Unlikely Victory (eBook)

Raji Abuzalaf (Autor)

eBook Download: EPUB

2025 | 1. Auflage
276 Seiten
Bookbaby (Verlag)
979-8-3509-9394-3 (ISBN)

Infos

This is a heartwarming story written by Raji Abuzalaf. It is a timely novel based on harsh realities that pose great challenges and burdens to the hero figure - Emil, a Palestinian American whose deepest desire is to be a champion for truth, peace, and above all, justice. Envision a lifetime filled with vivid experiences which prepare Emil for his journey into a political and social battleground. Now envision a brave world where adversaries are able to come together and prevail over their differences... That would surely constitute an unlikely victory.

Raji Abuzalaf is a Palestinian American poet, songwriter, and playwright. Born in Kuwait, Raji grew up in Houston, Texas and lived in Hawaii before settling back down in Dripping Springs, Texas. Raji worked as a Computer Consultant in the U.S. and abroad. In addition to producing an album of original Christmas songs, he has published six other books. He has also recently co-published three other books of poetry and song with his long-time songwriting partner, Keith Adams. Raji is married with three children and seven grandchildren.

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This is a heartwarming story written by Raji Abuzalaf. It is a timely novel based on harsh realities that pose great challenges and burdens to the hero figure Emil, a Palestinian American whose deepest desire is to be a champion for truth, peace, and above all, justice. Emil's journey begins in the Middle East before his family immigrates to the U.S. The story covers the many adventures during his exciting formative years and adolescence. All this leads up to a lucrative career brimming with situations revolving around truth and justice. Throughout the story, Emil expresses his emotions through various original poems and songs. Envision a lifetime filled with vivid experiences which prepare Emil for his sojourn into a political and social battleground. Now envision a brave world where adversaries are able to come together and prevail over their differences That would surely constitute an unlikely victory.

Textauszug

Chapter 1 – A Proper Upbringing

He sat crouched in the corner with his head sunk into his hands. The silence that surrounded him was deafening. The stubble on his cheeks irritated his palms, and that further frustrated him.

He had not been allowed to shower or shave for several days now. Disheartened, he looked up to observe the four gray walls and metal door for the thousandth time. The six-inch by six-inch glass portal on the door let just enough light in to keep him from going blind from the darkness. It was barely large enough to fit the small plates of grub he was supplied twice a day.

Again, he forced himself to get up and do his calisthenics – one hundred jumping jacks, twenty-five pushups, one hundred sit-ups, and twenty-five laps around the cell. The symmetry in numbers helped him retain some semblance of sanity. When he finished his exercises, he stood in the opposite corner and reflected upon his circumstances and all that had taken place which landed him here. Could he have avoided it? This was definitely not his first experience being incarcerated, though it may wind up being his last…

Ever since he was a little boy, Emil Abdel-Maseeh had repeatedly heard the story of the plight of the Palestinians. His parents were from the region of Galilee, their village just west of Nazareth. Like nearly one million other Palestinians, they were driven out of their homeland in 1948. This catastrophe was known as “The Nakba”.

Several Arab countries were sympathetic and took in many of these refugees. The not-so-lucky outcasts were relegated to the now infamous West Bank Refugee Camps. The Abdel-Maseeh family fortunately made it into Kuwait, a British “protectorate” at the time. They eventually established contacts in Jordan, which incidentally had gained their independence from Great Britain in 1946. Thanks to the kind-hearted support of King Hussein, who came into power in 1952, many Palestinian refugees were awarded complimentary passports. This would thankfully allow the Abdel-Maseeh family to obtain a visa and eventually immigrate to the United States – the “New World”.

Emil was born in Kuwait City in 1956 where his father, Lateef, had flaunted his architectural genius in designing schools and hospitals for the opportunistic and newly rich Kuwaitis. Since oil was discovered in 1938, the exploitative Americans and British began taking special interest in this otherwise useless desert peninsula.

Certain limited parties quickly became wealthy, while laborers from third-world countries provided the blood and sweat. The expatriated Palestinians were exceedingly more educated and therefore held many of the supervisory and administrative positions – not only in Kuwait but throughout the Middle East. They were responsible for most of the grunt work in many companies. In this manner, they began to earn their moniker – “niggers of the Arab world”.

Inevitably, an American company out of Oklahoma recognized Lateef’s talents. They convinced him to move his entire family to Stillwater where they assisted in arranging for his student visa and free tuition at Oklahoma State University. However, the free tuition only lasted one year.

So after much research, Lateef moved the family to Houston, Texas where they promptly established residency. That allowed Lateef to complete his education at the University of Houston at an amazing cost of $100 per semester. After attaining his degree, Lateef secured employment at a Jewish firm. Thusly, the family was able to establish U.S. residency. For all intents and purposes, the Abdel-Maseehs had now become Americans.

