Rifat Odeh Kassis

Rifat Odeh Kassis ( _ar. رفعت عودة قسيس) is a Palestinian Christian was born in Beit Sahour, in the West Bank. An active human rights and political and community activist, he was arrested and imprisoned several times by Israel. In 1992 he founded the Palestinian section of the international child rights organization [http://www.dci-pal.org/english/display.cfm?DocId=289&CategoryId=9/] , Defence for Children International (DCI) and in 2005 he was elected President of the international movement. In 1995 he helped to establish a rehabilitation programme in Chechnya targeting Chechen children who have been injured and traumatized in the war. In 1996 he left Palestine to work in Central Asia for several years, helping to develop the NGO sector there [http://www.dcca.elcat.kg/eng/news/news.htm] . In 2000 he came back to Palestine to become the Executive Director of the East Jerusalem YMCA and to run the YMCA/YWCA Joint Advocacy Desk. In 2005 he joined the World Council of Churches (WCC) in Geneva to run the Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme in Palestine and Israel (EAPPI) [http://www.eappi.org/eappiweb.nsf/list/RifatKassisEAPPIIntlCoord] Currently he is the Special Advisor to the General Secretary of the World Council of Churches on the Middle East, . Since September 2007 he is a Consultant at Dar Annadwa, the International Centre of Bethlehem (ICB) [http://www.diyar-consortium.org/] In March 2008 together with others he established “Badayl/Alternatives” an international consulting agency whose mission is to support NGOs and Civil Society groups around the world that wish to effect authentic and insightful changes in global society [http://www.badayl.org] . He is a cofounder of the Alternative Tourism Group (ATG) [http://www.atg.ps/] . He is a member of ICCO International Advisory Group, the Netherlands [http://www.icco.nl] . And member of the Advisory Group of Dan Church Aid- Denmark [http://www.danchurchaid.org] .In January 2008 he became Member of Board of Directors of The Alternative Information Centre, Jerusalem, Palestine [http://www.alternativenews.org] . In April 2008 he was requested to become a member of the Peace for Life (PfL) subgroup on the Middle East, in Manila the Philippines In June 2008 he was selected as a member of the World Economic Forum’s Global Agenda Council on the Welfare of Children, Switzerland [http://www.weforum.org] . He is the author of several articles and in 2006 he published his first book, "Palestine: A Bleeding Wound in the World’s Conscience", (ISBN 9950-346-00-2)

Articles (partial list):

* [http://electronicintifada.net/cgi-bin/artman/exec/view.cgi/12/4561 Sa'adat kidnap boosts Olmert's election campaign] , The Electronic Intifada, 17 March 2006
* [http://electronicintifada.net/cgi-bin/artman/exec/view.cgi/12/4594 Fatah Chapter Closed: Creating a Palestinian National Congress] The Electronic Intifada, 28 March 2006
* [http://electronicintifada.net/cgi-bin/artman/exec/view.cgi/12/4864 When will Israel learn?(1/2)] Live from Palestine, 28 June 2006
* [http://electronicintifada.net/cgi-bin/artman/exec/view.cgi/12/5001 When will Israel learn? (2/2)] Live from Palestine, 14 July 2006

References

[http://cosmos.ucc.ie/cs1064/jabowen/IPSC/php/authors.php?auid=2247 Rifat Odeh Kassis] in COSMOS

http://www.countercurrents.org/pa-kassis281103.htm