Behold the lions of Haifa. The Rev. Canon Samir and Armond Habiby, both in their nineties, were among seven children of a judge serving the city, now part of the state of Israel, then a jewel of British Mandate Palestine. Arab Anglican Palestinians, they were driven out after Israel’s formation in 1948.
The church of Christ was Samir’s vocation — Vietnam-era naval chaplain and Purple Heart awardee, rector of St. Anselm’s in Garden Grove, then a cardinal parish of Orange County, and executive director of what is now called Episcopal Relief & Development . His elder brother got his law degree at Bolt Hall in 1962 and became chief legal advisor to the Saudi royal family, playing a key role in establishing Alfaisal University in Riyadh and in many other nation-building projects. Armond and his spouse, Josephine, are stalwarts of the The Parish of St. Matthew in Pacific Palisades and among hundreds of members who lost their homes in January’s wildfires.
With Samir and his spouse, Kathy, visiting from their home in New Hampshire, on Wednesday I paid a call on the two couples, plus Armond and Jacqueline’s daughter, Julia, at their temporary home in Marina del Rey. Jacqueline showed me the treasures they were able to get out as they evacuated, including the brothers’ father’s legal textbooks. We talked about the Israel-Iran war, the past and future of the church, and Armond’s views on the vital need for mature Christian discipleship in these fraught times. It was a blessing to sit at the knees of the lions of Haifa.