Rifat Kassis

Rifat Odeh Kassis (Arabic: رفعت عودة قسيس‎‎) is a Palestinian Christian who was born in Beit Sahour, in the West Bank. An active human rights and political and community activist. He is an author and speaker. He has been arrested and imprisoned several times by Israel.

In 1991 he founded the Palestinian section of the international child rights organization,Defence for Children International (DCI) and in 2005 he was elected President of the international movement. In October 2008, during the International General Assembly meeting, held in Brussels, he was re-elected President for another term. In October 2008, he became the General Director for DCI-Palestine section and in 2013, he was appointed by the DCI International Executive Council as the General Commissioner for the Middle East and North Africa.

End 2014, he concluded his work as General Director of Defense for Children International Palestine and moved temporarily to Jordan to lead the Lutheran World Federation program there. End June 2015, he started together with other international consultants a consulting group called GRIP.Consulting www.grip.consulting

In 1995 he helped to establish a rehabilitation program in Chechnya targeting Chechen children who have been injured and traumatized in the war. In 1995, he co-founded the Alternative Tourism Group (ATG), a Palestinian NGO specializing in tours and pilgrimages.

In 1996 he left Palestine to work in Central Asia for several years, helping to develop the NGO sector there.

In September 2000, he came back to Palestine to become the Executive Director of the East Jerusalem YMCA. As a response to the second Intifada he founded the "Keep Hope Alive Campaign" and founded and run the YMCA/YWCA Joint Advocacy Desk.

In 2003, he co-founded the Occupied Palestine and Syrian Golan Heights Advocacy Initiative (OPGAI), a network works on contributing to establishing a social movement and advocating on ending the Israeli occupation of Palestine and the Syrian Golan Heights.

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