Taysir (Tass) Saada grew up a Palestinian refugee. Tossed by the winds of change, his family suffered mistreatment and ridicule in a culture that equates land ownership with honor. His family’s treatment as second-class citizens and the lack of control over their own destiny provided the fuel for young Taysir’s rebellion against authority and his hatred towards the Jewish people from a young age. This volatile combination propelled him into the ranks of a Palestinian liberation movement – Fatah – at a young age. He was soon engaged in guerilla tactics against the Israeli Armed Forces, served as a sniper, and under his own initiative attempted an assassination of a Jordanian prince. As a personal vendetta he casually tossed grenades into the homes of Christians when notified of their presence. Taysir Saada was a man filled with rage.

Once an Arafat Man is Saada’s story. Recounted in first person, past tense, the early parts of his life sound like a quick recitation. Like many autobiographies by those who are not authors by calling, the prose can be pedestrian at times, intense moments lacking in suspense and emotion. However, the events Saada recalls are not those he is proud of, his new life is a far cry from his violent years as a youth. His reluctance to magnify the emotions and intensity of those experiences is understandable.

Being sorely ignorant of the background of current tensions in the Middle East, the first portion of the book served to fill in yawning chasms in my understanding of the situation. As I’m not a military or political aficionado, I moved through these pages slowly, despite the down to earth writing style.

After his father’s manipulations to extricate Taysir from his involvement in Fatah and a brief fallow period, Taysir made his way to America, married, and entered the hospitality industry. He soon adopted the nickname “Tass,” easier for American tongues to pronounce. In his mid-forties Tass came to know Jesus as his Lord in a dramatic, instantaneous conversion experience, the likes of which I’ve never read.

While the first parts of the book read slowly, I was spellbound by the changes God worked in Saada’s life following his new birth. I was able to see God reaching into this man’s life, into his heart and changing him, dissolving his rage, kindling his love and igniting a passion to see Jews, Muslims, and Christians reconciled under the Lordship of Jesus Christ. Once a highly trained guerilla under the command of Yasser Arafat, Saada transformed into a spiritual warrior under the command of God most high.

After experiencing God’s radical grace and forgiveness through the blood of Jesus/Yasooa/Yeshua, a work was begun in Tass Saada. This work is broad, deep, and a part of it is expressed through this book. By reading of God’s work through the Holy Spirit in this man’s life I was encouraged, educated and led to examine the scriptures pertaining to the descendants of Isaac and Ishmael in a new light.

This vibrant, relevant understanding comes from the collision of God’s word with a life spent in service in the hot-spots: the Gaza Strip, the West Bank. Saada knows what he’s talking about; he’s been there, experienced life as a Palestinian refugee and returned as a believer in Christ to re-examine, to seek answers, to find a way.

While Once an Arafat Man is vitally important reading for believers who are ignorant of the struggle over the Holy Land, anyone with a heart for peace in the Middle East should read Saada’s work. The combination of first-hand experience, wisdom of years, and a new, reflective perspective provide illuminating insight and hope for the future.

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Publisher Info:

Title: Once an Arafat Man – The True Story of How a PLO Sniper Found a New Life
Author: Tass Saada and Dean Merrill
Format: Hardcover, 256 pages
Publisher: Tyndale House Publishers (September 17, 2008)
ISBN-10: 1414323611
ISBN-13: 978-1414323619