Blood Brothers: The Inspiring Story of a Palestinian Christian's Pursuit of Peace in Israel

Sue Curd: I’ve just started to be a holder in the light of a world council of churches project overseen by Quakers in Britain. This book filled with hopelessness and hopefulness stands me in good stead.

United Kingdom on Jul 28, 2023

M. Samuels: A very good book. Arrived on-time.

United States on Jun 27, 2023

Denise Veith: A very good book that shares a perspective that many Americans are not aware of. Enjoyed reading and learning about the people that had lived in the Holy Land for centuries.

United States on Jan 13, 2023

S D Lerner: Everybody loves a good story, and this one tells about the life and work of a Palestinian Christian, Elias Chacour, whose life was directly impacted by the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict. The village he grew up in was destroyed in the process of Israel becoming a nation, and in the book he does not shy away from disclosing the many ways the Conflict affected him, and made life difficult for him and his people. He trained to be a Melkite priest and grew to become a wise and highly-respected person in the peacemaking process in his homeland. Having some knowledge beforehand about the Conflict would be an advantage to the reader in understanding persons, places, and events referred to in the book, but at the same time is not essential.

Chacour's beautiful peacemaking spirit towards Jews is evident as he pleads with those in the West at the end of this book:

"You who live in the United States, if you are pro-Israel, on behalf of the Palestinian children, I call unto you: Give further friendship to Israel. They need your friendship. But stop interpreting that friendship as an automatic antipathy against me, the Palestinian who is paying the bill for what others have done...

United States on Oct 19, 2022

david doherty: I would thoroughly recommend this book. It might even open your eyes! It certainly did for me and I couldn’t put the book down. Elias Chacour is a priest with a passion and a calling for reconciling people and for being a peacemaker. All the more surprising given his turbulent upbringing as he describes his family being uprooted and made homeless in 1948. As if being made second class citizens by Israel wasn’t bad enough, he then has to endure a hate campaign targeted against him by his own fellow believers in the Palestinian church and resorts to locking them all in at the end of the service. Terrific read that reminds us that forgiveness even in the most difficult of circumstances is entirely possible.

United Kingdom on Nov 05, 2021

Marie: I am hoping to visit the Holy Land and I wanted to understand the Palestinian side of the story.

United Kingdom on Jun 10, 2021

manley: Any reader of any religion or none cannot read this autobiography without resolving to find the Truth about the Palestinians and resolving to do what they can. Look up the words:"Sabeel", "Kumani" and "Amos Trust" on Google and delve from them what the true situation is happening in Israel and Palestine. Apartheid is being committed worse than that which happened in South Africa. Reader be prepared to be a changed individual.

United Kingdom on Mar 01, 2021

mjb: A great read, a deeply personal story about the life of the Author, whilst giving a borader picture of life in Palestine over the last century. The combination of history, faith and constant battle for peace are riveting, as the internal battles of one man reflect the battles between nations. Would reccomemd to anyone looking to gain greater insight into Palestine-Israeli relations, or anyone just as an inspiring biography of God's faithfulness to man in the midst of great evil.

United Kingdom on Mar 02, 2019

sarge: EVERYONE needs to read this book. I grew up in a Christian church that spoke so often about Israel becoming a nation again as the Bible so accurately prophesied. I was taught to love the Jewish people, and I did and still do. What I did NOT ever understand, was what was done to the people already living in Palestine. The criminal behavior done to those people, albeit not to the same scale, was way too parallel to what Germany did to the Jews. I suppose we as humans tend to do to others what was done to us. This book is sobering and screams at our need to love each other. Elias lived, and still lives, how Jesus taught us to live, under the most vile and horrifying circumstances, being treated by people I thought would have "learned" what it's like to treat others with hatred that it's not something to repeat on another group of people. As the book started out in his childhood in an enviable place with incredible family connections, my heart so yearned to know more of it. Then the changes started. I am thankful for my neighbor, Nabil, who "loaned" me a copy until I purchased it on Kindle for continuing his friendly encouragement to read this book. We're all in this world together....

United States on Sep 03, 2018

Amazon Customer: Blood Brothers was an eye-opener for me. I am definitely pro-Israel, and have been over there twice. On each occasion, I have had wonderful interaction with Palestinians. This book showed me a whole different side of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. There are no easy answers, but Brother Chacour reminds us to be peacemakers and pursue peaceful resolution, I want the Palestinian people to be treated fairly and honorably. What I didn't know was that many Palestinians had their land, their homes stolen from them. I was always led to believe that the Jews bought all the land they occupied from the Palestinian landowners, often at exorbitant prices. I'm sure the truth is somewhere in the middle, but I don't dispute Elias Chacour's account of how his family's village and home was stolen by the Zionists early on, and how some villages were razed by the Israeli army because of supposed terrorism.
I definitely recommend this book. It has changed my views towards Palestinians and given me much more empathy, and greatly influenced my prayers for them and the state of Israel. Unfortunately, as long as they celebrate terrorists and reward their families for terrorist acts, the Israeli army...

United States on Jul 26, 2017