Original Proposal – Blood Brothers by Elias Chacour

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Just in time for the United Nations General Assembly vote in September to recognize the Statehood of Palestine, our focus is Blood Brothers by Elias Chacour (available from your local library or for $5.20 from Amazon.com + shipping).

Elias Chacour is the Archbishop of Akko, Haifa, Nazareth and All Galilee of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church which is part of the worldwide Roman Catholic Church (although the Melkite Greek Catholic Church's origins lie in the Middle East, its members are spread throughout the world and number 1.6 million).

Chacour was born November 29, 1939 in the village of Kafr Bir'im in Upper Galilee in the British Mandate of Palestine to a Palestinian Christian family, members of the Melkite Catholic Church. At the age of eight he was evicted along with his whole village of Biram by Yishuv forces and became a deportee and a refugee but remained in the region. Because he remained in his homeland, he was granted Israeli citizenship when the state was created in 1948.

Completing his schooling in Nazareth, he studied theology at St. Sulpice Seminary in Paris, returning home in 1965. He was ordained a priest by Archbishop George Selim Hakim of Akko, Haifa, Nazareth and all Galilee, who became Patriarch Maximos V two years later after the death of Patriarch Maximos IV Sayegh who was called "The Lion of the Council" (Vatican II). Chacour later studied the Torah and Talmud at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem as well as Aramaic and Syriac, becoming the first Arab to gain a higher degree there.

Noted for his efforts to promote reconciliation between Arabs and Israelis, he is the author of two books about the experience of Palestinian people living in present-day Israel. Blood Brothers covers his childhood growing up in the town of Biram, his development into a young man, and his early years as a priest in Ibillin. This book has been translated into more than twenty languages. His second book, We Belong to the Land, recounts his work in the development of Mar Elias Educational Institutions, from humble beginnings to major schools for educating Palestinian young people and for helping to bring about reconciliation in a land of strife. This book has been translated into 11 languages.

An advocate of non-violence, Chacour travels often between the Middle East and other countries around the world. In addition, many visitors, fact-finding missions, and pilgrims have come to Ibillin. In recognition of his humanitarian efforts he has received honors including the World Methodist Peace Award, the Chevalier de la Legion d'Honneur, and the Niwano Peace Prize (Japan) as well as honorary doctorates from five universities including Duke and Emory.

The Forward for Blood Brothers was written by James Baker III, Chief of Staff for President Reagan and Secretary of State for the first President Bush.
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ClaudiaOlson
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Original Proposal – Blood Brothers by Elias Chacour

Post by ClaudiaOlson »

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Blood Brothers By Elias Chacour
Proposed by ClaudiaOlson Mon Jun 20, 2011 5:38 pm – 29 views before being transplanted here.

I would like to suggest a book for book club in the future. It is called Blood Brothers by Elias Chacour. Mr. Chacour lived in Israel during the Zionist movement and is a Christian Palestinian. It is a great book about what really happened in Israel from the 1940's to the present. It makes you think about the situation there entirely differently.

Below is Wikipedia's article on Chacour.

Claudia

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Elias Chacour
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Elias Chacour (born November 29, 1939) is the Archbishop of Akko, Haifa, Nazareth and All Galilee of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church. Noted for his efforts to promote reconciliation between Arabs and Israelis, he is the author of two books about the experience of Palestinian people living in present-day Israel.

[The Melkite Greek Catholic Church is an Eastern Catholic Church in full communion with the Holy See as part of the worldwide Catholic Church. (The Melkite Catholic Church's Byzantine roots and liturgical practices are similar to those of the Eastern Orthodoxy, while the Church has maintained communion with the Catholic Church in Rome since a split from the Greek Orthodox Church of Antioch in 1729.) The Melkites, Byzantine Rite Catholics of mixed Eastern Mediterranean and Greek origin, trace their history to the early Christians of Antioch, Syria, of the 1st century AD, where Christianity was introduced by St. Peter. The Melkite Church has a high degree of ethnic homogeneity and the church's origins lie in the Near East,[5] but Melkite Greek Catholics are present throughout the world due to migration. At present there is a worldwide membership of approximately 1.6 million.]

