Rating: 
Summary: The Truth Finally Speaks
Review: Abuna Elias is a humble, truthful and courageous man who didn't run away from his responsibilities under pressure nor did he disregard the truth of the Lord in any capacity. This book is a must read for anyone who wishes to seek an accurate treatment of the Palestinian people from 1948-........
Rating:
Summary: A picture of life and hope
Review: Elias Chacour presents an eyewitness account as a Palestinian Christian who lived in Palestine during the Arab-Israeli War of 1948 when his family, along with many other Palestinian families, lost their homes in Israel. A journalist reviewing his book has discredited many of his statements. However, I find that many of the journalist's comments do not really contradict the author's personal account. I believe the judgment of this journalist to be rash and the book to be an excellent, first-hand account of a person who lived through a very traumatic time period. Elias Chacour is alive and actively involved in running a college he established in Israel for Palestinians (welcoming Christians, Jews, and Muslims). If the reviewer traveled to Israel to check out his story, I wonder why he did not try to contact Elias Chacour personally. I also recommend that he read Elias Chacour's subsequent book, "We Belong to the Land," published by Harper Collins in 1992 (copyright 1990). The book gives further documentation and describes his ministry of healing and reconciliation between Jews, Christians, and Muslims in Israel.There is some ambiguity in the use of the word "village" that may account for the reviewer's impression that Chacour deliberately misrepresented facts. The land of Israel/Palestine was dotted with mountain villages and olive groves, just as Elias Chacour described his own village. Villages were composed of people who were related in kinship. The reviewer speaks of Jewish communities, Maronite Christian communities, and Melkite Christian communities in Biram. These communities are clearly not related to one another by kinship. Hence, they would not consider themselves to be from the same village, though they may all be from Biram. The same situation appears to be true of Jish. Hence, when the author speaks of what happened to his village of Biram, it does not follow that he is referring to all villages of Biram. The reviewer implied that no slaughter occurred in Jish. He cites as evidence that an Arab Christian who was 16 years old at the time did not recall any massacre happening there. In Chacour's book "We Belong to the Land," Chacour states that many of the men disappeared. He also states that at an age between eight and twelve, he discovered a grave where a number of men were buried. He then concluded that the men of Jish were massacred. Chacour relates his personal experience in this account. It does not follow that all people of Jish would know of the missing men since they would not all belong to the same village/kinship group. Furthermore, the observation of missing men in Jish does not imply that the women and children of the village knew what happened to their men. Many people simply disappeared in these trying times. Some, as Elias Chacour relates concerning his father and brother, were simply dumped across the Israeli-Jordan border. He and his mother would never have known what happened to Chacour's father and brother had they not traveled up to Lebanon and across the border back to their family. Since the people who witnessed the mass burial were from Biram, it does not follow that the people who lived in Jish would have witnessed the same thing. I do not see how the reviewer can discount the eyewitness testimony of one person based upon the fact that another person who lived in the vicinity at the same time (nearly fifty years ago) did not see the same thing. The reviewer discredits Chacour's claim that the city of Biram was bombed by stating that the ancient homes still exist. Again the reviewer may be confused by what is Elias Chacour's village. The fact that his village was destroyed does not mean that all ancient homes in Biram were destroyed. However, the fact that the people of his Melkite village tried to regain their property in Biram for a period of several generations, as the author also describes in his book, is well documented. As to the fact of the bombing, Elias Chacour offers evidence in his book, "We Belong to the Land," by showing a photograph taken in 1972 of the remains of his mountain village. In the background he also points out the church that remained standing. The reviewer reports that Chacour claimed his ancestors lived in Biram for thousands of years, but that Melkite Christians moved into the land much later. What Chacour claimed, as clarified in "We Belong to the Land," is that Palestinians lived in the land from the time of Abraham. He also claimed that both Jews and Gentiles lived in the land during the time of Christ. He did not claim that his family ancestry permanently resided in Biram for thousands of years. At least he does not claim this in the book "We Belong to the Land." I think the reviewer may have misunderstood his meaning. The journalist claims that Chacour presents himself as forgiving the Israelis for a massacre that didn't happen. In the chaotic times of the Arab-Israeli War of 1948 when many Palestinians disappeared, I am amazed that the reviewer can so easily discredit a young boy's personal experience. Palestinians, especially those still living from the time of the Arab-Israeli War, rarely have had the opportunity to get an education. If you want to understand what the Palestinians went through from somebody who personally lived through it, I highly recommend this book. It is not a trained journalist's account, but it is an honest personal witness. It is also a powerful Christian testimony from a man who has done much to better the lives of the Palestinian people.
