AHP Perspective is a magazine published bi-monthly for members of the Association for Humanistic Psychology. It includes interviews, articles, essays, updates on member activities, conference announcements, and book reviews. Members receive the complete AHP Perspective as part of their membership.

AHP PERSPECTIVE December 2000/January 2001 Table of Contents

FEBRUARY / MARCH 2002 AHP PERSPECTIVE

Book Review

BLOOD BROTHERS BY ELIAS CHACOUR
Grand Rapids, MI: Chosen Books, 1984, ISBN: 0800790960.	Reviewed by Sharon Mijares

Elias Chacour’s biographical rendering of the Palestinian and Israeli plight grips the heart and mind as it takes the reader into a land of great beauty and suffering. He begins the narration with the scene of a young boy living in Biram. His family had lamented when they heard of the holocaust and that Hitler had "killed them because they were Jews." His father explained that now that Hitler was dead" our Jewish brothers have been badly hurt and frightened. They can’t go back to their homes in Europe, and they have not been welcomed by the rest of the world. So they are coming here to look for a home." He went on to explain that soldiers called Zionists would be traveling through their town, that a few would stay in each home, that they would carry guns, but not kill. "You have no reason to be afraid. We must be especially kind and make them feel at home."

Young Elias’ life dramatically and unexpectedly changed when Israeli trucks drove into this simple village one warm Spring day in 1947. He vividly remembers the voices of Israeli soldiers sounding through a metallic loudspeaker, demanding that all young boys and men come out of their homes to stand in an open lot. Throughout the day his father, older brothers and all others males were interrogated: "You are rebels. Tell us where your guns are hidden. We know you are fighters-Palestinian terrorists." At the end of the day the men and boys were freed to return to their homes. A few hours later amidst the sounds of loud angry voices, gun butts thudding at doors, and the growl of truck motors, they heard the demand for all men to come out and give themselves up. The loudspeaker proclaimed to the women that the "terrorists were being taken away" and that they would not see them again. Three months later his father found his way home. The soldiers had only intended to drive them out of the new government of Israel.

During that time his mother repeated the Beatitudes. Young Elias questioned the value and meaning of each one. Eventually Elias was send to Haifa to study, later to be singled out and encouraged to enter training as a priest. He was the first Palestinian to earn a degree from Jerusalem’s Hebrew University. He graduated as an ordained priest from Seminaire de Saint Sulpice in Paris. As he left the safety of the religious institution to return to the villages of the Galilee, he was drawn to contemplate each of the Beatitudes. As he considered "thirsting after righteousness," he realized the first step would be that of restoring human dignity in both Jews and Palestinians. If he was really committing his life to "carry God’s message to my people, I would have to lift up, as Jesus had, the men and women who had been degraded and beaten down." He knew their shattered dignity needed to be regained before reconciliation could begin. At that moment, like the thunder that accompanies lightning, he heard the passage "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called the sons [children] of God." The Beatitudes have been the guiding principles of his life and his work. They manifested as Father Chacour began serving the land and people he loves by building "schools, libraries, community centers, and youth clubs throughout Israel’s Galilee region," paths for increasing self-respect.

Throughout the many decades of pain, despair and hopes for peace, Father Elias Chacour personally demonstrates the teachings of the Beatitudes, Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. These have been the guidelines for the way he lives his life. Father Chacour is a modern saint. Blood Brothers is a heart rending story of the suffering and hopes of Jews, Palestinian Christians and Palestinian Muslims and the politics behind the scenes. The influence of Biblical prophesy, political intrigue, bulldozing of villages, and murder are clearly illustrated in this moving account of a struggle for respect and peace. If you want to understand the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, this is the book to read.

Father Elias Chacour was awarded the Buddhist Niwano Peace Prize in May 2001.

SHARON G. MIJARES, Ph.D., is a Self Relations Psychotherapist residing in Cardiff by the Sea, CA. She is the author of Modern Psychology and Ancient Wisdom: An anthology of healing practices from the world’s religious traditions, coming from Haworth Press. She can be reached at (760) 436-3518, SGMijares@cs.com , or www.sharonmijares.com.

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