People / Nour A-Din Sh'hadda

Lecturer/s

Nour A-Din Sh'hadda

Nour A-Din Sh'hadda

Nour A-Din Sh'hadda was born in Tulkarem Refugee Camp (West Bank) in 1968, just after the end of the 1967 war. He graduated as a social worker from Al-Quds Open University. For his involvement in the first Intifada (1987-1993) he was sentenced to five years in prison. On his release in 1995 he trained with the Palestinian Authority police force. When the Second Intifada broke out in September 2000, he again took part in the armed struggle against the Israeli occupation. After seeing many of his friends killed in what was increasingly perceived as a counterproductive struggle – it only led to the building of the separation barrier – Nour A-Din Sh'hadda renounced violence for good and joined the The Middle East Non-Violence and Democracy  Center in 2003. In 2006 he co-founded Combatants for Peace. Now he coordinates programmes that promote understanding between the two sides in the conflict and teaches a new generation of Palestinians the way of non-violence.