Book Review: “In My Mother’s Footsteps: A Palestinian Refugee Returns Home” by Mona Hajjar Halaby

A Year In Palestine

“In My Mother’s Footsteps” is an account of the year Mona Hajjar Halaby spent in Ramallah, teaching at the Ramallah Friends School. It includes anecdotes from the classroom, encounters with Palestinians and Israelis with different perspectives on the situation in the Middle East, family visits, and political activism. It is interspersed with letters from Mona’s mother, describing her childhood in pre-1948 Palestine.

Hatred Contaminates The Container It’s In

The purpose of Mona’s assignment is to teach conflict resolution to pre-teen children. The conflicts they are experiencing are those common to children everywhere – misunderstandings, prejudice, bullying. The hope is that by teaching non-violent ways of exploring the seeds of these issues and finding commonalities through peaceful and empathetic communication, these children can grow into leaders who will use the same tools to help build a peaceful future for the region.

As Mona experiences life in the occupied territories, her own frustrations are apparent, and grow. There is internal conflict, as her instincts for peace and compassion clash with the pain of seeing her people’s homeland usurped and her people downtrodden. She finds connections and support, sometimes in unexpected places, to peacefully protest against injustices.

A Family’s Story

Along with her work and her political activism, Mona spends time exploring her family history, tracing her mother’s home, and sharing memories when her mother visits. She has always identified as a Palestinian, and this has has always been her home, but her love for, and bond to, this country clearly grow stronger throughout her time there.

A Hundred And Fifty Years In Palestine

Weaving through the present-day experience of life under occupation, and through Mona’s family history, is the larger scale story of the Middle East. From the Ottoman Empire, through the Balfour Declaration and British Mandate, to the establishment of the State of Israel and subsequent Arab-Israeli wars, tragic mistakes, broken promises and acts of political expediency are chronicled.

War And Peace

I found “In My Mother’s Footsteps” powerful and engrossing. The way family and national history intertwined brought both aspects to life in a very comprehensible way. I feel like I understand the region far better after reading this book. Of course a one-sided perspective is being presented, but the author’s compassion and self-awareness shine through, so I believe the account is also a fair and realistic one, accurately describing the experience of today’s Palestinians.

As a Quaker, it was a delight to be introduced to the Ramallah Friends School, and to hear Mona’s very positive experiences of Quakerism, which felt very close to my own, despite the huge cultural differences between my own West Midlands and the West Bank.

As I previewed the audiobook, I have just one small gripe, which is that the narrator, Lameece Issaq, occasionally gave confusing inflections to sentences, as if she was reading them for the first time. For the most part though the narration was excellent, very clear. The audio is book-ended with short passages read by the author – another delight.

I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to get a picture of life in Palestine in the early 21st Century, and some background of how it has become so. There’s a great sadness in being reminded of how war, occupation, hatred and fear create ongoing tragedy in the lives of regular people. But there is hope too. There are people on both sides of the political/religious/societal divide who are working towards peace and reconciliation. Some of Mona’s students may soon be joining them in finding creative and compassionate answers to one of the world’s most intractable problems.

I would also recommend this as an autobiography. In many ways it is a small story, being played out on a huge stage. It’s a story that inspires me because it shows the difference any one of us could make if we commit to living out our values. While the difference made by one of us is small, together we might actually start to change the world.

Thank you to NetGalley, Bookouture Audio and Thread Books for providing this book for review.

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Navigation and Reflection

Yesterday was our first physical meeting for worship for several months, and I was also due to give a reading at a meeting for worship for learning afterwards, so I was keen to get to the meeting house rather than join online. I got up earlier than I have done recently on a Sunday, got myself washed and dressed and out of the door in good time for my drive to the city centre. And I arrived late.

Yes, I’d remembered the route. No, traffic wasn’t heavy. Yes, the weather was good. No, my car didn’t break down.

The problem was that 2 minutes from my destination a junction was closed for roadworks. The system of one-way streets in the city would make an alternative route difficult to work out. Fortunately there were diversion signs, so I followed a couple of yellow signs, and then they disappeared.

I couldn’t picture another way round, so I turned on my sat nav, and started driving around to the other side of the city. I was ignoring all the “turn around when possible” instructions because I knew they were taking me back to the usual, blocked route. I figured that eventually I’d be so far off course that it would stop trying to take me back and offer me a real alternative.

Well, eventually that happened, but I soon saw that it was just taking me back to where I’d started after all. I found myself waiting at lights where I was being instructed to turn right, and onto the road that was blocked.

I was weighing up whether to find a parking place and do the final part of the journey by foot, or just return home and join remotely. Then I noticed that the sat nav was showing an option to turn left a little further on, with a similar ETA. With nothing to lose, I decided to take it, and found myself driving alongside the roadworks, with a clear road to my destination. Both the meeting for worship and the subsequent session were special and rewarding.

