WASHINGTON, D.C.—Each morning growing up, Brigitte Gabriel looked at the same mildew-covered cement wall that was just inches from her face upon waking. Strange as it may seem, those gray blocks were as beautiful as the Sistine Chapel to her.
They meant Gabriel had survived another night in the dingy underground bomb shelter she and her family called home.
As a girl, the New York Times best-selling author spent seven years in an underground 8-by-10-foot cave of sorts after Islamic radicals blew up her home in a small Christian town in southern Lebanon in 1975.
"Despite the circumstances, I glowed from ear to ear every morning, because I knew that by waking up, it meant at least one more day that I could hug and kiss my parents," Gabriel wrote in her new book, "RISE: In Defense of Judeo-Christian Values and Freedom." "Having air in my lungs meant I still had a chance to survive and that one day things would go back to the way they were before the war. Instead of playing games with friends, I spent years in that shelter lying in bed, knitting, or crocheting to keep my mind off the fact that my life could be over in an instant. Every night I prayed very hard to live just one more day while bombs rained from above.
This childhood greatly impacted—and, in fact, still drives today—Gabriel's life's work. "RISE" arms readers with the details and facts that she has learned over her lifetime about terrorism—real, compelling data that will equip Americans to fight the efforts of the nation's enemies to undermine the U.S. culture at every level. "RISE" also motivates readers to unite with other patriots who wish to preserve America's endangered Judeo-Christian values and freedom.
Gabriel's passion to share this important message is fueled by remembering that terrorism robbed her of her childhood.
"When my home was bombed and nearly every material possession was taken from me, I went from having maids to eating dandelions that I would dig out around our bomb shelter when the bullets and explosions would subside for a while," Gabriel said. "I went from having a chauffeur drive me to school to being driven to and from school in a military tank, which could fit myself and 15 other children inside. Some days I had to run home from school as fast as I could, and I routinely dove into ditches as bombshells exploded and bullets scattered the ground near my feet.