STORIES AND REFLECTIONS
In this chapter you will find links to three powerful and inspiring books in which Palestinian Christians tell their own stories and reflect on their experiences of life in the Holy Land under Israeli occupation. They are stories of faith and courage, resilience and hope. They are stories that teach us what it means to live the gospel and to be peacemakers in the midst of conflict. In each case, click on the image of the book to find out more and to purchase a copy from Amazon.
Elias Charcour
Blood Brothers: The Dramatic Story of a Palestinian Christian Working for Peace in Israel
Elias Chacour grew up in a small Palestinian village in Galilee. When tens of thousands of Palestinians were killed and nearly one million forced into refugee camps in 1948, Chacour began a long struggle with how to live out his personal spirituality. In Blood Brothers, he blends his riveting life story with historical and biblical research to reveal a little-known side of the Arab-Israeli conflict, touching on questions such as:
•What touched off the turmoil in the Middle East?
•What does Bible prophecy really have to say?
•Can bitter enemies ever be reconciled?
This international bestseller offers hope and insight that can help each of us learn to live at peace in a world of tension and terror.
'Far from being peacemakers, many Christians contribute to a polarized conversation that actually fuels the conflict. Father Chacour calls us beyond that. Two thousand years after Jesus walked the Galilean hills, he and others like him still wrestle - by deep necessity - with what it means to love our enemies and be peacemakers in a broken world. Entrusted with a seemingly impossible calling, Chacour chooses to follow Jesus every step of the way, and invites us to join him.' Gabe Lyons and Lynne Hybels
Bishara Awad
Yet in the Dark Streets Shining: A Palestinian Story of Hope and Resilience in Bethlehem
Yet In the Dark Streets Shining details the little-known story of Palestinian Christians through the heartbreaking but inspiring account of a boy who grew up to be a spiritual and community leader in Bethlehem. Bishara Awad was just a child when his father was killed by a sniper during the Israeli-Arab war of 1948. After the family fled their Jerusalem home, Bishara and his siblings grew up as refugees. His spiritual journey brought him through poverty and danger, while witnessing loss and death. Under the shadows of persecution and war, he learned how to live his Christian faith in Bethlehem, the birthplace of Christ. Through the dashed hopes of one war after another, as well as opposition on all sides, Bishara's story conveys how he and other Palestinian Christians continue to live their faith and envision a better future, while wrestling with these questions:
Is peace possible in Palestine and Israel?
How do theologians in other parts of the world affect the lives of Arab Christians in the Holy Land?
How is the gospel making a difference in the land of Christ?
How does one stand for justice, while also preaching forgiveness?
Munther Isaac
The Other Side of the Wall – A Palestinian Christian Narrative of Lament and Hope
Christians have lived in Palestine since the earliest days of the Jesus movement. The Palestinian church predates Islam. Yet Palestinian Christians find themselves marginalised and ostracised. In the heated tensions of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the voices of Palestinian Christians are often unheard and ignored. This book provides an opportunity to hear the realities of life on the ground from a leading Palestinian pastor and theologian. Munther Isaac gives the perspective of Palestinian Christians on the other side of the separation wall surrounding most Palestinian West Bank cities today. Isaac laments the injustices suffered by the Palestinian people but holds out hope for a just peace and ways to befriend and love his Jewish and Muslim neighbors. In contrast to the dominant religious and nationalistic ideologies and agendas for the region, he offers a theology of the land and a vision for a shared land that belongs to God, where there are no second-class citizens of any kind.
'This book is my invitation to you,' Isaac writes, 'to step into the other side of the wall and listen to our stories and perspective. It is my humble request to you to allow me to share how Palestinians experience God, read the Bible and have been touched and liberated by Jesus - a fellow Bethlehemite who has challenged us to see others as neighbors and love them as ourselves... This book paints a picture of our story of faith, lament, and hope. And I invite you to join and listen, on our side of the wall.'