You can probably see the life lessons before I spell them out, and you’ll probably see some that don’t occur to me. Here are my initial takeaways. I’d love to read more in your comments.

• When your path is blocked, there will be a way past the block, maybe an unexpected way.
• Sometimes when you keep being told to go a certain way, there’s a reason for that.”
• The best laid schemes o’ mice an’ men. Gang aft a-gley,” as Robert Burns wrote. Plans and preparation are good, but sometimes we just need to adapt.
• God’s timing is not ours, and His ways are mysterious, but they bring surprising opportunities, like the way my diverted drive brought me the opportunity to reflect here.

Them and Us

A public statement by the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) in Britain agreed in session at London Yearly Meeting 22–25 May 1987:

Quakers in Britain have felt called to issue this statement in order to address a matter of urgent national priority to promote debate and to stimulate action.

We are angered by actions which have knowingly led to the polarisation of our country – into the affluent, who epitomise success according to the values of a materialistic society, and the ‘have-leasts’, who by the expectations of that same society are oppressed, judged, found wanting and punished.

We value that of God in each person, and affirm the right of everyone to contribute to society and share in life’s good things, beyond the basic necessities.

We commit ourselves to learning again the spiritual value of each other. We find ourselves utterly at odds with the priorities in our society which deny the full human potential of millions of people in this country. That denial diminishes us all. There must be no ‘them’ and ‘us’.

We appreciate the stand taken by other churches and we wish to work alongside them.

As a Religious Society and as individuals we commit ourselves to examine again how we use our personal and financial resources. We will press for change to enable wealth and power to be shared more evenly within our nation. We make this statement publicly at a time of national decision [a general election] in the hope that, following the leadings of the Spirit, each one of us in Britain will take appropriate action.

From Quaker Faith & Practice 23:21.

A certain ruler asked him, ‘Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?’ ‘Why do you call me good?’ Jesus answered. ‘No-one is good – except God alone. You know the commandments: “You shall not commit adultery, you shall not murder, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, honour your father and mother.”’

‘All these I have kept since I was a boy,’ he said. When Jesus heard this, he said to him, ‘You still lack one thing. Sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.’ When he heard this, he became very sad, because he was very wealthy.

Jesus looked at him and said, ‘How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God! Indeed, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.’

Luke 18:18‭-‬25 NIVUK

Love in the Time of Covid-19

If you are interested in the way religious issues affect, and are affected by, current affairs and social movements, “Sunday” on BBC Radio 4, or its podcast, will give you plenty of food for thought.

Listening to the 15th November edition I was struck very powerfully by the contrast I heard in two responses to the Covid-19 pandemic in different faith contexts.

The first was evangelical pastor Regan King, who was committed to holding a church service in defiance of government restrictions. He talked about how the churches had “bent over backwards” to observe guidelines based on a “promise” that there would not be a second lockdown. He said “Our priority is fear of God,” and “We serve a greater law.”

When asked “What will you feel if, as a result of your decision, a member of your congregation gets ill, perhaps dies?” his response was this.

“It would be a tragedy, however, remember death is something that must come to everyone. We’ve developed a real idol of safety… We’re looking at hope beyond death…”

I’m sorry if I’ve misinterpreted this reaction. Only God knows anyone’s heart, and all I can do is talk about my human impression of what he said. And in all honesty I sensed a Pharisee spirit in both his words and his expression of them. The ritual of gathering on a Sunday was presented as more important than people’s lives. He tried to equate his rebellion against a temporary restriction with Jesus’s activism against engrained injustice. He was making a public demonstration of the goodness and value of his church’s ministry, rather than working quietly – preferably within the law – with vulnerable individuals, in the spirit of Matthew 6. And his callous remarks about death suggest he places little value on our Earthly lives. Why does he think we’re here?

The second interviewee was Priya Raja, whose mother recently died from Covid-19, and is now considering how to celebrate Diwali in the current circumstances.

After describing how her mother’s funeral could not take place in a normal way, but was adapted to respect Hindu rituals as fully as possible under the restrictions, she was asked “What’s your message to other people in the community who are preparing their Diwali celebrations?”

“I think Diwali is very important. It isn’t something that should be overlooked and if anything, with the year that we’ve had it is important to look at that time as hope and peace and reflection and celebrating the good times ahead. At the same point the one thing we’ve learned from this process is life is fragile. We weren’t expecting this, and this has happened, and it could happen to anybody, and that should be over and above getting together and celebrating. And we can celebrate, we can do mithais, we can get dressed up, we can have the diyas lit up, all within our own homes, without mixing, as per the government guidelines, and rightly so.”

Her humility, respect for law and life, and graceful, gentle spirit shine through her words. This is love. And this is someone who I would want to know and spend time with.

