Customer Reviews

Bethlehem Besieged: Stories of Hope in Times of Trouble

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

Raheb writes his book as an "act of nonviolent resistance: resisting being silenced, resisting being a spectator, and resisting giving up" (vii). He wants his book to be a witness against the Israeli military oppressive approaches and excessive use of force. At the same time, he wants his readers to avoid being indifferent to the cries of Palestinians and instead participate in creating a better future.

The book is divided into three main sections: (1) Under Siege, (2) Life under Occupation, and (3) Glimpses of Hope. The first section describes the Israeli invasion of Bethlehem in April 2002 and the suffering of Bethlehem's Palestinian citizens as a result of the actions and behavior of the Israeli soldiers. The second section describes the author's life under occupation. He is continually deprived from his basic human rights due to the Arab-Israeli conflict. He states that he graduated from high school without a graduation party (55), he married without a wedding party (58), his father in law died because Palestinians and their ambulances are denied free access to hospitals in Jerusalem (61-69), his car can only drive within few miles radius due to Israeli check points that require passing permits only from Palestinians (75-77), and traveling outside Palestine is extremely hard due to Israeli regulations (79-83). The third section focuses on stories that provoke hope. In this section, Raheb advocates more explicitly his understanding on non-violent creative resistance. The latter includes peaceful marches (95-103), art (105-109), children's ministries (111-116), putting the "power of culture" to work via different programs (122), encouraging people to work creatively in the midst of oppression (135-141), committing ourselves to destroy the walls of enmity as we transform our enemies into our neighbors (146-147), and planning for a peaceful world by giving our future-hope a present serving hands (156-157).

If you want a clear headed description of what it's like to live under occupation, read this book. Then you will be able decide whether it's "propaganda", or some of these phony "reviews" are. Nowhere in this book, or in any other venue, does Rev Raheb defend violence by anyone.

In order to enforce its occupation, Israel must use force - violence. This book is a rendering of what that violence is like to experience on the receiving end. If you're interested in understanding that better, read this book. You won't be disappointed. You'll be enlightened.

A powerful telling of what seems to be the common experience of prople I meet when in Bethlehem. Not a "fun read," but an important read.

Written by Palastinian Arab and Christian pastor Mitri Raheb, Bethlehem Besieged: Stories Of Hope In Times Of Trouble is a powerful, human, and soul-searching account of the devastating toll that years of Israeli occupation have wrought upon Palestinian citizens in the city of Bethlehem, birthplace of Jesus Christ. A clearly worded account of human hardships and daily struggles to claim basic rights of decency, Bethlehem Besieged is a powerful true account of day-to-day life in which such simple tasks as driving from one place to another become inordinately difficult, even perilous. A highly recommended work that reflects the author's enduring faith even in a seemingly endless, hopeless situation of strife and pressure.

This is a must-read for those who want to understand the plight of Palestinian Christians in Palestine/West Bank.

I have been to Bethlehem, Bethlehem IS a city besieged. With a population of 150,000, it has been transformed by the State of Israel into a virtual prison. It is surrounded on three sides by a 30' high wall with observation/gun towers every few hundred yards. The fourth side is an Israeli only highway with rows of chain-link and razor wire making it impassable by man or animal. There are two choke point entrances for residents where they are herded like cattle and it may take as much as eight hours for a Palestinian to move through if they are allowed to move out to jobs or school or to seek medical care. (It is easier for a visitor to move in and out of a Maximum Security Prison in the US, which I do regularly with a ministry.) They cannot drive into or out of their city. Having lived in Bethlehem as long as there has been Christianity, (including all those centuries of Muslim rule...indeed the greatest persecution they experienced until now by the Israeli's was by their fellow "Christians" in the Crusades) the population of indigenous (Arab) Christians is dwindling as they tend to have the educational and economic resources to flee, see...[...]

Bethlehem does have large gates to allow incursion by Israeli tanks and Caterpillar bulldozers to tear down Palestinian homes. (On my visit they had just pulled down the home of an elderly couple, him inside and her they shot.) The author is right Bethlehem is besieged.
The one star and heavily biased comments offered by some on this book are laced with falsehoods.

