Alison Nassar's Book -- Imm Mathilda

I'm first in line for this new book -- Imm Mathilda -- by my friend Alison Nassar. Alison is an excellent writer, so if you're interested in the Middle East, the Palestinian - Israeli conflict, the situation in Bethlehem or family relationships, then please give this book a read. The title "Imm Mathilda" is Arabic for "Mathilda's Mother."

Imm Mathilda: A Bethlehem Mother's Diary by Alison Jones Nassar. ISBN 1-886513-92-98

Dr. Fred Strickert writes:

For over two years during the present intifada, Alison has been writing reflections concerning life under Israeli occupation in Bethlehem. She writes from the perspective of a wife and mother concerned with issues of daily life: Her children going to school, her husband George crossing check-points to work in Jerusalem, her family trying to find meaning in endless days of curfew, living with tanks & Apache helicopters, neighbors killed and injured, children facing illness, survival at a time of economical hardship, and a struggle to hold on to the family farm coveted by neighboring settlements.

I have had the privilege of working with Alison on this book-- editing the reflections and writing sections to give a historical context.

The book is available by Kirk House Publishers in Minneapolis, MN 55439 (PO Box 390759: Phone: 952-835-1828: email: Stephanie@Kirkhouse.com)

To order go to their website: www.kirkhouse.com and click on "Catalogue" or

www.kirkhouse.com/catalog/bookcatalog.htm#ImmMathilda

For more information see their media page: https://www.kirkhouse.com/pdf/imm%20mathilda.PDF

It is available for $ 15.00 plus postage.
It will be listing on www.amazon.com and www.bn.com within a week or so.

Betty Bailey has prepared a study guide for small group discussion of the book that will be available with purchase through Kirk House-- courtesy of "Peaceful Ends Through Peaceful Means"

Endorsements:

Imm Mathilda gives the reader a front-row seat to observe the tragedies occurring in Palestine today. It offers both an opportunity to hear the personal accounts that humanize the situation and the factual reports of this little-understood conflict. And it is a page-turner as well! a "must read." Jerri Bird, President, Partners for Peace.

Alison Jones Nassar has written a fascinating account of life under Israeli attack and occupation. It is a book that should be read by every member of Congress. Jim Abourezk, Former U.S. Senator from South Dakota

Alison Jones Nassar is a voice in the wilderness that must be heard, the voice of a wife and mother, an American expatriate living with her Palestinian husband and their young children in occupied Bethlehem during the brutal incursions of the Israeli army following the uprising known as the Al Aqsa Intifada. Jones Nassar is a Christian writing with a passionate zeal for justice and truth. Hers is a voice with an overwhelming responsibility-to defend a people unjustly portrayed as "terrorists." Sister Elaine Kelley, Administrative Officer, Friends of Sabeel--North America

For those who have the courage to hear "the other side of the story," Allison Jones Nassar describes the daily existence of innocent Palestinian civilians. It is a life of curfews, checkpoints and closures which produces relentless humiliation and fear. There will be a just peace in the Middle East only when voices such as Nassar's are heard, and the oppression of daily violence can cease. Bishop Margaret Payne, New England Synod of the ELCA

Alison writes as an ordinary person, a wife and mother, who is just trying to manage from day to day under seemingly hopeless circumstances, trying to find meaning in the distress of every day. Her writing is powerful. It is filled with passion and poetry. Charles P. Lutz, retired social ministry executive.

Dr. Fred Strickert
Professor of Religion
Wartburg College
Waverly, IA 50677
Phone: 319-352-8346
Fax: 319-352-8213
email: Fred.Strickert@Wartburg.edu

For more information write to Fred Strickert at: fred.strickert@wartburg.edu