Rauda Morcos

Rauda Morcos was born in 1974 in Kafr Yasif

Rauda Morcos was born in 1974 in Kafr Yasif and grew up in Haifa. She has worked as a poet, teacher and jurist.

She studied Hebrew literature and general linguistics, and holds bachelor's and master's degrees in law. In 2013 she completed her master's degree on Palestinian women in the labor market, as a fellow of the Émile Zola Chair for Human Rights in the first Takkanah program. She later began doctoral studies.

In 2003 Yedioth Ahronoth published that she was a lesbian after an interview. She then lost her job as a youth educator, was physically attacked, received threats, and her car was damaged several times. That year she helped set up Aswat in Haifa, a group supporting lesbian, bisexual and queer Palestinian women, which she first led.

In 2006 she received the Felipa de Souza Award, the first Arab person to do so. In 2008 she created an online platform for rights activists from the Middle East and North Africa, which became the organization Mantiqitna in 2009. She has advised groups such as Human Rights Watch, the Global Fund for Women and Mama Cash.

In 2015 she was included in a list of 40 influential figures in the history of the Israeli LGBT community. In 2016 she received a recognition award in the Knesset on International Women's Day.