Rating:
Summary: An unforgettable reading experience
Review: Fr. Elias Chacour is a champion of the Arab-Israeli peace process. His book, Blood Brothers, challenges the reader to analyze his own feelings and assumptions about Palestinians, Jews, and Israel. The book also gives the reader a very personal look at the history and drama surrounding the Palestinian Christian people. Their story is one of great sorrow that is seldom seen or heard in newspapers and television. Any person interested in the Arab-Israeli peace process should read this book.
Rating:
Summary: Want to know why Arabs hate supporters of Israel? Read this
Review: I had no idea what really happened when Israel was formed. I equated "Palestinian" with "terrorist". When I read this book I realized that I had simply swallowed the "official view" on this hook, line, and sinker as so many other Americans have done. This book was a revelation. There is really not the least hint of animosity--just a desire to get the real story out and figure out how to help the situation. I have read the review that says this is all a pack of lies. I urge you to read it yourself and see what you think. Remember, what usually happens is that the winners write the history books. I have heard Israeli scholars talk about how their history textbooks, for example, paint an extremely one-sided story of the history. Just like you hear people denying the holocaust as if it were all a big hoax, you are going to hear denials of a book like this. Of course you should investigate any claim, but the opinions of a few people brought up on a diet of nationalist textbooks does not a scientific study make. Read it yourself, judge for yourself.
Rating: 
Summary: Jesus is truth.
Review: I want to add this to what I said in my first reveiw.
Chacour wrote another book, "We Belong to the Land." In it he tells us that Biram was destroyed by the IDF on September 16-17, 1953.
But in Blood Brothers he tells us that the Jews invited the people of Biram to return on Christmas day, 1952 and there is a big emotional build-up to a discription of the IDF destroying the village on Christmas morning. He claims that the IDF waited for the villagers to arrive before they blew up the village while they watched in horror. While telling us how forgiving he is, is he trying to make readers, especially Christians, hate Israel?
Even where his mother died is different in the two books. In Blood Brothers we are told that "Age had eventually forced Mother and Father to move from Gish to Haifa. "It grieved me that she had died so far from the home she longed for..." In "We Belong to the Land" she died in Jish and he comments, "Father could not remain in Jish alone. At the age of eighty-two he moved to Haifa..."
How can we believe anything this man tells us?
Jesus is truth. His followers love truth, too.
Christian publishing companies have a sacred duty to print only the truth.
Rating:
Summary: A personal interaction with the Israeli/Palestinian conflict
Review: I would recommend this book to everybody. It gives us a fair, and much needed, insight into the Palestinian Christian perspective within the greater framework of the Middle East conflict. The personal testimony and example that Elias Chacour gives us is compelling and convicting. What if we all started to act with the faith, love and renconcilation Elias promotes in this inspiring account of his life.
This is a must for anyone wanting to learn about how a Christian (or anyone with a humanitarian worldview) should respond to conflict and crisis.
Rating: 
Summary: A Case Study in Hope
Review: It seems that much has been written about the Middle East in terms of religion, culture, history, economics, geopolitical significance, etc. But it seems very little has been written about the region in terms of brotherhood. The notion almost rankles upon first utterance, yet Elias Chacour, a Christian Palestinian approaches the topic from this rather unique perspective. Having experienced the destruction of his home village of Biram by Israeli soldiers in 1951, one would expect him to have something to say. While portraying injustices honestly, he refuses to draw harsh generalizations. As Israeli soldiers or Zionist groups such as the Irgun destroy local villages, Chacour notes the sentiment of the native Jewish people in the area who were "shocked and disgusted" and who protested such activities via their religious leaders. Although the book is not enthralling in terms of literary quality, it is compelling in terms of ideas. Showing promise as a young student, Chacour is given the rare privilege of attending seminary in Paris and becomes the first Palestinian Arab to earn a degree from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. His educational exploits expose him not only to Jews with a genuine compassion for Palestinian suffering but to Christians with very little. Returning to Palestine, he accepts a position as a priest in the small, embittered Palestinian town of Ibillin. Ironically, it is through the malice of Ibillin's Christians that Chacour becomes intimately acquainted with his own propensity for violence. Having reached his limit of exposure to interfamilial strife in the town, Chacour emotes, "Silent, still, I lay there, aware for the first time that I was capable of vicious, killing hatred. Aware that all men everywhere - despite the thin, polite veneer of society - are capable of hideous violence against other men." At this point Chacour comes to more deeply understand the forgiveness offered by Jesus, who refused to hate while vicious hatred nailed him to a wooden cross. Chacour begins to understand that stopping the cycle of violence starts with an individual decision to retaliate, not with violence, but with forgiveness, with kindness, and an abiding commitment to emulate Jesus' act of self-sacrifice in the name of reconciliation. Chacour notes that the land of Israel is not only promised to Abraham and his biological sons, but to those who had become Abraham's offspring by faith in Jesus, the promised savior of Jews and non-Jews alike. By faith or genealogy, both Jews and Christians trace their heritage to Abraham. "The Jews and the Palestinians are blood brothers," his father reminded him, "We must never forget that."
