No Place Left to Go: Why Palestine Matters

A personal, political, and religious journey from evangelical Christian faith and conservative politics to advocacy for anti-war, anti-racism, and Palestinian rights.




With a foreword by the Rev. Dr. Munther Isaac, Pastor of Christmas Evangelical Lutheran Church in Bethlehem.

Israel’s genocidal war on the Gaza Strip has raised global concern over the capacity of International law to bring the perpetrators to justice and accountability for war crimes. No Place Left to Go is a tour de force of one man’s metamorphosis from Christian zionism to a series of personal encounters with Palestinians—in Chicago, Beirut, and Jerusalem—including Israel’s 1982 invasion of Lebanon, the Sabra’ & Shatila massacre, and the initial hope inspired by the First Intifada of 1987-93.

After serving for five years as a pastor in a remarkable Black church, Donald Wagner comes to fully understand the original sin of racism. As his journey continues, he encounters another marginalized people—the Palestinians—and witnesses their struggle for justice and equality. Touched by their resilience and fight against injustice, he leaves the pastorate to assume full time work as an advocate for Palestinian political and human rights.

The memoir begins in mid-September 1982, with a gut-wrenching day interviewing survivors of the Sabra-Shatila massacre in Lebanon, as they wept and waited for the bodies of family members to be pulled from the rubble. Donald Wagner’s conversation with the local Imam ended with a challenge: “

You must return home and tell what you have seen. This is all we ask. Go back and tell the truth.”

The memoir touches on history and includes a timely political analysis—from the Nakba to the genocide in Gaza. In it, Donald Wagner describes Israel’s continued colonization and destruction of Palestinian lives and chronicles his involvement in a grassroots movement of resistance that demands justice based on full equality, an end to the Israeli military occupation and settler colonization project, the right of return for Palestinian refugees, and full political rights for the Palestinian people.

Filled with stories—some humorous and some shocking—as well as encounters with people of every race, gender, and religious affiliation working below the radar, this book will inspire, challenge, and offer a narrative that envisions a transformed “unholy land,” where justice, liberation, and equality for all is the reality for every citizen.

Donald E. Wagner received a Master of Divinity from Princeton Theological Seminary and a Doctor of Ministry degree from McCormick Theological Seminary. He was Director of the Center for Middle Eastern Studies at Chicago’s North Park University. He served as National Director of the Palestine Human Rights Campaign (1980-89), was Director of Middle East Programs for Mercy Corps International (1990-94), and was co-founder of Evangelicals for Middle East Understanding. He is the author of five previous books on Palestinian rights.

Phyllis Bennis is a fellow of the Institute for Policy Studies in Washington, and Director of its New Internationalism Program. Her areas include U.S. unilateralism and empire, the Middle East (particularly Israel-Palestine and Iraq), and US-United Nations relations. She is the author of Understanding the Palestinian-Israeli Conflict, Ending the Iraq War, Challenging Empire: How People, Governments and the UN Defy US Power, Calling the Shots: How Washington Dominates Today's UN, and Before & After: U.S. Foreign Policy and the War on Terrorism. Bennis appears frequently as a commentator/analyst on U.S. and international television and radio programs, including "The News Hour with Jim Lehrer" on PBS, the CBS "Morning Show," NPR's "Diane Rehm Show," and many others on CNN, BBC, Fox, CBC, and al-Jazeera TV. Her work has appeared in the Baltimore Sun, Christian Science Monitor, Le Monde Diplomatique (Paris), TomPaine.com, New York Newsday, The Philadelphia Enquirer, The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Nation, Mother Jones, and many other publications.