Houston, Texas - A prominent Christian figure from Jerusalem will shed light on the plight of Palestinians living under Israeli occupation in a keynote speech at an Arab-American gathering on Saturday, July 5 at the Intercontinental Hotel in Houston at 7:00 PM.

Archbishop Theodosius Atallah Hanna, the Holy Synod of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem will speak at the Ninth National Convention of Birzeit Society, a Palestinian-American charitable organization based in Anaheim, California. He is a major proponent of Christian-Islamic dialogue and has acted as an eloquent advocate for the Palestinians and for the preservation of their rights in Jerusalem.

He is an active participant in international forums giving detailed accounts of the suffering and human rights violations inflicted on the Palestinian people.

Archbishop Hanna accuses Israel of practicing ethnic cleansing against the Arab population of Israel, including Christian and Muslim alike. He was arrested by Israeli police in 2002 on charges of "incitement", an arrest that marked the first time a Christian religious leader was arrested for his activism against the occupation. He has also led an active movement against the sale of land belonging to the Greek Orthodox Church in Jerusalem to Jewish organizations.

The Birzeit Society Convention will also include a political panel on Saturday, July 5 at 11:00 AM which will discuss the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and examine U.S. foreign policy in the region and American media coverage of the conflict. Two Middle East experts participating in the panel will include Alison Weir, founder of If Americans Knew, an organization that provides information on topics of importance that are substantially misreported or unreported in the US media. The second panelist is Dr. As’ad Abukhalil, a Lebanese-American professor of political science at California State University , Stanislaus, and visiting professor at the University of California, Berkeley. He is the author of Historical Dictionary of Lebanon (1998), Bin Laden, Islam & America’s New “War on Terrorism” (2002), and The Battle for Saudi Arabia (2004). He frequently appears on Al-Jazeera as a commentator on Middle East issues.

In addition to keynote speakers and panelists, the program during the four-day Convention (July 3-6) will feature special cultural and entertainment events, including live music performances by famous Arab-American singers and comedians.

Reporters from the local media and the press are welcome to cover the Convention events. They are invited to call Musa Musallam (713-206-9000) to arrange for their special press pass.

Birzeit Society is a charitable, non-profit organization that sponsors humanitarian projects in the Middle East and renders social, cultural, and educational programs to its members and their communities around the world. It was founded in 1987 to perpetuate the strong ties among its members and to link their communities around the world together and with their ancestral roots in Palestine. Today, hundreds of families across the US, Canada, Latin America, Europe and Australia are members of the Society which has chapters in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Washington, DC, New York, and Houston, Texas. www.birzeitsociety.org

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