Sumaya Farhat Naser (, born 11 June 1948 in

Bir Zeit Birzeit (), also Bir Zeit, is a Palestinian Christian town north of Ramallah, in the West Bank. Its population in the 2017 census was 5,878. Birzeit is home to Birzeit University and to the Birzeit Brewery. Location Bir Zeit is located north ...

) is a

Palestinian Palestinians () are an Arab ethnonational group native to the Levantine region of Palestine. *: "Palestine was part of the first wave of conquest following Muhammad's death in 632 CE; Jerusalem fell to the Caliph Umar in 638. The indigenous p ...

peace activist A peace movement is a social movement which seeks to achieve ideals such as the ending of a particular war (or wars) or minimizing inter-human violence in a particular place or situation. They are often linked to the goal of achieving world p ...

in the

West Bank The West Bank is located on the western bank of the Jordan River and is the larger of the two Palestinian territories (the other being the Gaza Strip) that make up the State of Palestine. A landlocked territory near the coast of the Mediter ...

Life

Born to a

Palestinian Christian Palestinians () are an Arab ethnonational group native to the Levantine region of Palestine. *: "Palestine was part of the first wave of conquest following Muhammad's death in 632 CE; Jerusalem fell to the Caliph Umar in 638. The indigenous p ...

family, she attended ''Talitha Kumi'', a boarding school in

Beit Jala Beit Jala () is a Palestinian Christian town in the Bethlehem Governorate of Palestine, in the West Bank. Beit Jala is located 10 km south of Jerusalem, on the western side of the Hebron road, opposite Bethlehem, at altitude. In 2017, Be ...

which was founded by

Lutheran Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched ...

deaconesses in the 19th century. After gaining her university entrance qualification, she studied biology, geography and education at the

University of Hamburg The University of Hamburg (, also referred to as UHH) is a public university, public research university in Hamburg, Germany. It was founded on 28 March 1919 by combining the previous General Lecture System ('':de:Allgemeines Vorlesungswesen, ...

, Germany and received a doctor's degree in applied

botany Botany, also called plant science, is the branch of natural science and biology studying plants, especially Plant anatomy, their anatomy, Plant taxonomy, taxonomy, and Plant ecology, ecology. A botanist or plant scientist is a scientist who s ...

. Between 1982 and 1997 she was a university lecturer in botany and

ecology Ecology () is the natural science of the relationships among living organisms and their Natural environment, environment. Ecology considers organisms at the individual, population, community (ecology), community, ecosystem, and biosphere lev ...

at the Palestinian

Birzeit University Birzeit University () is a public university in the West Bank, Palestine, registered by the Palestinian Ministry of Social Affairs as a charitable organization. It is accredited by the Palestinian Ministry of Education and Higher Education, Mini ...

north of

Ramallah Ramallah ( , ; ) is a Palestinians, Palestinian city in the central West Bank, that serves as the administrative capital of the State of Palestine. It is situated on the Judaean Mountains, north of Jerusalem, at an average elevation of abov ...

. Between 1997 and 2001 she was the manager of the Palestinian Jerusalem Center for Women, working for peace together with the Israeli group Bat Shalom. Sumaya Farhat-Naser is known for her clear expressions of opinion in the media, and particularly for her various projects, in which she motivates Palestinian women to work on a peaceful resolution to the

Israeli–Palestinian conflict The Israeli–Palestinian conflict is an ongoing military and political conflict about Territory, land and self-determination within the territory of the former Mandatory Palestine. Key aspects of the conflict include the Israeli occupation ...

Publications

* ''Thymian und Steine'' (autobiography), Lenos Verlag, Basel 1995, * ''Daughter of the Olive Trees'', Lenos Verlag, Basel 2003, * ''Disteln im Weinberg. Tagebuch aus Palästina'', Lenos, Basel 2007, * ''Im Schatten des Feigenbaums'', Lenos, Basel 2013, * ''Ein Leben für den Frieden, Lesebuch aus Palästina''. Lenos, Basel 2017,

Awards

* 1989 Honorary Doctorate from the Theological Faculty of the

University of Münster The University of Münster (, until 2023 , WWU) is a public research university located in the city of Münster, North Rhine-Westphalia in Germany. With more than 43,000 students and over 120 fields of study in 15 departments, it is Germany's ...

, Germany * 1995 Bruno-Kreisky-Award for merits on Human Rights * 1997

Mount Zion Award The Mount Zion Award is a biennial award by the Mount Zion Foundation, which has its seat at the Institute for Jewish-Christian Research (IJCF) at the University of Lucerne in Switzerland. The award is presented every other year close to October 2 ...

for Reconciliation * 1997 Evangelical Book Award * 2000 Peace Award of the City of Augsburg * 2002 Hermann-Kesten-Medaille of the P.E.N.-Center * 2002 Solidarity Award of the city of Bremen * 2003 Profax-Preis of Pädagogische Hochschule Zürich * 2011 AMOS-Prize for Civil Courag
PNN

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Naser, Sumaya Farhat 1948 births Living people Palestinian anti-war activists Palestinian women activists People from Birzeit University of Hamburg alumni Academic staff of Birzeit University