The Invention of History: A Century of Interplay between Theology and Politics in Palestine
Rev. Dr. Mitri Raheb     Born and raised in Bethlehem, Rev. Dr. Mitri Raheb has been the Pastor of the Evangelical Lutheran Christmas Church in Bethlehem since 1988. An internationally-acclaimed author and speaker, Rev. Dr. Mitri Raheb is also the President of DIYAR, a consortium of several Lutheran institutions that he himself founded between the years 1995 to 2010. These institutions serve the whole Palestinian community through Civic and Cultural Engagement, Health and Wellness and Educational outreach programs. In 2008 Diyar developed become a major National NGO with Programs serving Palestinians throughout the west bank and reaches to over 60,000 people every Year. In addition to programs conducted on regional and international levels.  The 47 year-old multilingual contextual theologian 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) and for his ‘interfaith work toward peacemaking in Israel and Palestine’ the “International Mohammad Nafi Tschelebi Peace Award” of the Central Islam Archive in Germany (2006) and in 2007 the well-known German Peace Award of Aachen.  The most widely published Palestinian theologian to date, Dr. Raheb authored and edited more than 10 books including the award-winning Bethlehem Besieged, which received the Spirituality & Health Award as one of the 50 best spiritual books published in 2004, I am a Palestinian Christian and Bethlehem 2000: Past and Present.  His books and numerous articles have been translated so far into eleven languages.  The work of Dr. Raheb has received wide media attention from major international media outlets and networks including CNN, ABC, CBS, BBC, ARD, ZDF, DW, BR, Premiere, Raiuno, Stern, The Economist, and Newsweek.   Dr. Raheb holds a PhD in Theology from the Philipps University at Marburg, Germany.  He is married to Najwa Khoury and has two daughters, Dana & Tala.  More about Dr. Raheb can be found on the website: www.mitriraheb.org; www.diyar.ps .