Jerusalem
The Home in Our Hearts
HCEF is very pleased to announce the publication of Dr. Saliba Sarsar’s book, Jerusalem: The Home in Our Hearts. This new book builds on his chapter, “Living My Faith in Jerusalem,” in the HCEF book, What Jerusalem Means to Us: Christian Perspectives and Reflections.
Jerusalem: The Home in Our Hearts is a colorful, multi-dimensional, and nuanced story of Saliba Sarsar’s family. With Greek, Russian, and Palestinian roots, it integrates aspects of daily life, community connections, and aspirations in the midst of poverty, conflict, and pain that extend from the Ottoman control of Jerusalem to the British Mandate, from the 1948 Arab-Israeli War to Jordan’s rule, and from the Six-Day War to Israel’s rule. Reading the Sarsar family’s story makes evident that ordinary people can overcome extraordinary conditions through faith, hope, and resilience. Jerusalem is a perfect place for checking the pulse, for hearing the heartbeat, for celebrations and songs. She is a perfect place for calling attention to the human in each of us, for realizing potential.
Jerusalem: The Home in Our Hearts published by Holy Land Books, an imprint of Noble Book Publishing Incorporated. It is available for purchase through HCEF website.
Holy Land Books
An imprint of Noble Book Publishing Company
Advance Praise for Jerusalem: The Home in Our Hearts
Jerusalem is the heart of the world, and the source of its peace or war. Saliba Sarsar bears a hidden tragedy in his being. He wants to make evident what is deep in his soul, and shares his family’s story to tell how Jerusalemites experience their divine city in the vicissitudes of their daily life. The reader will not only be enriched in knowing the Sarsar family saga, but also in having a new perspective and understanding of human despair and the hope of Jerusalem.
H.B. Michel Sabbah, Latin Patriarch Emeritus of Jerusalem
For many, Jerusalem’s deep personal and religious meaning transcends the often sordid politics of the city. Saliba Sarsar has written a family memoir that captures this reality. His family is a mosaic of mixed ethnic backgrounds and religious loyalties, but Jerusalem is the focus of their identities. This story should inspire readers to seek ways to transcend exclusive claims to Jerusalem and make its spiritual promise a shared world heritage.
H. E. Ambassador David Mack, Middle East Institute Scholar and former US Ambassador. MEI places contemporary issues in historical and cultural context
About the Author
Dr. Saliba Sarsar, born and raised in Jerusalem, is Chair of the Holy Land Christian Ecumenical Foundation’s Research and Publication Committee and Professor of Political Science at Monmouth University. He received his B.A. in political science and history interdisciplinary, summa cum laude, from Monmouth, and his doctoral degree from Rutgers University in political science. He is the author and co-author of several books, articles, and commentaries; editor of What Jerusalem Means to Us: Christian Perspectives and Reflections; and co-editor of Patriarch Michel Sabbah – Faithful Witness: On Reconciliation and Peace in the Holy Land. Dr. Sarsar was featured in The New York Times, “His Mission: Finding Why People Fight – A Witness to Mideast Conflict Turns to Dialogue and Peace.” Among his awards are the Holy Land Christian Ecumenical Foundation Award, the Global Visionary Award and the Stafford Presidential Award of Excellence from Monmouth University, the Award of Academic Excellence from the American Task Force on Palestine, and the Humanitarian Award from the National Conference for Community and Justice.