Rating:
Summary: A Case Study in Hope
Review: It seems that much has been written about the Middle East in terms of religion, culture, history, economics, geopolitical significance, etc. But it seems very little has been written about the region in terms of brotherhood. The notion almost rankles upon first utterance, yet Elias Chacour, a Christian Palestinian approaches the topic from this rather unique perspective. Having experienced the destruction of his home village of Biram by Israeli soldiers in 1951, one would expect him to have something to say. While portraying injustices honestly, he refuses to draw harsh generalizations. As Israeli soldiers or Zionist groups such as the Irgun destroy local villages, Chacour notes the sentiment of the native Jewish people in the area who were "shocked and disgusted" and who protested such activities via their religious leaders. Although the book is not enthralling in terms of literary quality, it is compelling in terms of ideas. Showing promise as a young student, Chacour is given the rare privilege of attending seminary in Paris and becomes the first Palestinian Arab to earn a degree from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. His educational exploits expose him not only to Jews with a genuine compassion for Palestinian suffering but to Christians with very little. Returning to Palestine, he accepts a position as a priest in the small, embittered Palestinian town of Ibillin. Ironically, it is through the malice of Ibillin's Christians that Chacour becomes intimately acquainted with his own propensity for violence. Having reached his limit of exposure to interfamilial strife in the town, Chacour emotes, "Silent, still, I lay there, aware for the first time that I was capable of vicious, killing hatred. Aware that all men everywhere - despite the thin, polite veneer of society - are capable of hideous violence against other men." At this point Chacour comes to more deeply understand the forgiveness offered by Jesus, who refused to hate while vicious hatred nailed him to a wooden cross. Chacour begins to understand that stopping the cycle of violence starts with an individual decision to retaliate, not with violence, but with forgiveness, with kindness, and an abiding commitment to emulate Jesus' act of self-sacrifice in the name of reconciliation. Chacour notes that the land of Israel is not only promised to Abraham and his biological sons, but to those who had become Abraham's offspring by faith in Jesus, the promised savior of Jews and non-Jews alike. By faith or genealogy, both Jews and Christians trace their heritage to Abraham. "The Jews and the Palestinians are blood brothers," his father reminded him, "We must never forget that."
Rating:
Summary: THE BEST BOOK EVER
Review: Regardless of what some of the previous reviews have said, this book tackles issues that others are afraid to engage. Elias Chacour shows what life can be like when people take the Gospel seriously and take Jesus at his words. This book is inspiring and demands action from Christians around the world. Chacour shows Jesus' passion for justice and reconciliation and the power that those two have when lived out. I myself am a Palestinian Christian and I find myself struggling with the same issues as Chacour. His book brings hope and a real face to a place where I felt very alone. The detailed accounts of suffering at the hands of Israel could be seen as mere propaganda if they were nor mathced with Chacours struggle to forgive. The Palestinian people will never forget, but we must forgive. This book is a good foundation in learning what is necessary to begin forgiving. Blessings to you as you read this incredible testimony of God's faithfulsness.
Rating:
Summary: A fair account
Review: This book is a very touching recount of the life of a Palestinian Arab and his memories of being expelled from his village when the Jews took over Israel and the hardships that took on his life after the fact. While Chacour does give these painful accounts of the life he has had to face, he in no way is bitter or hateful because of them. On the contrary, he offers possible solutions to the conflicts while explaining his side of the story and providing a great deal of history. Chacour tells his readers about the prejudices that were placed against him by the Jews in Israel and Europeans or all religions. He was made to leave the home he and his family had known for thousands of years and then had to read in history books that it never happened! He explains how these experiences led him to God. The story then moves on to explaining his struggles with the Israeli government to gain rights for his people. I have had the extreme honor of meeting Elias Chacour after I read this book. I stayed with him in his village of Ibillin in Galilee. While there we spoke every evening, often late into the night about the struggles and hardships that both sides have faced in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. He is very committed to doing everything he can to better his people's situations while also defending the Jews and their claim to the land as well. He in no way is anti-Israel, or anti-Jew. As he says, we all come from the same God, from the same Mother and Father, and from the same land. I saw the ruins of his village, which he is not allowed to move back to. I saw the graves of his mother and father. I saw the church that he describes so well as the place that saved him. But, more importantly, I saw a new side of this conflict. I no longer saw the Arabs as savages and terrorists that were trying to steal the land from the Jews, but rather as a race of people who is enduring the same oppression that the Jews faced for centuries. Elias Chacour is a holy man who just wants peace between these two races. This book is telling a side of the story that so often is hidden from the Western World. If you a person who is interested in opening his/her eyes to the real issues that are stopping peace from becoming reality and not just an ideal - then you need to read this book.
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