From Wisconsin to Gaza to Jenin: An American Writer’s Lived Experience in Palestine [Book Review]

Crossing Borders: The Search for Dignity in Palestine
By Christa Bruhn
Little Creek Press (May 20, 2023), 506 pages, $28.95

"She closes the book hopeful that a life of dignity for Palestinians will not be in the too-distant future.

My respected friend, Sam Bahour: 'I would reframe her take on ‘dignity' by acknowledging that it is not a particular destination point, but the road traveled every day, with every meal, and through every checkpoint.

Crossing Borders confirms that “dignity” is alive and well in Palestine

and surely in the author herself as she lives every moment to its fullest,

despite challenging odds, at times. ‘"

Christa Bruhn’s newly published memoir is not the first to revolve around Palestine. However, it is uniquely placed among the few books which were written by writers who, themselves, experienced Palestine.

If you walk away from reading this book feeling that you have just read a memoir of an American daughter of a German immigrant raised under Nazi Germany, and the mother of three Palestinian Americans, who meets Palestine from the ground level, you would be correct.

If you walk away feeling you have been exposed to what daily life is like for Palestinians living under prolonged military occupation, you would also be correct.

If you walk away feeling you were presented with a high-level lesson on Palestinian history, along with the seismic shift that took place in Palestinian life following the Oslo Accords and the establishment of the Palestinian Authority, you would also be correct.

If you walk away feeling you have just read a Palestinian cookbook, full of culinary insights from inside daily life in Palestine, you would also be correct.

If you walk away feeling you were given a crash course in the Arabic language idioms expressed in every Palestinian household, you would also be correct.

If you walk away feeling you got an inside look at how the leading agricultural firm in Palestine, Canaan Palestine, was established and the amazing people behind the scenes, you would also be correct.

If you walk away feeling you were given a sneak peek into Palestinian family life seen through the eyes of a deeply loving American from Wisconsin with a vested interest, through marriage, into a Palestinian family, you would also be correct.

If you walk away feeling that you were deep into the mind of an American social justice activist bent on wanting to help, be it in the kitchen, in the fields, or to bring peace to this troubled region, you would also be correct.

If you walk away feeling you were eloquently transposed throughout Historic Palestine by way of a travel log of a curious and impassioned traveler, you would also be correct.

Be prepared to experience all of the above reflections and more after this eloquent read.

The book has plenty of nuanced explanations of a multitude of learning points explained in depth in extensive endnotes.

Author Christa Bruhn

The author is deeply focused on telling her story and living her life, seeking “dignity” at every turn. She closes the book hopeful that a life of dignity for Palestinians will not be in the too-distant future. I would reframe her take on “dignity” by acknowledging that it is not a particular destination point, but the road traveled every day, with every meal, and through every checkpoint. Crossing Borders confirms that “dignity” is alive and well in Palestine and surely in the author herself as she lives every moment to its fullest, despite challenging odds, at times.

Author Christa Bruhn holds degrees in International Studies (BA), Middle Eastern & North African Studies (MA), and Educational Leadership & Policy Analysis (Ph.D.). She has studied six languages, including Hebrew, and can speak four, including Arabic. She has published academic work on Palestine, peace education, and diversity, and led and participated in roundtables on the future of Palestine and Israel.

Being a Palestinian American myself, I can relate to Christa’s experience in being introduced to all aspects of Palestinian life. I imagine her three Palestinian American children are all going through the same feelings we did, with all the complicated emotions which accompany the learning process.

Having recently reviewed the landmark memoir book, Stranger in My Own Land: Palestine, Israel and One Family’s Story of Home, by Palestinian writer Fida Jiryis from Fassouta in the Upper Galilee, which can be described as a political memoir, Crossing Borders is its perfect bookend that can be characterized as a social memoir of Palestine from a foreign writer’s perspective looking inward to the intricacies of Palestinian life.

I applaud Christa’s honesty and sincerity in sharing her reflections on her learning process while acknowledging the Palestinian narrative and history. In parallel, she generously opens her personal life and deep feelings about her reactions throughout her journey with Palestine.

As is frequently said, when more people learn what Palestinians are going through at the hands of the state of Israel, with the full assistance of Western states, mainly America, more will reach their own conclusion that this human-made tragedy must come to an end.

Sam Bahour is a Palestinian-American business consultant and frequent independent political commentator from Ramallah/Al-Bireh in Occupied Palestine. He is co-editor of HOMELAND: Oral Histories of Palestine and Palestinians and blogs at ePalestine.ps. @SamBahour