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ePalestine.ps - Sam Bahour

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News & opinions from a Palestinian-American
living & working in Ramallah/Al-Bireh, Palestine

Books

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“Rooted in Palestine: Palestinian Christians and the Struggle for National Liberation 1917-2004” [Recommended]

“Rooted in Palestine: Palestinian Christians and the Struggle for National Liberation 1917-2004” [Recommended]

by | October 15, 2022 | Books

Palestinian Christians are not only an integral part of the Palestinian struggle for freedom and independence, but they have also been pillars of Palestinian politics, resistance, business, culture, art, and so much more. Rooted in Palestine is a commendable synopsis of the Palestinian Christian community, interwoven with the history of the Church in Palestine and the inner dynamics of Palestine’s liberation movement. I congratulate my friend Xavier Abu Eid for this invaluable contribution to the documentation of Palestine and Palestinians.


“Stranger in My Own Land: Palestine, Israel and One Family’s Story of Home” by Fida Jiryis [Book Review]

“Stranger in My Own Land: Palestine, Israel and One Family’s Story of Home” by Fida Jiryis [Book Review]

by | September 8, 2022 | Books, Sam's Writings

I am ecstatic to be able to share with you the first review of the forthcoming book, Stranger in My Own Land: Palestine, Israel and One Family’s Story of Home, by Fida Jiryis. It was published in Le Monde diplomatique (English edition), September 2022 Issue, as part of their Palestine special report. For over a decade, I witnessed the making of this landmark memoir from concept to publishing. All I can say is R-E-S-P-E-C-T to the author and publisher. Order your copy today; this is not one to be missed!


An American Evangelical Christian Man’s Awakening to Palestine [Book Review]

An American Evangelical Christian Man’s Awakening to Palestine [Book Review]

by | July 6, 2022 | Books, Sam's Writings

The author of this memoir, Glory to God in the Lowest: Journey to an Unholy Land, Rev. Don Wagner, is a longtime friend. Back in the day, Rev. Wagner was based in Chicago, Illinois and I was in Youngstown, Ohio. We both were engaged in the same struggle for Palestine. Subsequently, when I relocated to Palestine, I would speak to the various eyewitness delegations he led to the Holy Land, or what he prefers to call the “unholy land” — which, he writes, “serves as a place of injustice that awaits the arc of the moral universe bending to usher in justice, peace, and reconciliation.”


Palestinians never stop conceding, for nothing in return [Book Review]

Palestinians never stop conceding, for nothing in return [Book Review]

by | June 30, 2022 | Books, Sam's Writings

Jerome M. Segal’s book has one main goal, which is to highlight the 1988 Palestinian Declaration of Independence as a lost inflection point: a rare, pivotal moment that the US, Israel, and even the Palestinian leadership who issued it, could have seized (but did not) to advance Palestinian statehood and peace between Palestinians and Israelis. “If it seems odd that a Jew should offer his thoughts on how Palestinians can be successful in their struggle, let me only add that the struggle for an independent Palestinian state is also the struggle for a humane and safe Israel, and that there can be no Judaism without a commitment to Justice.”


Israel’s linguistic acrobatics [Book Review]

Israel’s linguistic acrobatics [Book Review]

by | June 28, 2022 | Books, Sam's Writings

I am careful about recommending books. Everyone’s time is precious. My commending Alex McDonald’s How I Learned to Speak Israel: An American’s Guide to a Foreign Policy Language, and its sequel, When They Speak Israel: A Guide to Clarity In Conversations About Israel to your attention in a single review, then, means I found them to be beyond impressive. McDonald writes, “Language has consequences.” Then, as Mr. McDonald skillfully dissects the discourse on Israel and Palestine, that statement begins to seem wildly understated. McDonald’s analysis explains in detail how Israel and the West have used language, discourse, and narrative framing to camouflage a never-ending stream of the dispossession of Palestinians, including institutionalized discrimination, human rights abuses, military occupation, and so much more.


Foreign Perceptions of the United States under Donald Trump [Recommended]

Foreign Perceptions of the United States under Donald Trump [Recommended]

by | September 27, 2021 | Books, Sam's Writings

Featuring a chapter by Sam. “President Donald Trump’s term in office significantly affected the way the United States is seen by other nations in the international setting. This book presents 18 case studies of the effect of Trump policies and behavior on the U.S. standing abroad, and examines the long-term consequences of these effects.” A big hats off to Professor Gregory Mahler, Research Professor of Politics and Academic Dean Emeritus at Earlham College, as well as to all the distinguished fellow contributors from around the world.


An Israeli Settler I Want to Live Beside [Book Review]

An Israeli Settler I Want to Live Beside [Book Review]

by | January 2, 2021 | Books, Sam's Writings

The author, Jeff Halper, is a long-time friend, a thought partner, a fellow activist, and someone for who I have the utmost respect. The first two-thirds of this book (how Historic Palestine has been colonized) makes it to my top recommended readings on Palestine/Israel. The last third (how Palestine and Israel can be liberated from the horrendous outcome of this colonization process) gets filed into my growing filing cabinet of grand ideas to get all stakeholders past their pasts and engaged in building a joint future worth living between the River and the Sea.


Understanding American Jewish Philanthropy [Book Review]

Understanding American Jewish Philanthropy [Book Review]

by | October 20, 2020 | Books, Sam's Writings

Fundraise long enough and you start to learn that it is an industry, like most other domains, but very few people have the wherewithal and persistence to dig deep into the black box of how the mechanics of fundraising developed and exists in today’s world. Professor and Author Lila Corwin Berman clearly does not fit that description and her book is a fascinating read.


From AIPAC’s La-la Land to the Bitter Reality in the Holy Land [Book Review]

From AIPAC’s La-la Land to the Bitter Reality in the Holy Land [Book Review]

by | September 23, 2020 | Books, Sam's Writings

During the past few years, author Richard Forer is the second person who has come my way who is Jewish American, a former member or employee of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), and educated themselves on the Palestine and Israel that their upbringing consciously hid from them. Both also happen to write and are in a hurry to share with the world their learning journey, not to mention to speak out in the boldest way possible to make the case that they, as Jews, will not allow continuing Israeli war crimes to be done in their names.