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An upcoming Orthodox Christians for Palestine (OCP) summit near Washington, D.C., will feature a convicted former CIA officer who now hosts a Russian state-media program, speakers associated with sanctioned organizations, and an Orthodox nun who publicly defended Hamas.
The Not in Christ’s Name summit, scheduled for November 14 at Saints Peter and Paul Antiochian Orthodox Church in Potomac, Maryland, will feature keynote speaker John Kiriakou, who was imprisoned for leaking a covert CIA officer’s identity and has called the Houthis “freedom fighters.”
Other advertised participants include Columbia activist Mohsen Mahdawi, whose immigration case filings cited allegations that he claimed to have made guns for Hezbollah; attorney Jonathan Kuttab, co-founder of Israeli-designated Al-Haq; Mother Agapia Stephanopoulos, who said “Hamas is not the problem”; and Tor Stumo, a flotilla participant whose movement’s steering committee includes a U.S.-sanctioned organizer.
OCP also identifies Archbishop Theodosios Atallah Hanna, who has met senior Hamas and Hezbollah figures and defended Bashar al-Assad, among the clerics from whom it takes “guidance.”
The conference will serve as preparation for a November 16 congressional advocacy day, with afternoon sessions devoted to lobbying lawmakers, organizing church communities and mobilizing younger activists.
Keynote Speaker’s Russian State-Media Career
Kiriakou, a former CIA counterterrorism officer, currently hosts The Deep State on Russian state-controlled RT, following years of employment at Sputnik, another Kremlin-funded media organization. His relationship with Russian state media dates to August 2017, when he joined Sputnik Radio and began co-hosting Loud & Clear alongside Brian Becker, co-founder of the ANSWER Coalition and a leading figure in the Party for Socialism and Liberation.
In a 2018 investigation titled The CIA Spy Who Became a Russian Propagandist, The New Republic examined Kiriakou’s work for Sputnik and the Russian government’s recruitment of American commentators across the political spectrum. His association with Russian state media continued into 2026 through RT’s The Deep State, a program covering American foreign policy, intelligence agencies and international conflicts.
In September and October 2026, the program featured a multi-part interview with Viktor Bout, the Russian arms trafficker convicted in the United States in 2011 of conspiring to provide weapons to Colombia’s FARC terrorist organization for use against Americans.
RT itself has faced extensive U.S. counterintelligence and sanctions actions. In September 2024, the Treasury Department sanctioned senior RT executives, accusing the outlet of secretly recruiting and paying American social-media personalities to distribute Kremlin-backed political messaging while concealing Russian involvement. Treasury also identified RT deputy editor-in-chief Anton Anisimov as conducting activities on behalf of Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB).
Days later, the State Department disclosed findings that RT had developed cyber capabilities linked to Russian intelligence and was involved in covert influence operations and procurement of military equipment for Russian forces fighting in Ukraine.
Kiriakou has also publicly defended Yemen’s Iranian-backed Houthi movement, whose armed organization, Ansar Allah, was designated a Foreign Terrorist Organization by the United States in March 2025. During the September 22, 2026, episode of John Kiriakou’s Briefing Room, he declared, “I believe that the Houthis are actually freedom fighters.”
During an April 2026 interview with Tucker Carlson, Kiriakou also incorrectly suggested that Hamas had only recently been designated a terrorist organization by the United States, possibly during one of President Donald Trump’s administrations. Hamas has been on the U.S. Foreign Terrorist Organization list since October 1997. Kiriakou further claimed that Hamas had never carried out terrorist attacks against Americans, despite the State Department reporting that 46 Americans were killed in the Hamas-led October 7, 2023, attacks.
Kiriakou’s federal criminal conviction stemmed from leaking classified information identifying CIA personnel involved in sensitive counterterrorism operations. According to the U.S. Justice Department, he disclosed to a journalist the full name of an undercover CIA officer whose association with the agency had remained classified for more than 20 years, along with information connecting the officer to the CIA’s Rendition, Detention, and Interrogation Program.
