Palestinian peace activist Sami Awad has lived his whole life under military occupation. He’s witnessed violence, loss, and deep injustice. Yet rather than turning towards hatred or certainty, he’s journeyed into a spirituality rooted in compassion, healing, and what he calls Christ consciousness — a way of seeing that refuses separation and fear.
In this conversation, Sami reflects on what it means to love your enemy amid war, to resist without hatred, and to awaken to the divine even in the midst of suffering. He speaks about his rejection of institutional Christianity, his lifelong commitment to nonviolence, and how ritual, grief, and steadfastness have become his practices of hope.
Following the interview, Tim and Anna reflect on how Sami’s experience of faith under occupation challenges their own journeys. They discuss privilege, embodiment, and what it means to find Jesus beyond the institution. Together they explore sumud — steadfastness — as a contemplative form of resistance, and how love, rather than fear, can become the organising principle of faith.
Interview starts at 17m 39s
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“The question is not just what are we resisting, but the question is what are we creating as well?”
“How do we resist from a place where we understand that at the end of the day, we as humans are all equals.”
“The idea of loving the enemy is not this sort of romanticised love… It is a decision internally that you make from yourself that you will not be motivated by hatred, will not be motivated by fear.”
“I had to completely step out of the institutions and the ideology and even the culture of Christianity so that can really focus on understanding and learning Jesus and His words and His teachings and His message.”