Jean Zaru

Jean Zaru
جين زارو
Born
Jean Mikhail

1940 (age 85–86)
Ramallah, Mandatory Palestine

Jean Zaru (Arabic: جين زارو; born 1940) is a Palestinian Quaker peace activist and writer who advocates for the use of non-violence to solve the Israel-Palestine conflict.

Personal life

Jean Mikhail was born in Ramallah in 1940. Her grandfathers, both of whom were Orthodox Christians,: 14  also came from Ramallah.: 12  However, her parents' generation became involved in different Christian traditions (Roman Catholic, Quaker, Anglican, and Baptist), resulting in an "ecumenical" family.: 15 

While her immediate family was not displaced in the 1948 Nakba because they lived in Ramallah, her family hosted refugees who had lost their homes. Her maternal grandmother's family was expelled from Lydda; her brother-in-law was deported to Jordan in 1968. Jean had three sisters and one brother; her brother, Hanna, went missing in Lebanon in 1976, during the Lebanese Civil War.: 17 

Jean attended the Ramallah Friends School as a child.: 4  While her brother and older sister attended college in the United States, and Jean was acepted to Bryn Mawr, she decided not to attend due to the financial burden on her family.: 5  After graduating from the Friends School, she married her former chemistry teacher, Fuad Zaru (d. 1987).: 5  He later became principal of the school, and Jean became a teacher of fourth and fifth grade students.: 7  They had three children: two sons and a daughter.: 13 

She began teaching at the Quaker school after being inspired by her son who broke his toy guns with rocks after noticing how real guns hurt people in the intifada. She led the development of curriculum on religion and ethics used by the Friends School, which she used to teach religion and ethics, and later he daughter became a teacher there too.: 7 

Activism and Quaker work

From 1975 to 1983 she was on the Central Committee of the World Council of Churches. At that same organization, she was a member of the Working Group on Interfaith Dialogue from 1981 to 1991. She was vice president of the YWCA from 1983 to 1991.

She began volunteering as Clerk of Ramallah Friends Meeting in 1987. In 2010, she gave the opening address at the celebration of the hundreth anniversary of the establishment of the Quaker Meeting House in Ramallah.

She helped establish Sabeel Ecumenical Liberation Theology Center, an organization dedicated to supporting Palestinian Christians, and serves as the vice-chair of its board.

A collection of her writings was published in 2008, titled Occupied with Nonviolence: A Palestinian Woman Speaks. She has given speeches about the experience of living in the West Bank, where it is incredibly difficult to travel to religious meetings due to walls, checkpoints, and curfews. Among the places she has given speeches at includes the US Institute for Peace.

Ideaology and political positions

While Zaru is very critical of the Israeli occupation, is a pacifist and believes that exclusively non-violent resistance is the way to achieve liberation; she expressed disagreement with Latin American liberation theologians who endorsed armed resistance against colonialism. She has cited the gospel as her source of inspiration for non-violent action. She has also advocated for increasing the number of women in leadership roles in the Palestinian Christian community. She maintains that extremists who claim the entire West Bank belongs to Israelis are misreading scripture.

Recognition

She was awarded the Anna Lindh Prize in 2010.

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Zaru, Jean (2008). Occupied with Nonviolence: A Palestinian Woman Speaks. Minneapolis: Fortress Press.
  2. ↑ Hammond, Constance A. (2014). Shalom/Salaam/Peace: A Liberation Theology of Hope. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-317-49055-5.
  3. ↑ "Profiles of Peace: Forty short biographies of Israeli and Palestinian peace builders who have struggled to end the occupation and build a just future for both Palestinians and Israelis" (PDF). American Friends Service Committee.
  4. ↑ Weaver, Alain Epp (2014-01-01). Mapping Exile and Return: Palestinian Dispossession and a Political Theology for a Shared Future. Fortress Press. ISBN 978-1-4514-7968-3.
  5. 1 2 Bailey, Betty Jane (1992). From the Beginning: Resources and Study Guide to the Middle East. Friendship Press. ISBN 978-0-377-00241-8.
  6. 1 2 3 4 Abbott, Margery Post; Chijioke, Mary Ellen; Dandelion, Pink; Jr, John W. Oliver (2006-03-23). The A to Z of the Friends (Quakers). Bloomsbury Academic. ISBN 978-0-8108-5611-0.
  7. 1 2 Middle East & Europe-Global Ministries (2017-09-08). "Friends Meeting in Ramallah Annual Newsletter: We Encourage One Another". Global Ministries. Retrieved 2026-06-27.
  8. ↑ Glover Frykman, Sue (25 March 2010). "Friends gather to witness a hundred years of Ramallah Meeting House". The Friend. Retrieved 2026-06-27.
  9. ↑ Marteijn, Elizabeth S. (2020-11-09). "The Revival of Palestinian Christianity: Developments in Palestinian Theology". Exchange. 49 (3–4): 257–277. doi:10.1163/1572543X-12341569. ISSN 0166-2740.
  10. ↑ Commission of the Churches on International Affairs (2005). The Churches in International Affairs: Reports 1999-2002. Commission of the Churches on International Affairs of the World Council of Churches. ISBN 978-2-8254-1418-7.
  11. ↑ Grey, Mary (2008-11-01). "Jean Zaru, Occupied with Non-Violence: A Palestinian Woman Speaks (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2008), edited by Diana L. Eck and Marla Schrader. 176pp. Paperback. ISBN 978 0 8006 6317 9". Holy Land Studies. 7 (2): 234–235. doi:10.3366/E1474947508000280. ISSN 1474-9475.
  12. ↑ Hill, Graham Joseph (2019-10-09). "18 Arab Female Theologians and Christian Leaders to know". VOX. Retrieved 2026-06-22.
  13. 1 2 Ruether, Rosemary Radford (2011). Women and Redemption: A Theological History. Fortress Press. pp. 245–246. ISBN 978-1-4514-1778-4.
  14. ↑ McGrory, Mary (June 4, 2001). "Hate, despair rule Mideast". Syracuse Herald Journal. p. 22.
  15. ↑ Raheb, Mitri; McGeoch, Graham (2025-08-14). Theology After Gaza: A Global Anthology. Wipf and Stock Publishers. ISBN 979-8-3852-3364-9.
  16. ↑ Pae, Keun-joo Christine; Talvacchia, Kathleen T. (2024-10-17). Searching for the Future in the Past: Reclaiming Feminist Theological Visions. Bloomsbury Publishing. pp. 148–149. ISBN 978-0-567-71221-9.
  17. ↑ Egnell, Helene (2006). Other Voices: A Study of Christian Feminist Approaches to Religious Plurality East and West. Swedish Institute of Mission Research. ISBN 978-91-85424-92-4.
  18. ↑ King, Ursula (2015). Feminist Theology from the Third World: A Reader. Wipf and Stock Publishers. ISBN 978-1-4982-1997-6.
  19. ↑ McGrory, Mary (December 6, 2002). "Ignored voices for peace". The Berkshire Eagle. p. 11.
  20. ↑ Glover Frykman, Sue (22 June 2010). "Jean Zaru wins justice award". London: The Friend. Archived from the original on 23 February 2014. Retrieved 8 February 2014.