Zaher Khalid Birawi (born 1961) is a Palestinian-British activist and political organiser based in London.
Born in the West Bank, Birawi studied at the University of Sheffield and has resided in the United Kingdom since the 1990s. He is a journalist for Al-Hiwar, an Arabic-language television channel in London. Until 2009, he was a director of the Palestinian Return Centre, an organization based in London that advocates for the Palestinian right of return. He is chairman of the International Committee to Break the Siege on Gaza. He was a spokesman for the 2009 aid convoy to Gaza led by George Galloway, which had been stopped in the Jordanian port of Aqaba due to refusal by the Egyptian government to allow them to enter Egyptian territory from there. He also was an organiser and spokesman for the 2010 Gaza Freedom Flotilla as leader of the Palestinian Conference for Palestinians (PCPA), and says he is a founding member of the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, which organised the June 2025 Gaza Freedom Flotilla, notably involving Greta Thunberg.
He is chairman of the EuroPal Forum and a trustee for Education Aid for Palestinians. He defended a January 2023 campaign by the Forum, which was criticised by Israeli NGO Ad Kan and Israeli Minister Amichai Chikli as an attempt to delegitimize Israel. The campaign depicted Israeli politicians as racist by quoting members of the Israeli cabinet. He has also participated in protests against the Gaza war, and wrote a letter to the UK Cabinet accusing Israel of committing genocide in Gaza.
The Israeli government designated Birawi as a "Hamas operative" in 2013. In 2023, MP Christian Wakeford stated that Israel considers Birawi a "Hamas operative" in the House of Commons. On January 21, 2026, Birawi was added to the U.S. TreasuryâÂÂs Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC)'s Specially Designated Nationals list under it's Counter Terrorism Designations. The designation cited his role as a senior leader and founding member of the Popular Conference for Palestinians Abroad (PCPA), which was simultaneously added to the U.S. Specially Designated Nationals list, also under Counter Terrorism measures. The U.S. government stated that it believes the PCPA is controlled by Hamas and has been involved in activities supporting that group and that Birawi was designated for materially assisting and supporting the organization.