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Biography and education

Elias Michael Chacour was born November 29, 1939 in the village of Kafr Bir'im in Upper Galilee in the British Mandate of Palestine to a Palestinian Christian family, members of the Melkite Catholic Church. At the age of eight he was evicted along with his whole village of Biram by Yishuv forces and became a deportee and a refugee but remained in the region.[1] Because he remained in his homeland, he was granted Israeli citizenship when the state was created in 1948.

Completing his schooling in Nazareth, he studied theology at St. Sulpice Seminary in Paris, returning home in 1965. He was ordained a priest by Archbishop George Selim Hakim of Akko, Haifa, Nazareth and all Galilee, who became Patriarch Maximos V two years later after the death of Patriarch Maximos IV Sayegh who was called "The Lion of the Council" (Vatican II). He later studied the Torah and Talmud at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem as well as Aramaic and Syriac, becoming the first Arab to gain a higher degree there. He was also a friend of the charismatic and controversial second Archbishop of Akko, Haifa, Nazareth and all Galilee, Joseph-Marie Raya. Chacour is vice president of the Sabeel Ecumenical Liberation Theology Center.[2]

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Teaching and Peace Advocacy

Chacour came to the village of Ibillin in the Galilee as a young priest in 1965. This village was the birthplace of the most recent saint of the Melkite Church, Blessed Miriam Bawardy, a Discalced Carmelite mystic of the nineteenth century responsible for the Carmel of Saint David's Tower in Bethlehem who was beatified by Pope John-Paul II on November 13, 1983. The young Father Elias, seeing the lack of educational opportunities for Arab youth beyond the 8th grade, set about creating a school open to all local children, regardless of religious affiliation.[3][4]

In the early 1980s, on an empty hillside now known as the Mount of Light (Jebel an-Nour), a classroom building was begun. The newly formed high school moved from temporary quarters in the community center to the new building as soon as it was ready. The original high school has expanded considerably and now includes a primary school and a community college. The co-educational Mar Elias Educational Institutions enroll 4,500 students, including Moslem, Christian, and Druze.[4]

An advocate of non-violence, Chacour travels often between the Middle East and other countries around the world. In addition, many visitors, fact-finding missions, and pilgrims have come to Ibillin. In recognition of his humanitarian efforts he has received honors including the World Methodist Peace Award, the Chevalier de la Legion d'Honneur, and the Niwano Peace Prize (Japan) as well as honorary doctorates from five universities including Duke and Emory.[4] In 2001 Chacour was named "Man of the Year" in Israel.[4]

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Writings and Speeches

Chacour is the author of two best selling books, Blood Brothers and We Belong to the Land. Blood Brothers covers his childhood growing up in the town of Biram, his development into a young man, and his early years as a priest in Ibillin. This book has been translated into more than twenty languages.[5]

His second book, We Belong to the Land, recounts his work in the development of Mar Elias Educational Institutions, from humble beginnings to major schools for educating Palestinian young people and for helping to bring about reconciliation in a land of strife. This book has been translated into 11 languages.

Chacour currently serves as Archbishop of Akko, Haifa, Nazareth and all Galilee. The main city of his diocese is Haifa, the great city of northern Israel. He was consecrated a bishop in the church of Saint Elias in Ibillin and his enthronement in the Haifa Cathedral was broadcast by the Melkite Ecumenical television station "Noursat" which originates in Beirut, Lebanon. Since his installation as bishop then he has already visited the United States twice in 2006.

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In 2001, Chacour gave an address at commencement at Emory University, in Atlanta, Georgia where he accepted an honorary degree.[1] . An excerpt from his speech:

“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 against my beloved Jewish brothers and sisters in the Holocaust and Auschwitz and elsewhere.

“And if you have been enlightened enough to take the side of the Palestinians -- oh, bless your hearts -- take our sides, because for once you will be on the right side, right? But if taking our side would mean to become one-sided against my Jewish brothers and sisters, back up. We do not need such friendship. We need one more common friend. We do not need one more enemy, for God's sake.”

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From a February 9, 2006 speech regarding becoming Archbishop of Galilee:

“I did not dream of this responsibility and this great honor. My dreams were different. At sixty-five years of age my ambition was to dedicate the rest of my life to prayer, reading and writing, but like Paul on the way to Damascus the Lord seems to tell me that he is the one in control. My answer is, "Here I am Lord. I am your servant to continue the ministry of reconciliation and to proclaim more forcefully the Good News about the Empty Tomb and the Risen Lord." No doubt my first reaction was tears of awe, of joy and of gratitude.”

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