Blood Brothers

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.


Moving and Powerful   January 7, 2007
D. Horan (Washington, DC USA)
12 out of 12 found this review helpful

Chacour transports the reader into his experience as a Palestinian child growing up amidst the turmoil of Zionist takeover in Israel. The experience of his family's diaspora and his personal journey from an exile living far from his destroyed home to his education in Europe to his return home to help sow the seeds of peace according to the Christian tradition prescribed in the Beatitudes.

This book shows a side to the Israeli/Palestinian conflict that is far too often untold or dismissed. It is the side of the exiled, those forced off their land to create the modern nation of Israel. In no way is this book a polemical jab against the Jewish nation, rather it is the true story of a Christian Palestinian working within Israel to create a peaceful land where all are truly welcomed and are safe.

This is a must read for all. It will open your eyes.


An essential read   December 24, 2004
The Delite Rancher (Phoenix, Arizona)
30 out of 36 found this review helpful

If you want to really understand the Palestinian-Israeli conflict -here is your chance. Told not from a sociopolitical perspective but a human and personal point-of-view, you will appreciate the conflict in ways you never could from the nightly news or a text book. Before reading this book, I had no idea that Palestinian Christians existed or that so many of them lived in Palestine before the Zionists expelled them. This is a story that the mainstream American media does not want you to read. I first read this as required reading in a course on the Middle East. Years later, I still recommend it to all of my intellectual friends. This story is essential in understanding the roots of the Israeli-Palestinain conflict. That written, this book is not just a history, but a moving story of a great man of peace and love.


Required Reading for fellow Christians   October 16, 2005
John Riffe
26 out of 31 found this review helpful

"... And now for, the rest of the story." How often do we rush to take sides in conflict before giving earnest ear to each side?

Here, in "Blood Brothers," the author invites his readers to consider the viewpoint of the native Semitic peoples in the land of Jesus.

Elias Chacour then takes us beyond all "Us v. Them" kind of thinking to help us remember that its really "Just Us," just us fellow human beings living before the God of Peace.

His life story unfolds as a root from dry ground that grows to become a shady, fruitbearing tree: (the ministerial ambition of many Christians). Recounted is his personal development from victimized aid-recipient to aid-distributing catalyst for peaceful human progress amidst tumults that have turned many to support either terrorism or tyranny.

He begins as a ten year old farm boy in pre-war Palestine - and he writes so plainly, movingly, that a ten year old boy could enjoy it, too. (I have a certain 10 year old in mind to give it). He speaks endearingly of his honorable Christian parents and the family's endurance of the upheavels that led to the state of modern Israel. Chacour then recounts his years in church-sponsored boarding school (an orphanage for refugees), then college, then seminary, and later, as a pastor in Galilee and a student at Hebrew University. His original church assignment in Ibillin, Galilee has grown to include an association of schools - from kindergarten to college, gifted programs to the Arab Christian Israeli University.

I am moved with admiration by Elias Chacour's championing of a way out of the Terrorism vs Tyranny. He shows the way of peace through Biblical education, the Way of The Prince of Peace in the very land of Jesus. If everyone there were to adopt Chacour's attitude & example, the Middle East would become once again a wonderful place to visit, a wonderful place to live.

James 3:18
And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by them that make peace.



** PS: Not to be found are any hint of reference to Hilarion Capucci, Naim Ateek, Michael Sabbah, Hanan Ashrawi, nor to Marcionites, nor the Koran, nor to any support of terror, nor vilification of Jews, etc. The book gently asserts -from first to last- that we are all, through it all, brothers from the same blood enduring against the evil of militarism.


darling   June 5, 2003
29 out of 35 found this review helpful

This is a must-read for anyone who is looking for a human perspective on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Chacour brings the story of personal pain, struggle and hope to the pages of his book. This book removes the story from the realm of politicians and mass movements and refocusses the story where it should be, on the individuals hurt by and caught in the chaos, tragedy and beauty that make up the story of the Holy Land. It is beautifully and captivatingly written, capturing the spirit of the land and people. It doesn't gloss over the violence, hardship or injustice. Nor does it leave the reader feeling jaded, hopeless, or helpless. I finished with a desire to read more, learn more about both sides of the conflict and its history. Having travelled in that area of the world before the outbreak of the current conflict, I can say that it does a great job of accurately portraying the place, the people, and the spirit that pervades both. Truly an inspiring work!