Title: Crossing Borders: The Search For Dignity In Palestine
Author: Christa Bruhn
Reviewed by: Michelle Caffrey
May 2023 | 504 pp
Paperback ISBN-10 : 1955656525
ISBN-13 : 978-1955656528
Genre: Memoir
Publisher: Little Creek Press
5-Star Review – Insider’s view of the Palestine-Israeli conflict
For anyone who desires peace in Israel and Palestine, Crossing Borders: The Search for Dignity in Palestine, is essential reading. Christa Bruhn’s father, an American immigrant raised under Nazi Germany, instilled in her an early sense of justice and desire for peace. Her journey to Palestine and Israel at the height of the Cold War ignited her passion for making a difference in the lives of the Palestinian people.
The mother of three Palestinian American children, her memoir recounts her unique journey from student to advocating for Palestine. By providing intimate details of daily life in the contested areas of Israel and Palestine, she humanizes past struggles that continue today. From the lack of basic needs for Palestinians such as running water, power, and toilet facilities to crossing borders with her children with armed checkpoints and electric fences to visit relatives, readers will get a glimpse of life they might otherwise not know.
While living in Palestine, Christa attempted to improve her children’s schools and fought for human rights. Through recipes and long-held traditions, the memoir celebrates Palestinian culture and the need to protect the land for generations to come.
In the future, Christa “hopes for a narrative that respects the histories of both Jewish Israelis and Palestinians, so that both peoples can live a life of dignity in a place they call home.” The author’s first-hand experiences and her academic background, make her uniquely qualified to write this memoir on both the past and the future of Palestine and Israel. I highly recommend her story with its underlying message of hope for peace.
Reviewer Michelle Caffrey’s travel memoir, Just Imagine: A New Life on an Old Boat details cruising the waterways of France aboard her 1906 Dutch barge. She is the author of Bring Jade Home: The True story of a Dog Lost in Yellowstone. Her award-winning picture book Jade-Lost in Yellowstone was published in 2020. “Desire in Dairyland,” a romantic mystery novel set in Southeastern Wisconsin, is scheduled for publication November 2023. She and her husband Paul live in Lake Geneva where they are never far from water. www.MichelleCaffrey.com
