Once an Arafat Man: The True Story of How a PLO Sniper Found a New Life

terrorist to christ

"once an arafat man" is an amazing memoir that is hard to put down. a 17 year old fill of hate and rage in the middle east joined up with the plo and becam involved in some of the most vilent acts agaist israel and other innocent civialians in the middle east and moved up in the ranks of the terrorist organization till be became a sniper and a driver for arafat however he soon found a greater and most pwerful calling the love of jesus Christ that caused him to give up his violence towords israel and other innocent civialians .great gift idea for a friend or family member or church friend or pastor friend

from terrorist to christian

"once an arafat man" is an amazing story and very hard to put down. tass saada grew up to be a very violent terrorist in the middle east and was even a plo terrorist and a driver for arafat and filled with hatred and murdered countless civialians until he left the islamic religion and his terrorist organization and found a far more powerful faith christianity. I was really fasinated to see how he was able to leave his hate and violence behind this a fasinating memoir truly one I will never forget. great gift idea for a family member or friend. please share with your church friends and your pastor

A must read.

This is the amazing story of Tass Saada, who at 17 was already a trained sniper for the PLO. Learn of his life as a PLO sniper, his struggles, and what led him to seek the Lord and led a life of Christan faith. Even at the threat of death, he stayed true to his love and devotion to God. Rarely do you get an in depth look into a life of a PLO sniper. More rare, is to see how his converted against the odds to Christianity. This book will keep you furiously turning pages and constantly having to remind yourself that this book is TRUE. This is a book not to be missed!

Currently Tass Saada, is the cofounder of Hope for Ishmael, a non profit organization whose goal is to lead Arabs and Jews to Christ.

My review of Once An Arafat Man

Tass Saada is a man who started his life hating the Jews and when he was old enough at the age of 17, he ran away and joined the PLO (Palestinian Liberation Organization) as a Fatah fighter. Tass and his friends killed Jews in Israel. They attacked Christians in Jordan. They even went as far as throwing hand grenades in to their homes. Tass was born in Gaza and raised in Saudi Arabia where the Palestinians and Jews hated each other and were constantly fighting. The more violent the better, he once even tried to assassinate a prince of an Arab country.
The first part of the book goes into this part of Tass's life as a terrorist, about the strict rules of his Muslim religion, and of course his family. He tells how he became a friend and chauffer of Yassir Arafat (thus the title). Arafat was a hero to Tass and he would gladly give up his life for this hero.
The second part of the book tells how Tass comes to America in 1974 and moves to Columbia, Missouri where he had a friend. He stays with this friend for awhile, gets his GED and meets Karen (his future wife). She at first wants nothing to do with him but he does win her over. Karen had a baby to raise and she does agree to marry him. At the beginning he did marry her so he could get his Green card. Tass and Karen had a daughter together and with a son (Karen's from a previous relationship) and they settled into married life. Tass's family of course were not accepting of the marriage as he was supposed to marry a girl within his own Muslim religion. Tass goes on into the restaurant business, starting at the bottom and working up until he was managing a restaurant with the goal to open his own at some point.
The third part of the book tells how Tass meets a man, Charlie Sharpe, and with Charlies help over a period of time learns to love. Charlie teaches him about Jesus and and the Bible. He realized in his heart that God does exist and he wants Jesus in his life. As the story goes on to tell how Charlie wants to open up a church in Missouri and have a Christian community where he could also have a school for troubled kids who needed guidance. Tass sell their restaurant and move to Missouri to do what they can to help. Tass ends up working in the kitchen, starting all over at the bottom, Karen started teaching 4th grade at the school.
Tass, after becoming a Christian feels that it is his duty to educate the the Muslims and Jews and how they need to accept God into their lives and to live peacefully with each other. As a result Tass travels around the country, giving talks and speeches. He even goes back to Gaza to again try to educate the Muslims and Jews.
I did enjoy this story and I learned more about the strife in the Middle East and why they were actually fighting. I had never heard of Tass Saada of course and I was impressed by this man who overcame his hatred and learned to love because he brought Jesus into his life. He was also willing on his travels back to Jordan to face whatever charges there might be because of his PLO actions. I would recommend this book highly. I received this book from Tyndale for review.

Read pg. 196-200

Last week, my husband and I watched the movie, The Kingdom. It was a powerful and frightening movie. As I read the first part of this book, I put Tass's story in the context of what was in that movie to help me picture what he did and what life was like for him. The first half of the book is very easy to read, not too gory or bloody in its description. It isn't especially engaging writing, but the first half does convey the story of Tass's life well. The second half is really what makes this book worth reading. Particularly pg. 196-200. I appreciated Saada's description of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as well as what he believes are the reasons behind it. I think it would be good for every Christian to read this part of the book. I think it would give us all great deal of compassion for the Palestinians and understanding.

Last year, I read Jimmy Carter's second book about Palestine and Israel. It was very good (as was the first), but this book is different because it comes from an insider. Saada above all wants peace for all and truly wants to live out the Lord's command for us to Love One Another as God has loved us.

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