Muhanad El Qaisy

Muhanad Al Qaisy is a Palestinian refugee from a village called Beit Jebrin. His grandfather was forced to leave the family’s original village in 1948.

Muhanad currently lives with his family in Deheishah Refugee Camp in the city of Bethlehem. He was born in the camp and has grown up there.

He is a graduate of Bethlehem University and has a bachelor degree in Social Work and Psychology. During his studies, he volunteered in several local and international organisations.

Along with some American friends, he was centrally involved in establishing a project helping children from the refugee camps to improve their skills in the English language, arts, and sports. He also volunteered as a social worker in the Psychological Support Unit in the YMCA, providing assistance to children who live near the security zones.

Currently, Muhanad works for the Joint Advocacy Initiative as a project officer. The project he leads is called the Olive Tree Campaign, established to raise awareness internationally about the current situation in occupied Palestine.

The Campaign also helps local Palestinian farmers to maintain their lands from Israeli confiscation by planting their land with 11.000 olive trees every year as a form of nonviolent resistance. This work also allows him to travel to different countries around the world giving lectures about the current situation of refugees and Palestinians living under the occupation.

He acts as a guide for political delegations in tours of occupied Palestine, showing them the reality of life under occupation. The purpose of this is to raise awareness of the rights of Palestinians, to show the current denial of many human rights and to work with them to change this.