He also disclosed identifying information about another CIA officer involved in the 2002 capture of al-Qaeda operative Abu Zubaydah. Prosecutors said a journalist subsequently passed information to an investigator assisting the defense of Guantánamo Bay detainees, enabling the second CIA officer to be secretly photographed and his photograph shown to detainees. Kiriakou pleaded guilty in October 2012 to intentionally disclosing a covert officer’s identity and was sentenced to 30 months in federal prison in January 2013.
His international political contacts extend beyond Russia. According to Foreign Agents Registration Act filings, the U.S. representation of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) met Kiriakou face-to-face on March 11, 2026, following an earlier meeting on April 23, 2025. The contacts were highlighted in an August 2026 Daily Wire investigation, which identified other American media personalities approached by the Turkish political operation.
OCP Takes Guidance From Archbishop With Decades of Hamas, Hezbollah and Iranian Connections
In its published guiding principles, OCP explicitly identifies Archbishop Theodosios Atallah Hanna, the Greek Orthodox Archbishop of Sebastia, among the Christian religious figures from whom it takes guidance. An October 2026 report about OCP’s upcoming summit also featured an extensive interview with Hanna.
Hanna’s public engagement with designated terrorist organizations dates back more than two decades. In August 2001, following Israel’s assassination of PFLP Secretary-General Abu Ali Mustafa, Hanna praised the slain terrorist leader, extended condolences to his family and the PFLP, and described his death as a major loss for the Palestinian people. The Palestinian news agency WAFA quoted Hanna praising Mustafa’s principles, positions and sacrifices, saying that he would remain alive in the memory of Palestinians and the Arab nation.
In August 2002, Hanna was detained and questioned by Israeli authorities over allegations involving support for terrorist organizations and unauthorized travel to Lebanon and Syria. According to an archived report in Lebanon’s As-Safir newspaper, Hanna acknowledged meeting Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah during his visit to Lebanon, describing the encounter as having taken place on the sidelines of a Christian-Muslim dialogue conference.
In a December 2007 interview with Kuwait’s Al-Rai newspaper, Hanna explicitly advocated cooperation with Hamas and Hezbollah. The newspaper quoted him describing both as Islamic movements that Christians should work with because of shared interests. The published Arabic text states that Hamas and Hezbollah were movements “that we serve and must cooperate with.”
Hanna’s contacts extended to senior Hamas officials and representatives of the Iranian leadership. In October 2008, he attended the sixth conference of the International Jerusalem Foundation in Doha, Qatar, where he sat at the same dinner table as Hamas leaders Khaled Mashal and Mousa Abu Marzouk, Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s adviser Ali Akbar Velayati, and Yusuf al-Qaradawi, the influential Muslim Brotherhood-associated cleric. The gathering was documented on Qaradawi’s official website, which identified Hanna and the other participants by name.
The archbishop continued participating in events organized by Iranian institutions. In August 2012, Hanna delivered a recorded address to an Iranian Embassy Jerusalem Day gathering in Jordan. According to the Jordanian news outlet JO24, an Iranian flag was visible beside Hanna in the recording, which featured praise for Iran, its leadership and former Supreme Leader Ruhollah Khomeini. Hanna reportedly argued that the wider Islamic world supported Iran’s leadership because of its position on Jerusalem.
His relationship with the Syrian government was similarly public. Hanna visited Damascus in 2017 and met President Bashar al-Assad, later describing the meeting as “wonderful” in a December 2018 interview with the Syrian newspaper Al-Watan. During that interview, Hanna praised Assad’s leadership and the Syrian army, characterized the uprising against the regime as a foreign-backed conspiracy, and expressed support for a Syrian victory under Assad.
In December 2019, Hanna publicly defended Hezbollah and Nasrallah after Greek Orthodox Metropolitan Elias Audi criticized them in a sermon in Beirut. In a recorded statement published by Hezbollah-affiliated Al-Ahed, Hanna rejected the criticism and asserted that Hezbollah and Nasrallah had played a role in defending Christian communities in Syria and elsewhere in the Middle East. He described the remarks against them as unacceptable and said they did not represent Orthodox Christians.
