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Non-profit

Holy Land Trust

Website:

www.holylandtrust.net/
Type:

Non-Profit
Formation:

1998
Founder:

Sami Awad
Executive Director:

Elias Deis
Type:

Sponsored Project of Nonviolence International (NVI)

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The Holy Land Trust is a Palestinian non-profit organization that advocates peace and equal rights between Israelis and Palestinians. 1 Nonviolence International (NVI) is the fiscal sponsor of the trust which organizes nonviolent action and travel experiences across Israel and the disputed Palestinian territories. 2  3

Holy Land Trust has received funding from left-wing billionaire philanthropist George Soros’s Open Society Foundations (formerly Open Society Institute). 4

Activities

The Holy Land Trust maintains two main project areas: nonviolence educational programs and travel experiences in the Holy Land. One of the main programs the trust coordinates is the Home Rebuilding Project. This project began in 2007 through a partnership with the Israeli Committee Against House Demolition (ICAHD) to rebuild Palestinian homes in the disputed territories. 3

The Holy Land Trust also organizes the Olive Harvest Program, an event during which hundreds of participants help Palestinian farmers to pick olives from their groves. This campaign began after Israeli military officers and settlers set fire to hundreds of olive trees in the disputed territories. 3

The Holy Land Trust also helped lead the 2017 Sumud Freedom Camp Coalition, one of the largest direct pro-Palestinian nonviolent actions in the community of Sarura, which helped restore a Palestinian presence to a community. 3

Among its travel experience offerings, the Holy Land Trust organizes trips for Jews, Christians, and Muslims to experience the history and geography of the holy land, with stops in Jordan, Israel, and the disputed Palestinian territories. 3 During a January 2025 tour of the Middle East, the Anglican Bishop of Chelmsford, Guli Francis-Dehqani, met with Holy Land Trust employees to express his support for the group’s work “to amplify the voices of peace advocates.” 5

The Holy Land Trust also organizes the annual Bet Lahem Live Festival, a cultural “resistance” with music, theater, comedy, and art aimed at advancing the Palestinian-nationalist cause. 3

Nonviolence International (NVI)

The Holy Land Trust is a fiscally sponsored project of Nonviolence International (NVI), a left-wing, pro-Palestinian advocacy organization based in Washington, D.C. 2 NVI was founded by Palestinian activist Mubarak Awad in 1989 and claims to be an organization that promotes peace, education, and nonviolent action in political and social issues across the world. NVI has multiple branches in the United States and overseas and has worked with various movements and organizations to advance the Palestinian nationalist cause. 6

In 2010, NVI fiscally sponsored multiple ships as part of the broader Free Gaza Movement (FGM), a coalition of pro-Palestinian, anti-Israel activists and organizations that from 2008 through 2011 tried to break Israel’s blockade of Gaza. 7

Leadership

As of October 2025, Elias Deis was the executive director of the Holy Land Trust. He had worked for over a decade at organization at that point. Previously, Deis was the travel and encounter program director for the organization. As of 2025, he was serving on the Beit Sahour City Council, which is under the control of the Palestinian Authority. 8

Sami Awad is the founder and former executive director of the Holy Land Trust. Awad is a Palestinian Christian living in Bethlehem who helped found the trust to promote peaceful coexistence between Israelis and Palestinians. He is also a co-founder and co-director of the Holy Land Trust’s fiscal sponsor, Nonviolence International (NVI). He holds a master’s degree in international relations specializing in peace and conflict resolution from American University in Washington, D.C. and a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of Kansas. 9  10

Awad has been praised for his emphasis on peaceful action as the solution to Israeli-Palestinian tensions in the region. 11 In a 2024 essay, Awad partially blamed Israel for the October 7, 2023 Hamas terror attack because he claimed Israel had never truly pursued peace with Palestinians since the 1990s. Instead, he claimed Israel had pursued a policy of “security and domination, from a place of domination” under the false pretense of peace. Although he condemned the Hamas attack, Awad focused more on Israel’s military response to the attack, calling it “more domination, more military power, more destruction toward the Palestinians and raising more fear within its population.” 12

Financials

As a fiscally sponsored project of Nonviolence International (NVI), the Holy Land Trust does not disclose its financial information. In 2023, NVI reported $3,035,700 in total revenue, $2,766,851 in total expenses, and $1,248,089 in total assets. That year, the group received $202,045 in government grants (less than seven percent of its total revenue). 13

In 2011, Holy Land Trust received a $138,070 donation from left-wing billionaire George Soros’s Open Society Institute to “add more new media sources” in Palestinian territories that “focus on children- and women-related stories.” 4 The Open Society Institute donated another $58,070 to the Holy Land Trust in 2012. 14

References

  1. “About.” Holy Land Trust. Accessed October 20, 2025. https://holylandtrust.org/about/
  2. “Donate to Holy Land Trust.” Nonviolence International. Accessed October 20, 2025. https://www.nonviolenceinternational.net/donate_hlt
  3. “HLT: Holy Land Trust.” Nonviolence International. Accessed October 20, 2025. https://www.nonviolenceinternational.net/holy_land_trust_partner
  4. “Open Society Institute – 2011 990PF.” ProPublica. Accessed October 20, 2025. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/display_990/137029285/2012_12_PF%2F13-7029285_990PF_201112
  5. “Bishop Guli’s visit to Israel and Palestine, and statement on the recent ceasefire/ hostage release agreement.” Diocese of Chelmsford. January 20, 2025. Accessed October 20, 2025. https://www.chelmsford.anglican.org/news/visit-by-the-bishop-of-chelmsford-the-rt-revd-dr-guli-francis-dehqani-to-israel-and-palestine-13-17-january-2025/
  6. “About Us.” Nonviolence International. Accessed October 20, 2025. https://www.nonviolenceinternational.net/about
  7. “Our History.” Nonviolence International. Accessed October 20, 2025. https://www.nonviolenceinternational.net/our_history
  8. “About Holy Land Trust – Our Team.” Holy Land Trust. Accessed October 20, 2025. https://holylandtrust.org/about/
  9. “Sami_Awad, Co-Director.” Nonviolence International. Accessed October 20, 2025. https://www.nonviolenceinternational.net/s_awad
  10. “Sami Awad.” Euphrates Institute. Accessed October 20, 2025. https://www.euphrates.org/sami-awad
  11. Awad, Sami. “Profiles of Changemakers: Sami Awad, Founder, Holy Land Trust ‘Palestinian Gandhi.’” Be Magazine. https://bemagazine.org/sami-awad/
  12. Awad, Sami. “Nonviolent resistance in Palestine is more dangerous than ever — but it’s the only way forward.” Waging Nonviolence. October 7, 2024. Accessed October 20, 2025. https://wagingnonviolence.org/2024/10/nonviolent-resistance-palestine-more-dangerous-but-only-way/
  13. “Non Violence International – 2023 Federal Form 990.” ProPublica. Accessed October 20, 2025. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/521645787/202433189349310213/full
  14. “Open Society Institute – 2012 990PF.” ProPublica. Accessed October 20, 2025. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/display_990/137029285/2014_01_PF%2F13-7029285_990PF_201212
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