PROFESSIONAL WORK

• Dr. Mitri Raheb is the Founder and President of Dar al-Kalima University in Bethlehem.
• Rev. Raheb served as the pastor of the Christmas Lutheran Church in Bethlehem from 1987 until 2017
• He was elected as the President of the Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land from 2011-2016.

NATIONAL ROLE

• Dr. Raheb was elected in 2018 to the Palestinian National Council and to the Palestinian Central Council.
• He is a founding and board member of the National Library of Palestine.
• He is an advisor to the Higher Presidential Committee on Church Affairs.
• He is a founding and board member of the Palestinian German Association.
• He is a founding and board member of the German Initiative for the Near East (DINO).
• He is a founding member of the local board of KAAD (Catholic Academic Exchange Service) which provided hundreds of scholarships for Palestinian students to do their Graduate Studies at German Universities).
• He is a founding member and author of Kairos Palestine.
• He is founding and board of trustees’ member of the Bethlehem Development Foundation.
• He is a founding member of Defense for Children International, Palestine.

REGIONAL ROLE

• Dr. Raheb is the founder and President of the Christian Academic Forum for Citizenship in the Arab World (CAFCAW).
• Dr. Raheb is the founder of the Network of Christian Seminaries and Islamic Colleges in the Middle East.

INTERNATIONAL RECOGNITION AND AWARDS

• Dr. Raheb received in 2018 the Tolerance Ring Award from the European Academy of Arts and Science.
• He received the 2015 Olof Palme Prize for his courageous and indefatigable fight against occupation and violence, and for a future Middle East characterized by peaceful coexistence and equality for all.
• In 2012 the German Media Prize was awarded to Dr. Raheb for his “tireless work in creating room for hope for his people, who are living under Israeli Occupation, through founding and building institutions of excellence in education, culture and health.” Launched in 1992, this award was mainly granted to Heads of States, including the German Chancellor Angela Merkel (2009), the Dali Lama (2008), King Juan Carlos of Spain (2006), Kofi Anan (2003), Queen Rania of Jordan (2002), Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder (2000), Bill Clinton (1999), Nelson Mandela (1998), King Hussein of Jordan (1997), Boris Yeltsin (1996), President Arafat (1995), Yitshak Rabin (1995), Francois Mitterrand (1994), Chancellor Helmut Kohl (1993), and Barak Obama (2017) in addition to few and selected personalities such as Sir Richard Branson (2010), Steffi Graf (2007), and Bono (2005).
• For launching the “Authentic Tourism Program” at Dar Annadwa, Rev. Raheb received at the ITB the To-do 1996 Award for socially responsible tourism. 
• Rev.  Raheb received for his “distinguished service to church and society” the prestigious Wittenberg Award from the Luther Center in DC (2003).
• He also received for his “outstanding contribution to Christian education through research and publication” an honorary doctorate from Concordia University in Chicago (2003).
• For   his “interfaith   work   toward   peacemaking” the International Mohammad Nafi Tschelebi Peace Award of the Central Islam Archive in Germany (2006).
• Dr. Raheb received also well-known German Peace Award of Aachen (2007).

ACADEMIC ACCOMPLISHMENTS

• The multilingual Raheb is the most widely published Palestinian theologian to date. Dr. Raheb is the author and editor of over 40 books including: Das Reformatorische Erbe unter den Palaestinensern; I am a Palestinian Christian; Bethlehem Besieged; Faith in the Face of Empire: The Bible through Palestinian Eyes, The Cross in Context. He edited numerous books including Palestinian Identity in relation to time and Space; Shifting Identities: Changes in the Social, Political, and Religious Structures in the Arab World; Jerusalem: Religious, National and International Dimensions. His books and numerous articles have been translated into eleven languages.

EDUCATION

• Post-Doctoral Research at Hartford Seminary, USA (1995)
• Doctor of Theology. Dept for Protestant Theology, Philipps University Marburg, Germany, Dissertation title: “The Heritage of Reformation among the Palestinians. The History of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan. (1988).
• MA, Protestant Theology, Dept for Protestant Theology, Philipps University Marburg, Germany (1985).
• BA, Protestant Theology, Hermannsburg Mission Seminary, Germany (1984).
• Dr. Raheb is fluent in Arabic, German and English in addition to his translation skills in Ancient Hebrew, Greek, Latin, Aramaic and Coptic.

MEDIA

• The work of Dr. Raheb has received wide media attention from major international media outlets and networks including CNN, ABC, CBS, 60 Minutes, BBC, ARD, ZDF, DW, BR, Premiere, Raiuno, Stern, The Economist, Newsweek, Al-Jazeera, al-Mayadin, Vanity Fair, and others.

SPEAKING ENGAGMENTS

PERSONAL

• Dr. Raheb Has been a strong advocate for Palestinian Rights, Self Determination and Statehood at several Parliaments including the American Congress, German Bundestag, European Union, Scandinavian and Dutch parliaments.  
• Dr. Raheb is a regular lecturer at well-known universities across the world including Yale, Harvard, Princeton, Chicago, Humboldt, Oslo, Uppsala, Copenhagen, Amsterdam, Cape Town, AUB, Qatar to name few.
• Dr. Raheb presented  keynote speeches at major festivals including the German Kirchentag, the National Prayer Breakfast, Greenbelt UK, Global Mission USA, Danish Church Days, Norwegian National Day, Kairos International, World Conference on Religion and Peace, Frankfurt International Bookfair, International Tourism Fair in Berlin, American Academy of Religion, Society for Biblical Studies, and more.

• Dr. Raheb was born in Bethlehem in 1962, is married to Najwa Khoury and has two daughters, Dana and Tala.