I don’t care what faith you claim to hold. If your religion is more important than your neighbour, there’s something you deeply misunderstand about your Creator.

(Image Source: The Indian Express, File Photo)

Do Not Worry

Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?

And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labour or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendour was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you – you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, “What shall we eat?” or “What shall we drink?” or “What shall we wear?” For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

Matthew 6:25-34 (NIVUK)

Comfort and Hope During Troubled Times

Don’t let familiarity breed contempt when it comes to these verses.  They are Jesus’ words, true now and always.

Comfort

Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke on you and learn from me, because I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy to bear, and my load is not hard to carry.

Matthew 11:28‭-‬30 NET

Hope

I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.

John 16:33 NIVUK

The Parable of the Mysterious Stranger

In time of war in an occupied country, a member of the resistance meets one night a stranger who deeply impresses him. They spend that night together in conversation. The Stranger tells the partisan that he himself is on the side of the resistance – indeed that he is in command of it, and urges the partisan to have faith in him no matter what happens. The partisan is utterly convinced at that meeting of the Stranger’s sincerity and constancy and undertakes to trust him.

They never meet in conditions of intimacy again. But sometimes the Stranger is seen helping members of the resistance, and the partisan is grateful and says to his friends, ‘He is on our side.’ Sometimes he is seen in the uniform of the police handing over patriots to the occupying power. On these occasions his friends murmur against him; but the partisan still says, ‘He is on our side.’ He still believes that, in spite of appearances, the Stranger did not deceive him. Sometimes he asks the Stranger for help and receives it. He is then thankful. Sometimes he asks and does not receive it. Then he says, The Stranger knows best.’

Sometimes his friends, in exasperation, say, ‘Well, what would he have to do for you to admit that you were wrong and that he is not on our side?’ But the partisan refuses to answer. He will not consent to put the Stranger to the test. And sometimes his friends complain, ‘Well, if that’s what you mean by his being on our side, the sooner he goes over to the other side the better.’

Basil Mitchell

You can read more analysis of this in its original context here.

Reflections on Covid-19

I don’t know what I’m going to write. This post is for my “Christian Journey” blog, but I don’t know how comfortably it will fit. Covid-19 is part of all our journeys today, and I feel that I need to write about what I see, in others and in myself. I still don’t know what I’m going to write. I’ll just start, and see where I go.

I’ve been affected personally by the pandemic. Not as hard as many millions, but I’ve lost a friend of over 20 years who made me smile countless times. I don’t know if it’s that, or the loneliness of lockdown, but I’ve started getting quite upset, and angry, about some of the things I’m reading.

There’s the ridiculous conspiracy theories. As if this situation was deliberately engineered, or at least manipulated to subjugate or decimate the population. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve seen a huge number of bad decisions made in my own and other countries. Some people may have even made cynical attempts to gain from human misery. But whatever the genesis of this strain of coronavirus, its spread from the beginning has been the result of natural behaviours, viral and human. There is no evidence to the contrary, just theories concocted to satisfy particular world views. When I read the imaginations of conspiracists I don’t know how to feel. There’s anger that they and those who believe them are diverting precious time and energy from more helpful pursuits. There’s sadness that some hurting people will be fooled into believing fairy tales at a time when their emotions are most fragile and malleable. And there’s frustration that no amount of reasoned argument can change their mind, because if I don’t accept their narrative I’m either part of the problem or one of the gullible masses.

There’s the claims that the virus isn’t as contagious or as deadly as we’re told, and that the restrictions to our civil liberties are out of proportion to the threat. I’ve heard people suggest that the fact that the NHS hasn’t been completely overwhelmed shows that the UK government overreacted. I work in IT, and I have done for nearly 25 years, which means I was there at the heart of the Y2K panic. When we didn’t suffer blackouts and ATM failures and planes falling out of sky there was a large number of the population that ridiculed the effort and expense of fixing the “millennium bug.” I can tell you that there was a huge amount of code that had been written without any expectation of still running in the year 2000, or what the consequences might be. If the remedial work hadn’t taken place then it probably wouldn’t have caused an apocalypse but many companies and authorities would have suffered massive system failures and this would have led to all kinds of stresses for members of the public. Similarly, without social distancing and other precautions the already dreadful number of Covid-19 fatalities would definitely have been many times higher. Here’s an interesting article explaining how this can be demonstrated in responses to the 1918 influenza pandemic.

There’s the small number of religious leaders who don’t understand that God is omnipresent, who don’t understand that a church building is just a building, not the church, and who hold on to either a paranoid idea that government is trying to destroy religion by treating them the same as other groups, or a messianic belief that their congregations will be lost to the darkness if kept away from their physical presence for too long. I’m grateful to be part of a faith community that understands and works with the realities of this world while seeking practical ways to improve that reality for those who are truly oppressed.

