Recently King Abdullah of Jordan met with the President of the Palestinian Authority Mahmoud Abbas to discuss efforts to revive the Israeli-Palestinian peace process. Speaking on the subject with the speaker of the Jordanian parliament and leaders of parliamentary committees, he stated, "The future of the Palestinian issue is at stake and reaching a solution is becoming more difficult. . . There will be no breakthrough in the peace process if there is no American commitment to support a solution to the Palestinian issue.”
That puts America in a position to make a real difference - for better or for worse. Frances Fuller, author of 'In Borrowed Houses' issued a statement on her blog that cut straight to the heart of the matter. That statement, entitled "Is America Committed To Peace? Enough to Create a Department of Peace?", read in part:
"Whatever the source of this strange power America has to make peace possible or not, even if it exists primarily in the dreams of the Arabs and Israelis, it is a frightening responsibility. And here we sit with a president whom fewer than 40% of us trust, according to the polls. A talkative president who is exchanging taunts about nuclear weapons with another leader whom we also don’t trust."
"Here we sit with no Department of Peace. Just a State Department with numerous links to the Department of Defense that is totally prepared for war. And of course we have whomever Trump might send to mediate. Jared Kushner?"
"Is America committed to peace in the Middle East? Clearly King Abdullah is uncertain. Is America committed to peace anywhere? A lot of us are uncertain."
"We could give the world a convincing answer to these questions by establishing a governmental department (the US Department of Peace) devoted to pursuing peace at home and abroad: between us and our neighbors, between Middle Eastern neighbors, between North and South Korea, between the fearful and the people they are afraid of, between white Americans and the rest of us."
The full statement is available at Fuller's website at http://www.inborrowedhouseslebanon.com.
Frances Fuller puts a face on the Middle East many Americans have not yet seen. Her award-winning memoir, 'In Borrowed Houses', gives readers a penetrating glimpse of the Middle East from the inside.
The Syrian occupation of Lebanon during that country’s long civil war is part of Fuller’s experience in the Middle East, related in her memoir. Told in short episodes, Fuller’s book reveals the alienation, confusion and courage of civilians in the Lebanese civil war, introducing to the reader a variety of real people with whom the author interacts: editors, salesmen, neighbors, refugees, soldiers, missionaries, lawyers, shepherds, artists, students. With these people she works, studies, plays games, prays, laughs and cries, all to the accompaniment of gunfire. Together these small stories tell what war is like for civilians caught on a battlefield, and they create the impression of the Lebanese as a fun-loving, witty, patient and resilient people. Fuller's stories compose not a political history, but a historical document of a time and a place.
'In Borrowed Houses' has taken three industry awards. Frances Fuller was the Grand Prize winner in the 2015 '50 Great Writers You Should Be Reading' Book Awards. It received the bronze medal for memoir in the Illumination Book Awards in 2014. Northern California Publishers and Authors annually gives awards for literature produced by residents of the area. In 2015 'In Borrowed Houses' received two prizes: Best Non-fiction and Best Cover.
Critics have praised ‘In Borrowed Houses.’ A judge in the 22nd Annual Writer’s Digest Self-Published Book Awards called 'In Borrowed Houses' “ . . a well written book full of compassion . . . a captivating story . . . ”. Another reviewer described the book as “Wise, honest, sensitive, funny, heart-wrenching . . .”. Colin Chapman, lecturer in Islamic Studies at the Near East School of Theology in Beirut said, “ . . . western Christians and Middle Eastern Christians need to read this story…full of remarkable perceptiveness and genuine hope.”
Frances Fuller is available for media interviews and can be reached using the information below or by email at frances0516@att.net. The full text of her latest article is available at her website. Fuller's book is available at Amazon and other book retailers. A free ebook sample from 'In Borrowed Houses' is available at http://www.payhip.com/francesfuller. Frances Fuller also blogs on other issues relating to the Middle East on her website at http://www.inborrowedhouseslebanon.com.
About Frances Fuller:
Frances Fuller spent thirty years in the violent Middle East and for twenty-four of those years was the director of a Christian publishing program with offices in Lebanon. While leading the development of spiritual books in the Arabic language, she survived long years of civil war and invasions.
Contact:
Frances Fuller
frances0516@att.net
http://www.inborrowedhouseslebanon.com
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