Title: The First Advent in Palestine
Author: Kelley Nikondeha
Publisher: Broadleaf Books
Pages: 214
My GoodReads Rating: ⭐⭐⭐
The First
Advent in Palestine was a beautiful book that stripped Advent of all
the holiday revelry that pervades this holy time today and set it in the
context of the conflict-ridden milieu in which Christ was born. It wasn’t a
peaceful time by any means, and yet very few people point out the violence that
that era of human history was fraught with.
The Palestine of the first Advent was just as
conflict ridden as it is today. The types of dangers that people faced
differed, but life then, as now, was unpredictable and frightening.
The author juxtaposes the past with the present. Most
newspapers and TV channels won’t even talk about the truth of what people in
Palestine are grappling with. The sheer trauma on account of Israel’s cruelty.
Tear gas, stun grenades, rubber-coated bullets and an ongoing genocide are the
reality of the people of Palestine.
The author draws parallels between then and now,
helping us to see their humanity and empathise with their struggles. Shepherds,
she tells us, were the “essential workers” of that time. Today’s tyrannical and
insecure leaders is what Herod was.
The author upturns our long-held notions about how
there was no room at the inn, telling us that’s not how Palestinians are.
Along the way, she introduces us to Israeli
Messianic Jews, Jews who believe that Jesus was the Messiah.
The book is non-fiction, but the writing is
literary and luminous.
One thing you can do in the dark is light a
candle. Another is tell a story.
In fraught places, childhood is complex.
There is a fierceness that coexists with kindness.
I must admit that I haven’t read much of the Old
Testament. But reading this book, I got a better understanding of the force of
God’s promise of peace to the world. It helped me to understand the context of
the Gospel, how Christ wasn’t born in a picture-perfect crib. Reading this book
took away the tinsel and holly and made the season real.
It’s ironic how it’s now the Jewish state of Israel
that is visiting death and destruction on others, namely, the people of
Palestine. We don’t speak enough about the pain being unleashed and perpetrated
in Palestine.
The book looks at the traumatised people of
Palestine through the lens of humanity to acknowledge their suffering. It takes
us along to bear witness to Zachariah’s story and Mary’s too, the former of
disbelief, the latter of acceptance. Alongside these, we read the stories of
Palestinians today, Sliman Mansour, Nafez Assaily etc.
The book forced me to think of things I hadn’t
considered. Like how silent night, holy night doesn’t necessarily mean peaceful
because nightfall brings dangers. Only privilege can equate silence with peace.
I realised that as we go from year to year, from Advent to Lent and back, the
need for that peace remains.
Flight to Egypt, a painting by Palestinian painter
Sliman Mansour, has been used on the cover. The image of Mary, the infant in
her arms, with a UN care package, reinforces how the Holy Family was seeking
normalcy and peace in their lives.
This is the book I didn’t even know I wanted.
