Fortress Press released the newest book by Dr. Rev Mitri Raheb end of May 2004. Following are some description and comments on the book.
Bethlehem Besieged
Stories of Hope in Times of Trouble
The Stories Behind The Story on The Nightly News
“This is a heartrending account of what has happened to ordinary people,
and how they have lived and survived under the siege by Israeli soldiers of
Bethlehem, the birthplace of the Prince of Peace. It should shake us out of
complicity with the injustice being visited on ordinary people.”
-Desmond Tutu, Retired Archbishop of Cape Town, South Africa
At a time when many people associate Palestinians with terrorism, Bethlehem Besieged offers a sympathetic look at Palestinian life under occupation today and puts a human face on a people often been demonized in the popular press.
Mitri Raheb’s powerful collection of compelling personal stories—stories of desperation and hope in the midst of lethal conflict—brings the Palestinian/Israeli conflict up close and personal. Raheb’s lifelong commitment to his people has kept him in the legendary birthplace of Christianity, even as the town has become a flashpoint in the world’s most volatile and hate-filled conflict. His passionate personal testimony lifts up the stray gesture toward friendship, the brave attempts to rebuild life and livelihood in a destroyed land, and the unquenchable desire for justice and peace.
Like The Diary of Anne Frank, Bethlehem Besieged is a riveting story, beginning with the siege of Bethlehem in 2002 and continuing into today’s scene of occupation, the wall, and suicide bombers. But it also chronicles the personal struggles of Palestinians and their families to survive the violence and to act with integrity in extreme circumstances. It gives full voice to the soundbites of the nightly news.
"Rev.
Mitri Raheb’s personal and moving chronicle of
Bethlehem’ siege reveals a little-known and rarely acknowledged human narrative
of the Palestinian people’s quest for dignity and freedom, even in the midst of
devastation and pain. The struggle to endure and rebuild despite the Israeli
occupation’s persistent brutal assaults is as much a tribute to the unvanquished
spirit of the “ordinary” Palestinian as it is part of Rev.
Raheb’s passionate message to hold on to the spirit of resurrection and
his insistence on seeing a beacon of hope where it is easy to see only darkness
and despair."
-
Hannan Ashrawi,
Secretary
General for The Palestinian Initiative for the
Promotion of Global Dialogue and Democracy, MIFTAH
“Once again ‘the hopes and fears of all the years’ seem to focus on
Bethlehem. Its painful history, stubborn hopefulness, and indefatigable spirit
shine through the pages of this remarkable but deeply troubling book. It is
required reading for anyone who wants to understand the Israeli-Palestinian
conflict and its importance for the whole world.”
-Harvey G Cox, Hollis Professor of Divinity, Harvard Divinity School
“A Palestinian narrative of suffering and sacrifice that is infused with
hope. It is a story that has cried out to be told.”
-Dr. James J. Zogby, President of the Arab American Institute
“Bethlehem Besieged is first a document of horror and hope about the
plight and possibilities that confront the Palestinian people. But it is also
more. As a Jew I see this story as a warning to the Jewish people that we are
becoming almost everything we loathed about our oppressors. For me Mitri Raheb's
gentle anger is a prophetic call to Jews in Israel and beyond to stop and
reverse course before it is too late. Yet the pages of this gripping real-life
story tell me that it might already be too late.”
-Marc H. Ellis, Professor of American and Jewish Studies, Baylor
University
Mitri Raheb is a Palestinian Arab and Christian Pastor who ministers to his people in Bethlehem, where his family has lived for hundreds of years. Pastor of the Evangelical Christmas Church there, he holds a doctorate from Marburg University in Germany. Internationally honored for his work, Raheb has been interviewed by CNN, the Washington Post, Fox News, ABC News, and CBS News, sharing his stories of the Israeli bombing of Bethlehem and the fears and hopes of ordinary people living there.
Fortress Press, Minneapolis
General Interest/Current Affairs/Religion
0-8006-3653-8
paperback, 160 pp.; $13.00 (($17.55 Canada; Ł8.99)
June 1, 2004
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