As for Emil, he was never afforded the opportunity to attend an Arabic school since the family left the Middle East before he reached school age. Of course, he had spoken Arabic at home, along with limited English and French. Kuwait had been under control of the British through 1961, so English was the official business language. On the other hand, Lebanon was under French control for twenty-five years. Since Emil’s mother’s family had escaped to Lebanon during the Nakba, he was exposed to the French language during every visit to his maternal grandmother in Beirut before entering the U.S. His very first institutionalized schooling came in the form of kindergarten in Stillwater, Oklahoma. When the family migrated to Houston, they enrolled him in a Catholic School in Third Ward, a relatively poor side of the rapidly growing town.

It was important for Emil to understand his heritage, so his parents did their best to indoctrinate him in their religious origins, as well as their cultural past. Their ancestors in Galilee were the first to accept Jesus as the true Messiah centuries ago. More than likely, they were Hebrew Jews who also spoke Aramaic and possibly Greek. In later years, Arabic would become the common spoken language in that region. In the fourth century CE, Christianity became – not only acceptable – but the official religion of the Roman Empire. When the empire was divided into West and East, Palestine fell under control of the Byzantine (Eastern) Empire. Over the years, the Christian faith was divided into many factions – Roman Catholic, Eastern Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, and a plethora of Protestant faiths. To complicate things further, Islam had made its way into Palestine in the seventh century CE. The majority of Muslims in Palestine are Sunnis, with a small contingent of Shiites. But then an offshoot of Judaism and Islam was borne – the Druze religion.

Palestine underwent generations of foreign occupation, along with political and religious unrest. Up until the turn of the twentieth century, the great majority of Jews that lived in Palestine were Hebrew (Semitic). Only after Zionism was established in the eighteen-nineties did Ashkenazi (non-Semitic) Jews begin to enter the country. This occurred mostly illegally, confounding the so-called British control. It may be hard to fathom due to modern-day mainstream propaganda, but throughout the centuries, Palestinians of these diverse faiths had learned to coexist rather peacefully until Zionism entered the picture.

The Abdel-Maseeh clan had followed the Eastern Catholic faith for centuries. However after coming to the U.S., the family’s choices were limited to Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholic. So they opted for the latter. The Catholic school that Emil attended was basically run by Dominican nuns. Daily presence at morning church services was mandatory. That part of the operation was run by priests, of course. Both parties – the priests and nuns – practiced corporal punishment. Emil was to take pleasure in that experience first-hand and quite often.

At home, his parents raised him in the old country, old school traditions. Honor God. Honor your parents. Respect your elders. Respect everyone around you unless and until they prove unworthy of respect. Pay special deference to females – ladies first – always. Be kind. Be thoughtful. Be thankful – always say “please” and “thank you”. Be clean – wash your hands before and after, and bathe often. Be prompt. Only take what’s yours. Always speak the truth.

It’s that last principle that would constantly get Emil into trouble.

Emil was an extremely bright boy. But his sheer honesty and candor yielded both good and bad consequences. As the youngest child in First Grade, he quickly got a reputation for being outspoken. He was academically swifter and socially wittier than the other students. At the same time, he regularly startled the teachers and priests by expressing his mind openly and unabashedly.

For instance, he questioned Catechism topics that did not add up or make complete sense to him. This was in stark violation of a major Catholic precept – never question your faith! Sometimes, he spoke up in defense of other students when he felt the teacher was being unfair. He had again breached an unwritten principle – never defy your teacher! Such recurring faux-pas earned him several trips to the Principal’s office, where he was rudely introduced to her swatting paddle. Sister Mary Paula was a large nun, intimidating to say the least, and downright scary with that thick board in her paws. Emil summarily deduced that she must have become Principal by beating up all the other nuns. As time went on, the swats increased in volume and force. But Emil continued in his frank and simple approach to growing up. He was inexorably developing a keen sense of justice and an earnest revulsion to injustice.

After one month in Second Grade the following year, his teacher insisted that Emil be moved up one grade. She explained to his father and the Principal that this was for Emil’s sake, as well as the other Second Grade students. Schools could get away with that kind of thing in the old days. Suddenly, he was a green, seven-year-old in the Third Grade. He still proved to be the smartest kid in the class, but moving him up to Fourth Grade was out of the question. In Third Grade, he learned a sacred value that would remain a part of him throughout his life – God, Country, and Family. It didn’t get any clearer than that for him and his peers.

In November of that year, President John F. Kennedy came to Texas. One evening, he made a special stop in Houston. Emil’s parents consistently spoke highly of JFK. Not only was he charismatic, he was the first Catholic President. He was a...

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 3.3.2025
• Sprache: englisch
• Themenwelt: Literatur ► Historische Romane
• ISBN-13: 979-8-3509-9394-3 / 9798350993943