Mark Braverman

Mark’s roots are in the Holy Land – his grandfather, a fifth generation Palestinian Jew, was born in Jerusalem, emigrating to the U.S. as a young man.  Growing up in the United States, Mark was reared in the Jewish tradition, studying Bible, Hebrew literature, and Jewish history.  Trained in clinical psychology and crisis management, Mark devoted his professional career to working with groups and individuals undergoing traumatic stress.  Returning to the Holy Land in 2006, he was transformed by witnessing the occupation of Palestine and by encounters with peace activists and civil society leaders from the Muslim, Christian and Jewish communities. Since then, he has devoted himself full-time to the Israel/Palestine conflict. He is a co-founder and Executive Director of Friends of Tent of Nations North America, a nonprofit dedicated to supporting Palestinian land rights and peaceful coexistence in historic Palestine. He serves on the Board of Directors of the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions-USA, and the advisory committee of Friends of Sabeel North America. He consults to the Israel Palestine Mission Network of the Presbyterian Church (USA) and to Evangelicals for Middle East Understanding.  Mark currently serves as Program Director for Kairos USA.

Mark authored the book Fatal Embrace: Christians, Jews and the Search for Peace in the Holy Land, in which he traces his own journey as a Jew struggling with the difficult realities of modern Israel.  The book delivers a strong message to Jews and Christians alike: it is not anti-Semitic to stand up for justice for the Palestinian people.  Describing the spiritual and psychological forces driving the discourse in America, in Israel, within the Jewish community, and within the church, Braverman turns to the prophets’ cry for justice and to Jesus’ transformative ministry to show the way forward.