A humanitarian will be guest speaker at a commemorative service to mark Holocaust Memorial Day later this month.

Tass Saada of the Seeds of Hope charity in Jericho, Jerusalem and Gaza has a remarkable personal story.

As a teenager, he joined El Fatah under Arafat and trained and worked as a sniper.

Later he became personal chauffeur to Yasser Arafat and taught in a school in which young Palestinians were trained for terrorism. He found it necessary to escape to America, where he settled, married and raised a family.

Converting to Christianity, Saada now works back in Israel and Palestine for the cause of reconciliation. He runs a school attended by both Israeli and Palestinian Children, which provides training and job opportunities for young Palestinians.

He will be guest speaker at a service to be held at St Mary’s Parish Church on Friday, January 24 at 1.40pm. Everyone is invited.

Saada will also be telling and explaining his astonishing story in a talk in St Mary’s at 8pm on Friday, January 24. All are welcome.