Nick Kerr has drawn from copious amounts of research and reflection on the Israeli/Palestinian conflict, from many different points of view and from different disciplines.

Nick has chosen sources that he believes have credibility, integrity and respect in their various fields, whether historical, political, biblical, theological or psychological. His prayer is that in a way similar to South Africa’s relatively peaceful transition to democracy, Israelis and Palestinians may also find a solution to their long-standing conflict.

“For several years, thoughtful observers of the Middle East, and particularly of Israel / Palestine, had warned of the likelihood of another Palestinian Intifada. They wrote and spoke often of the simmering resentment and mounting anger of Palestinians against Israel’s long and humiliating occupation of their land.

But few could have anticipated the suddenness, savagery and scale of the attack by Hamas fighters that erupted out of Gaza on unsuspecting Israelis on the 7th of October 2023 with its cataclysmic consequences and global repercussions.

A few days after the attack, Antonio Guteures, Secretary-General of the United Nations ‘condemned unequivocally the horrifying and unprecedented 7th of October acts of terror by Hamas in Israel. Nothing can justify the deliberate killing, injuring and kidnapping of civilians.’ ‘But,’ he added, ‘it is also important to recognise the attacks by Hamas did not happen in a vacuum’.

Nick Kerr’s passionately written, most carefully researched and deservedly highly commended ‘A Wound Unhealed’ fills in the vacuum, comprehensively and compellingly. It is a tragically timely book and a fine one.” - Reverend Peter Crooks, MBE, former Dean of St George’s Cathedral, Jerusalem

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Nick Kerr was born in and lives in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN). Nick attended school at Michaelhouse. He has worked as a (plant) nursery assistant, wool classer, agricultural student, and then teacher (at Cowan House) and priest.
He was ordained in the Anglican Church of Southern Africa in 1984, in the Diocese of Natal, and has served mainly in two parishes: Hillcrest and Mooi River. He is now retired.

During the turbulent years of the 1990s in the province of KZN, he formed the ‘Thousand Hills Peace Committee’, as a result of political violence in the area, along with fellow clergy of different denominations. The political parties then signed a ‘peace agreement’. This group oversaw the postponed local elections in 1996 in the Hillcrest/Valley of the Thousand Hills area.

Nick is married to Barbara (nee Fabricius), who is a former junior primary music teacher, and currently a counsellor and trainer with the Philippi Trust. They have two adult children, Andrew and Philippa.
He has completed four Comrades Marathons and is still a regular runner. He also enjoys gardening and reading and he is a volunteer teacher at local state schools.

Nick holds the following qualifications: B.A. (Geography and Biblical Studies. Unisa) B.A. (Hons. Biblical Studies, Unisa) H.E.D. (Unisa), Dip Theol. (St Paul’s College), and M. Phil. (Linguistics: Intercultural Communication. University of Stellenbosch).