist, he served two prison sentences in Israel.

First arrested while studying for secondary exams (after an Israeli helicopter observer reported seeing him throw stones), Awwad refused to pay a 1,500 shekel fine, stating later that, although a stone-thrower, he had not participated that day.

Eight months later, he took part in the First Intifada as a teenager, and was subsequently sentenced to 10 years in prison on charges of stone-throwing, throwing Molotov cocktails, and being active in a military cell.

According to Awwad, his major crime consisted in refusing to cooperate with his interrogators who wanted information concerning his mother's political activities.

He served four years and was released after the signing of the Oslo Accords.

Along with 280 released prisoners, he was confined to Jericho for the remainder of his sentence.

Awwad's story of transformation, from former militant to supporter and educator of nonviolence, began during his second stint in prison.

Ali Abu Awwad (علي أبو عواد, born 1972) is a prominent Palestinian peace activist and proponent of nonviolence.

He is the founder of Taghyeer (Change), a Palestinian national movement promoting nonviolence to achieve and guarantee a nonviolent solution to the conflict.

Awwad's story and efforts have been featured in over twelve documentaries including two award-winning films, Encounter Point and Forbidden Childhood.

Furthermore, he was honored by the global nonprofit thinktank Synergos as the Arab World Social Innovator in Palestine for "introducing non-violence, reconciliation, and civic participation to Palestinians as a means of empowering citizens to seek social change and find a more equitable solution to conflict."

Awwad is currently finishing his memoir called Painful Hope, an account of his experiences as well as his strategy and vision for the Palestinian future.

He lives in Beit Ummar, near Hebron.

In 1993, he coordinated a hunger strike with his mother, also in prison at the time, in order for them to see each other.

After 17 days on strike, their confiners permitted the request.

The success of the strike was a turning point: "When we succeeded, it transformed my political mind; I realised that another, non-violent, way to achieve my rights existed. I had been blinded by arguments – about blame, victimhood, punishment and justice. But now I realised that showing my humanity in a non-violent way was the best weapon to achieve my rights."

On his release, he was recruited by the PA as a security officer, working for them until he resigned in 1997 out of disagreement and despair.

On 20 October 2000, after the outbreak of the Al Aqsa Intifada, According to Awwad he was shot in the leg by an Israeli settler.

He was evacuated to Saudi Arabia, where he received medical treatment.

On returning, Awwad learned of his brother Yousef's death.

Yousef was an employee of a company that worked with the Jewish National Fund, and, according to his brother, was not involved in militant activities.

He was shot in the head by an Israeli soldier at a close distance.

(In a further account, Awwad says the shooting arose from talking back to the soldier, a violation of a new regulation of which he was unaware).

Yousef's tragedy marked another turn in Awwad's personal and political life: "My brother wasn't a criminal or a terrorist, he was my best friend, a beautiful man who had two kids who he wanted to raise," he recalls.

"I spent sleepless nights with my suffering. I struggled with the concepts of justice and revenge. But taking revenge was not the answer for me. Not because there was a lack of pain or anger but because what I wanted was justice. Yet the only real justice – to have my brother back again – was impossible. When I realised that, I hated myself, my enemy and the whole world. I felt that I was the victim of everyone."

Awwad, together with his mother and brother Khalid, became a member of the Bereaved Families Forum, after its founder reached out to the family expressing condolences and support.

A year after Yousef's death, Awwad's mother hosted a group of bereaved Israeli parents.

At the forum, Awwad met and was befriended by Robi Damelin.

Their connection resulted in a years-long world tour, the two activists arguing that peace can only occur if reconciliation takes place between the victims.

Awwad's political consciousness changed as a result of these talks.

"'I began a complex, painful journey in non-violence and reconciliation, touring almost 40 countries and speaking out in order to bring this message. But I also realised it was essential to create a national Palestinian non-violent movement that would ensure two things: that we could resist occupation non-violently, but [also] that we would stop being victims and begging others to help us. I believe this first step has to come from us. This doesn't mean Israel isn't guilty or that we are angels. But we have to create a place where we will no longer be prisoners of the anger that this situation creates every day. We must escape the prison of our narrative.'"

Along with other activists, ex-prisoners, and youth, Awwad created the Taghyeer movement with the aim "to show people that they can develop themselves without waiting for others."

He adds, "We have visited communities and engaged community leaders in order to create the mass movement that will guarantee enough pressure [and support] on politicians of both sides."

Awwad began reading into the nonviolent strategies and philosophies of Gandhi, Mandela, and Martin Luther King Jr. while imprisoned.

Acting upon those principles first with the hunger strike and later by founding and organizing Taghyeer, Awwad sees nonviolence as manifesting a lifestyle of successfully defending one's rights.

On 24 September 2016, Taghyeer organized a mass demonstration in support of "nonviolent transformation" for over 3,000 Palestinian men, women, and children hailing from areas throughout the West Bank.

The movement also serves as a grassroots initiative incubator, organizing workshops and community actions to empower local Palestinians by identifying "community priorities" and by initiating "the appropriate projects throughout the West Bank."