Hanna also delivered a recorded address to the Arab Nationalist Guard’s December 2021 conference in Lebanon. The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace previously identified the Arab Nationalist Guard among the armed militias supporting Bashar al-Assad’s government during Syria’s civil war. According to Al-Ahed’s coverage, the conference was attended by Hezbollah Political Council Deputy Chairman Mahmoud Qamati, a representative of Iran’s embassy in Lebanon and other political figures. The gathering included a speech by the militia’s commander praising Nasrallah, Iran and the late Iranian Quds Force commander Qassem Soleimani, as well as a ceremony swearing in new members.
In April 2022, Hanna participated in an Iranian-organized virtual conference marking Jerusalem Day alongside senior figures from Hezbollah, the Houthis, Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad and the PFLP. The participants included Nasrallah, Haniyeh, Ziyad al-Nakhala and Talal Naji, according to Israel Hayom. Later that year, Hanna also gave an exclusive interview to the official Arabic-language website of Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, discussing Christian-Muslim solidarity and support for the Palestinian cause.
Most recently, in February 2025, Hanna issued a tribute to Nasrallah ahead of the Hezbollah leader’s funeral. In a message published by Al-Ahed, Hanna described the funeral as a momentous event and expressed reverence for Nasrallah’s sacrifices and those of his associates. According to a translation reported by JNS, Hanna wrote that Palestinians stood in “reverence and honor for the sacrifices made by Sayyed Hassan and his companions.” JNS reported that Israeli police opened an investigation into the letter, citing Israel’s Kan public broadcaster.
Columbia Activist Faced Allegations of Threats Against Jews and Hezbollah Weapons Claims
Mohsen Mahdawi, a Columbia University pro-Palestine activist, is scheduled to speak on the summit’s fifth panel, Mobilizing the Next Generation. Mahdawi was detained by federal immigration authorities in April 2025. During his immigration case, the federal government cited a 2015 Vermont police report containing allegations that he made violent antisemitic statements, sought access to firearms and claimed to have manufactured weapons for Hezbollah.
According to the report, a gun-shop owner alleged that Mahdawi claimed experience manufacturing modified 9mm submachine guns used to kill Jews in Palestine. The report also recorded an allegation that he said he had previously made guns for Hezbollah. A second witness reportedly told police that Mahdawi said, “I like to kill Jews.” The allegations were presented in federal immigration proceedings and subsequently discussed in a July 2026 federal appellate decision.
Separately, a September 2026 investigation by David Collier and Rachel Feldman documented historical Arabic-language social-media posts attributed to Mahdawi, including a 2010 statement threatening to annihilate Jews and a 2014 post praising the armed wings of Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad. The researchers also identified posts honoring Palestinian militants and a December 2024 Arabic-language video in which Mahdawi placed his activism in the United States alongside armed resistance in Gaza and the West Bank. Jewish Insider independently checked the translations used in the investigation.
Mahdawi’s earlier political activities also included a documented leadership role in Fatah’s Shabiba student movement, whose wider membership has included individuals associated with the Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades. An April 2013 Palestinian press report identified Mahdawi as a coordinator of Shabiba at Birzeit University, quoting him discussing internal student elections and appealing to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to intervene in disputes within the movement.
Shabiba operates as Fatah’s student wing and has included members also associated with the Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades, an armed Fatah-linked organization designated by the United States as a Foreign Terrorist Organization in 2002. A January 2023 report by the Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center identified Ahmed Abu Juneid, who was killed during a confrontation with Israeli forces in Nablus, as an Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades operative. The report documented that Fatah’s Shabiba chapter at the Nablus branch of Al-Quds Open University had separately issued a mourning notice identifying him as one of its members.
Panel Moderator Founded Israeli-Designated Organization
Jonathan Kuttab, who will moderate the panel on the status of the Holy Land, is a co-founder of Al-Haq, a Palestinian organization designated by Israel’s Ministry of Defense in October 2021 over alleged organizational links to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), a U.S.-designated terrorist organization. Israel accused Al-Haq and five other Palestinian organizations of operating on behalf of the PFLP, although nine.