The assertion in the Frantzman post that 1200 Israelis were murdered from 2000-04 is a lie. If you go to the UN web site... [...]
you will see that of deaths from the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, 4,228 have been Palestinians, 1,024 Israelis, and 63 foreign citizens. For every person killed, approximately seven were also injured. The site also has a graph (Graph I,) the total number of Israelis, both civilians and Israeli Defense Force (IDF) combatants, killed by Palestinian armed groups and individuals, is declining. In contrast the total number of Palestinians, both civilians and combatants killed by the Israeli security forces or Israeli individuals, remains relatively high. In 2007, for example, for every one Israeli death there were 25 Palestinian deaths compared to 2002 when the ratio was 1:2.5. In the Gaza war 2008-2009 even going by the range of estimates in Israeli press the ratio is still higher 900-1200 Palestinians to 13 Israelis (four of which were from "friendly fire").

The Frantzman assertion that during the stand-off at the Church of the Nativity the Palestinians desecrated the church is again false. The toilets did fail in the church. But they were repaired as possible. The deaths in the situation were inflicted by the Israeli's. As was the damage to property. "Eight Palestinians were killed and an Armenian monk was wounded by an Israeli sniper. In the parking lot beneath the Peace Center, Israeli soldiers had caused heavy damage to dozens of cars. Soldiers also vandalized Arafat's office in the presidential palace in the city. ICOMOS estimated the damage at a total of US$1.4 million, primarily grades 3 and 4, and loss in urban furniture. Direct damage to the church complex from projectiles and fire was estimated to total about US$77,000." ..see [...]

The Malter assertion that this was a take-over is false. The Right Rev. Michael Sabbah, the Latin (Roman Catholic) Patriarch of Jerusalem stated they were given sanctuary by the Church.

The assertion that "the Jews have been content to be restricted to about 10,000 square miles of Levantine land" is also false. The recent 60 Minutes piece is pretty good in showing just how false this is.
([...])
The State of Israel is systematically (and illegally) appropriating Palestinian lands in the West Bank. The Palestinians are now restricted to less than half of the West Bank and the percentage shrinks every day with every new Israeli settlement. (The word "settlement is a nice bit of propagandistic spin - really these are instant cities of anywhere from 1000 to 20,000 Israeli citizens). The maps of the area reveal Israel's true discontent with "10,000 square miles".

See...[...]

This situation described in this book and elsewhere is Apartheid on steroids. I was visiting St. George's cathedral in Jerusalem about six months before President Carter's book came out. The Preacher that Sunday was black, an Anglican Priest, and from South Africa. He was part of an Ecumenical Accompaniment team, trying to minimize or at least document the harassment of Palestinians by Israelis at check-points etc... He sated flat out that what the Palestinians are living with (and dying from) in their own land is worse than anything black South African's experienced under apartheid.

This book and others like it are a much needed counterweight to the Sate of Israel's propaganda machine and those, who for reasons of their own, uncritically parrot what that machine puts out. Peace can come to the region, but peace can only be lastingly be built on the truth. There are few saints or angels in the Israeli/Palestinian conflict. In the end it is a matter of humans being killed, maimed and degraded by hate inflicted and hate absorbed. Simply regurgitating hate will solve nothing; telling the truth just might.

This is a great book and I would highly recommend it! We need to hear the truth and hope of Mitri Raheb's experiences and heart. This is a must read for anyone who truly desires to understand a lesser told part of the reality of the Middle East. To be honest--with our feet on the ground, yet hopeful-- with our eyes toward God is a needed combination. Seeking love, peace, and justice for all!

There is the potential here for a very powerful story. Unfortunately, the author's writing is rather poor. Even though I sympathize with their plight, I thought the author did not "show" the struggle of the people so much as "pontificate" about the struggles of the people. That is why I gave this book only 2 stars. I could barely finish reading the book. The writing turned me off. This book was a disappointment.

I would recommend this book to anybody looking for balance in the controversy about the Palistinian struggle. This pastor puts human faces on life in and around Bethlehem where his church is located. I can now better understand why Palistinians feel like victims and prisoners. I would hope that our policymakers read this and respond in kind in their efforts to solve this historical conflict.

Don't waste your money reading this one-sided diatribe. Surprise, the Palestinians decided not to accept the UN resolution giving them a state in 1948, thus, Bethlehem has been the site of fighting ever since. The author fails to mention that Christian holy sites are protected from the ransacking of his fellow Palestinians by those "horrible" Israelis.