Seize Your Copy Blood Brothers: The Dramatic Story Of A Palestinian Christian Working For Peace In Israel Illustrated By Lynne Hybels Issued In Copy

a child, Elias Chacour lived in a small Palestinian village in Galilee, When tens of thousands of Palestinians were killed and nearly one million forced into refugee camps in, Elias began a long struggle with how to respond.
In , he blends his riveting life story with historical research to reveal a littleknown side of the ArabIsraeli conflict, touching on questions such as:

What behindthescenes politics touched off the turmoil in the Middle East
What does Bible prophecy really have to say
Can bitter enemies ever be reconciled

Now updated with commentary on the current state of the IsraeliPalestinian conflict, as well as a new foreword by Lynne Hybels and Gabe Lyons, this book offers hope and insight that can help each of us learn to live at peace in a world of tension and terror.

Ok, this actually was a really good book, It was a true story so that obviously makes it way more inspirational, It was heartwrenching and the values shown among these people living in dispute is the real lesson to take from it.
It is not about whether the story is fun and action packed, it's about what the story represents and how the growth of Chacour relates to the growth of his nations.
Of course, it was not the most entertaining book, it was boring at times, but when I read of the difficult times and the cruel punishments that him and his family/friends were thrown into, it was the outcome and how they survived that impacted me the most.
It's one of those books that kind of plunges you head first into a whole new world with a different perspective.
This is a fascinating story of the formation of Israel from the Palestinian viewpoint, it will make you reevaluate the ideas you hold about Israel as a Western Christian, Arturo has to read this for his English class, so I read it too, I learned a lot about the Palestinian experience postWWII, beginning with the arrival of the Zionists and the takeover of land and village.
The Bible and religious references were a bit much for me, but I guess that's Chacour's story that's how he experiences life.
The point of reading this for the English class is to show how one person can make a difference it makes that point pretty well.
Imagine you're a Christian child and a native of the Holy Land, living there as you and your family practice your faith in the very setting of Jesus' earthly life.
In the company of all your close as well as extended relatives, your home's setting is surrounded by where Jesus was born and raised, where He ministered, performed miracles, died and was resurrected.
But then, suddenly and without warning, you find yourself swept up in the raging violence and terror that begins the IsraeliPalestinian conflict

"Blood Brothers" by Elias Chacour, has become one of my alltime faith favorites as a story that has withstood the test of time for many reasons both earthly and spiritual.
One obviousand unfortunateexplanation for its endurance is this Blood Brothers's earthly subject remaining so relevant, It still captures the headlines,

But the Blood Brothers's true gem of stamina is its special spiritual focus on reflecting the light of Christ in a dark place, and it is this quality that ensures its being a timeless treasure for believers no matter the headlines.


Blood Brothers was first published by Chosen Books, a Division of Baker Book House Company, back inwith several reprintings that followed including my own expanded edition.
Despite its publication date, this book remains the crucial backstory of the current headlines, Preserved in print, its reverberating theme now climaxes as a call for a peaceful resolution before the coffin permanently closes on the twostate solution.


I was introduced to this book several years ago, when my children were still small and I wanted to find a way to introduce them to this matter but felt that the books I had read on it were too grim to share.
So I asked an organization that I belonged to, the United Methodist Churchs Task Force on Peace with Justice for Israel/Palestine, if they knew of a book that could explain the IsraeliPalestinian conflict without the end result creating the negative feelings of AntiSemitism, AntiPalestinian, or Islamophobia.
Being that we are an Orthodox Christian family, I also had some concerns about how the overall Christian connection would be framed.


The resounding recommendation I received from the UMC organization was Blood Brothers by Elias Chacour with David Hazard, I went on to purchase this book for my son, but of course I also read it, With all my previous readings, interviews, and attending lectures on this conflict, I had became rather wellversed about the many complexities of it which included the “Nakba”.
This is the Palestinian word for the catastrophy their description for when Zionists arrived in Palestine and forcefully took the land in the Zionist quest to reclaim biblical Israel.
But what made this book of a Palestinian prospective different for me was that this story was told through the firsthand eyewitness account of a native devout Christian, Elias Chacour, who possessed the impressive pedigree of belonging to a family that could trace their lineage, along with the roots of their Melkite community in Galilee, all the way back to the very time when Christianity was born!