And of course there are the political leaders who have failed to lead effectively. As I said to my friends on Facebook, I don’t expect perfection from members of the government any more than I would from any other human being. But I do expect a few things. I expect them to forego secrecy and spin in the face of a national and global crisis. I expect them to learn from their mistakes and from the successes of leaders elsewhere – not when this is all over, but now, while learning from mistakes could save lives. I told my friends there were three qualities I was looking for in our leaders: honesty, humility and compassion. Sadly in many countries, including my own, it’s hard to find leaders with all three of those qualities.

I don’t like the way the pandemic has highlighted the flaws in my own character. I’ve always known I have some hypocritical tendencies. I will look out of my window and make judgemental assessments of people walking or driving past, while trying so hard to control my own urge to go out for frivolous journeys and visits.

I like to think of myself as witty. It’s probably closer to the truth to say I have quite a dry, dark and bitter sense of humour. Part of me feels that this is the time for such humour to shine, but in fact as the death toll has risen things have got ever more serious, and I know that many of my humorous remarks would be inappropriate and hurtful, so I’m learning to rein them in.

And of course the situation we’re in is nurturing my negative emotions. There’s the anger and frustration I’ve already described. There are times of deep loneliness, sadness, bitterness and jealousy. My days have their bright moments as well, to be sure, but I feel that as lockdown continues the dark feelings get stronger.

What can I do? Trust God, of course, because through all our trials He is faithful. Remember that this will pass, and that those of us who survive will be stronger for what we’ve learned through it. And if all else fails, I’ll probably indulge in some chocolate. 🙂

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
He makes me lie down in green pastures.
He leads me beside still waters.
He restores my soul.
He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil,
for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.
You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;
you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life,
and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.

Psalm 23 (ESVUK)

Responding to the Pandemic

I’ve been wanting to say something here about Novel Coronavirus / Covid-19 / SARS-CoV-2 for a few weeks, but I struggled to find the right approach, and the right words. Fortunately Frank Viola today wrote a post that came very close to what I would have chosen, so I can direct you to his words:

It’s Not the Time to Binge on Netflix

He does a little self-promotion in his post, but that’s ok because the material he produces is generally excellent. I found the Martin Luther quote at the end of the post stunning.

All I will add to this is that there is nothing new under the sun (Ecclesiastes 1:9). This situation feels extraordinary to us because it is extraordinary to us, but similar events have happened throughout human history, and human beings have no doubt responded in all the same ways we are doing now.

I don’t want to discount the real pain and suffering of all kinds that the current situation is inflicting on people everywhere. The phrase “mourn with those who mourn” came to mind. Here is the passage that contains those words. This is for all times:

Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in love. Honour one another above yourselves. Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervour, serving the Lord. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality.

Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited.

Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord.

Romans 12:9-19

A Prayer For Help

Why are you far away, Lord? Why do you hide yourself when I am in trouble? Proud and brutal people hunt down the poor. But let them get caught by their own evil plans!

The wicked brag about their deepest desires. Those greedy people hate and curse you, Lord. The wicked are too proud to turn to you or even think about you. They are always successful, though they can’t understand your teachings, and they keep sneering at their enemies.

In their hearts they say, “Nothing can hurt us! We’ll always be happy and free from trouble.” They curse and tell lies, and all they talk about is how to be cruel or how to do wrong. They hide outside villages, waiting to strike and murder some innocent victim.

They are hungry lions hiding in the bushes, hoping to catch some helpless passerby. They trap the poor in nets and drag them away. They crouch down and wait to grab a victim. They say, “God can’t see! He’s got on a blindfold.”

Do something, Lord God, and use your powerful arm to help those in need. The wicked don’t respect you. In their hearts they say, “God won’t punish us!” But you see the trouble and the distress, and you will do something. The poor can count on you, and so can orphans. Now break the arms of all merciless people. Punish them for doing wrong and make them stop.

Our Lord, you will always rule, but nations will vanish from the earth. You listen to the longings of those who suffer. You offer them hope, and you pay attention to their cries for help. You defend orphans and everyone else in need, so that no one on earth can terrify others again.

Psalm 10, Contemporary English Version

I’m not sure what led me to this psalm last week, but when I read it I was immediately reminded of many powerful people in today’s world that seem to fit the description of the “wicked” given here. And I recognised the frustration of the psalmist, wondering how and why God allows these people to apparently thrive.

But their “victory” is temporary, while God’s is eternal. Their “freedom” is an illusion, while freedom in Christ is deep and real.

We can cry out to God, and pray for justice. And we can do our part, large or small, in bringing it about. But no matter how dark the world becomes we can never lose hope, because the Light of the World has already overcome the darkness.

John 1:5, John 3:19-21, John 8:12, Ephesians 5:6-20