In September 2025, the United States separately sanctioned Al-Haq under an executive order targeting activities involving the International Criminal Court, rather than under counterterrorism authorities. Kuttab maintained his institutional involvement with the organization after the Israeli designation, writing in a February 2022 blog post that he had visited Al-Haq’s Ramallah headquarters, met Executive Director Shawan Jabbarin and remained a member of its General Assembly.
Kuttab is also listed by Friends of Sabeel North America as president of the board of Holy Land Trust, a Bethlehem-based nonprofit. Palestinian electoral records and research published by NGO Monitor identify Holy Land Trust Executive Director Elias D’eis with DFLP-affiliated local electoral activity in Beit Sahour, including a municipal electoral slate in 2021. The Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine was removed from the U.S. Foreign Terrorist Organization list in 1999 but remains subject to U.S. counterterrorism sanctions.
Holy Land Trust founder Sami Awad previously acknowledged conducting nonviolence training for Hamas leaders and members of other terrorist organizations, according to remarks documented by NGO Monitor.
Another organization with which Kuttab is formally associated is Just Peace Advocates, a Canadian group that lists him as a board member. In March 2026, the organization explicitly called for Hezbollah’s removal from Canada’s terrorist list. Just Peace Advocates also co-sponsored a May 2022 webinar featuring Khaled Barakat, whom the U.S. Treasury later sanctioned in October 2024 for his role in the PFLP’s leadership and overseas fundraising operations.
These records document Kuttab’s governance roles within organizations that have maintained relationships with individuals and groups linked to designated terrorist organizations. The available records do not establish his personal involvement in the specific activities of those organizations.
Orthodox Nun Previously Defended Hamas
Mother Agapia Stephanopoulos, who will participate in the summit’s opening panel and moderate its final organizing session, has a history of public statements defending Hamas. In an August 11, 2025, interview with Tucker Carlson, Stephanopoulos characterized Hamas primarily as a movement defending Palestinian people and territory, declaring at one point, “Hamas is not the problem.” She also rejected characterizations of the organization as principally a jihadist movement, describing members she had encountered as people seeking to defend their communities.
Stephanopoulos is scheduled to participate in the opening panel, What the Tour Bus Won’t Show You: Voices from the Ground, before moderating Organizing & Activating Your Communities and Parishes, a session focused on mobilizing Orthodox churches and local communities.
Global Sumud Flotilla Participant Joins Youth Mobilization Panel
Tor Stumo, another participant in the youth-mobilization panel, took part in the 2025 Global Sumud Flotilla alongside his brother Adnaan. In an October 1, 2025, statement, CODEPINK identified the brothers as its “friends and valued co-organizers.” Both were subsequently detained by Israeli authorities after their vessels were intercepted and returned to the United States following their release.
The flotilla movement’s broader organizing network subsequently became the subject of U.S. counterterrorism sanctions targeting individuals and organizations accused of involvement with Hamas. On January 21, 2026, the Treasury Department sanctioned the Popular Conference for Palestinians Abroad, identifying it as a Hamas-directed organization involved in organizing flotillas to Gaza. Treasury stated that PCPA had been established with Hamas funding and that Hamas directed its activities through officials embedded within the organization’s leadership.
Summit Will Prepare Attendees for Congressional Advocacy
The summit’s remaining panels will address Christian Zionism, conditions facing Palestinian Christians and strategies for mobilizing churches and political organizations. Participants include Arab Center Washington DC executive director Tamara Kharroub, former U.S. Ambassador to Qatar Patrick Theros, A New Policy co-founder Tariq Habash, and representatives of the Friends Committee on National Legislation and American Friends Service Committee.
The published program specifically prepares attendees to request meetings with lawmakers and communicate with congressional staff ahead of a November 16 advocacy day on Capitol Hill. OCP also solicits event funding through Saints Peter and Paul’s church management platform, although its public materials do not disclose the summit’s complete funding sources or financial sponsors.