Blood Brothers is Elias Chacour's own personal story, throughout which he bares his soul chapter by chapter in reflecting on what it was like to be a young boy caught up in the war of, with the aftermath of dispossession and persecution.
While a reader with some knowledge on both sides of this issue might simply assume that since this story is about what a Palestinian experienced fromon, then it must be all about devastation and loss.
But what such a reader is unprepared for is how Chacour's story surprisingly uplifts as he shares how his family struggles to survive in ways that were in lockstep with gospel teachings.
"Blessed are the peacemakers" became more than a directive it justified their refusal to take up arms in their own defense.


Chacour grows from being a child during the Nakba to a coming of age during the settler colonialism period that followed.
It was during this latter phase, as many fellow Christians were struggling to hold onto their faith, that our main character began to realize he was being called to serve the church.
Chacour provides his scattering flock with comfort, inspiration and enduring strength, Though challenged, he balances retaining his truthful witness of the injustices all around him while reaching out to "love thy enemy".
Page by page, the reader experiences Chacour growing in his faith and humanity, his effectiveness leading to his climb in the ranks of the Catholic Church in the Holy Land, earning credentials and credibility along the way as he evolves from survivorturned priestturned bishopturned peace activist.
He even goes on to become an awardwinning humanitarian, All of these accomplishments lead to him to gain the admiration of his people, and eventually even the respect of Israeli officials and world leaders.


This book is further enhanced by its endorsing foreword by former U, S. Secretary of State James Baker III who held that position during, Reading this message from someone in such high standing gives authenticity to the value of the book from an official American prospective.
It was the dedicated work of Sec, Baker that paved the way to the Madrid Conference in, an endeavor which was the forerunner to open the door to the Oslo Accords a couple of years later.
And it was Oslo that has been the blueprint for the peace talks between Israelis and Palestinians which had existed at least on paper right up to our present year.
Sec. Baker's own efforts toward Holy Land peace makes his foreword all the more influential as well as informative for the reader.


While you can be sure that you will gain a fuller knowledge and understanding of the IsraeliPalestinian conflict by reading Blood Brothers, know that you will also be treated to the story's testimony of how the depth of faith not only can succeed to sustain oneself, moreover it can inspire to educate and edify the faith in others who also face crisis.


If you consider the Holy Land special and if you favor a peaceful solution to this region's sufferings, then you will prize "Blood Brothers" as much as I do.
Elias Chacour's classic proves that while following the Christian path is not always one that can avoid the dark division of politics and differing religions, Christians can nonetheless discover a way to avoid the demonization of others and truly "love thy enemy" even under the

most dire of circumstancesand that is the treasured message mirroring this teaching of Jesus that makes Elias Chacours book one of the best faithbased books you will ever read!

Debra George, sitelinkwww.
christiancoffeeclutch. blogspot. com Beautifully written and a powerful story, I think all should read this, this makes me more excited for my trip to Israel and Palestine, I learned so much from this book, There are two sides to every story and this side of the Palestinian/Israeli history is so important, Elias is an extraordinary person, a book I would have never chosen for myself, but one I think should be read by every single person in this world.
it always astounds me how there can be so much knowledge in the world and it can all be attained if we just reach out for it.
the IsraeliPalestinian conflict is one that has troubled and confused me for a long while, but this book brought so much clarity, insight, and hope through historical fact and personal narrative.
will never stop recommending this to everyone I meet and cant wait for the discussions it will bring into my life.
how lucky we are that souls like Elias Chacour exist and impact our world/Read this again for book club and loved it even more than the first time.
His messages of peace and love for his fellow men are needed so desperately today, Some of his methods for creating a sense of ownership and hope is to build schools and community centers much like Greg Mortensen.
I saw a lot of similaries in their approach to longstanding problems, It was frustrating to read what happened to his family and many other Palestinians and realize that their story is rarely told in the news.
It is so onesided in favor of the Jews, He proves that there are alwayssides to a story and his people have suffered tremendously, Well worth thend read,

/This book gave me a new perspective on the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians, The main character is a Palestinian Christian and he is doing wonderful things to change his corner of the world, One of my topinspiring books, .