The Good Daughter

By Jasmin Darznik

The story of Jasmin's Iranian grandmother and mother. Both women suffered under the unfair rule of selfish and uncaring men and a patriarchal, overly religious society.
The grandmother, Kobra, lived with her husband and his mother. The husband was a gambler and the family's fortune ebbed and flowed with his wins and losses. Kobra had three kids, two sons, one of which died as a toddler and a daughter, Lili.
Lili's father wanted his daughter to be educated so she attended school. When she was about thirteen, she attracted the unwanted attention of a man. The man proceeded to ask to marry Lili, even though she was just a kid. In Iran, a girl was considered old enough for marriage once she had her first menses. So Lili ended up married to Kazem, a grown man.
Kazem turned out to be a brute and he beat Lili. After she gave birth to her first child, a daughter named Sara, Lili decided she could no longer tolerate being married to Kazem.
Unfortunately, in Iran at that time, a divorced woman was considered to be little more than a prostitute. Also, any children born to a married couple belonged to the father and not to the mother. Lili was forced to give up baby Sara.
But giving up Sara gave Lili the opportunity to leave Iran and travel to Germany to further her education. She attained a degree in midwifery. She also eventually married an European man and they moved to Iran.
Lili tried to maintain a relationship with her daughter, Sara, but Sara's father and his family poisoned her mind against her mother. Lili then gave birth to another daughter, Jasmin.
The political situation in Iran was becoming unstable. This was shortly before the time of the Iran hostage crisis in 1979. Lili and her husband left Iran and moved to California. Jasmin was only about three years old at the time.
Growing up in America, Jasmin didn't know about her mother's past. She didn't know Lili had been divorced, she didn't know she had a half-sister named Sara. She accidentally came across an old photo showing her mother and Kazem on the day they were married and naturally wanted to know what the deal was. But Lili refused to talk about it, telling her it wasn't any of Jasmin's business. Lili must have had second thoughts about it and she sent her daughter ten audio tapes, describing her life in Iran and her first, failed marriage and the child she left behind.

This was an OK read. When ever I read one of these Middle Eastern memoirs, it always seems to me that the women are just as much to blame for the oppression they suffer under as the men and the laws that oppress them. The women go along with it, they accept the abuse as their lot in life and they actively fight against the changes that could make their lives better, like education, like ending female circumcision, like ending child marriage. So many prefer to stay with the old ways, the old religion.

Kirkus Reviews has a review of the book.

Princess

By Jean P. Sasson

A memoir from a member of the Saudi royal family, a minor princess who goes by the fake name of Sultana in the book to hide her identity and protect from government wrath.
Sultana was born into wealth and influence. Although she certainly enjoyed the wealth but, due to her gender, she was deprived of influence. Although she was a passionate child and was not above throwing a tantrum to get her own way, it often did not work for her any more than it worked for any women living under a repressive Muslim regime.
As she grew up, she observed many instances of the imbalance in Saudi society: women beaten and murdered, divorced on a whim, unbridled male lust preying on little children, child abuse, child marriage, men chasing after child brides and putting aside their first, second & third wives, women locked away in darkness as a kind of perverted punishment for wanting to live like modern women, women servants preyed upon by their male employeers.
Sultana sees it all and chafes against the restrictions. But when her turn comes, she willingly accepts the arranged marriage and marries a man she barely knows and proceeds to bear children to him, children she has no legal right to, according to the archaic laws of her land.
But when the husband turns away from her and wants to take second wife, she runs away with the children and millions of dollars. She forces him to sign a contract guaranteeing her rights before she is willing to come home with the children.
Needless to say, such drastic actions destroy what little harmony there existed between herself and her husband. But her marriage was pretty much dead from the moment he decided he needed a second wife. So kudos to her for getting him by the short hairs.

This was an OK read. I was hoping for a little more rebellion from Sultana, but she pretty much does what is expected of her: marries young, has kids, stays behind closed doors and really doesn't do much to fight for women's rights in Saudi Arabia. Her only real rebellion comes when she gets angry at the husband for wanting to bring a second wife into the family. Maybe that was a big step for a woman in her society.

Publishers Weekly has a review.

Mission Accomplished! Or How We Won the War in Iraq

By Christopher Cerf and Victor S. Navasky

The authors review some of the many claims by Bush and his people and others who were in support of the Iraq war and points out how mistaken they often were in their claims and assumptions. For example, Major General Martin Dempsey, at a ceremony reopening a bridge in Baghdad said, "Safety and security have been achieved." Fifteen hours after this statement, quoting from the book, "insurgents drove across the newly reopened bridge and fired eight Katyusha rockets into the Al Rashid Hotel inside the Green Zone, killing a staffer of the Coalition Provisional Authority, wounding fifteen others, and narrowly missing U.S. Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz, who was staying at the hotel." The book is chock full of these priceless little gem facts and well worth reading for anyone, for or against the Iraq war. The book ends with a quote from Dick Cheney on the first Iraq war where he says what a horrible mistake it would have been to try and invade Iraq because taking over Iraq would destabilize what is a very volatile part of the world and he warned, "It's a quagmire if you go that far and try to take over Iraq." Too bad he didn't remember what he had previously said when Bush and company were planning their move against Saddam Hussein and Iraq.

Review from the Huffington Post.

New Word:

Précis: an outline; a sketchy summary of the main points of an argument or theory. 'Therefore, rather than provide an obfuscatory précis, we herewith present what nonscientists might think of as a preview of coming attractions.'

The Natural History of the Land of the Bible

By Azaria Alon

This book takes a look at the plants, animals and climate of the modern state of Israel, with reference the biblical land of Israel. It has lots of photos, some in color. I do wish all the pictures had been in color. For instance there are several photos of wildflowers that are in black and white, very disappointing. Anyway, the book doesn't go into a lot of detail; it is a good, basic reference to introduce the land of Israel and its unique situation in the natural world at the crossroads of Europe, Asia and Africa.
Azaria Alon is the author of more than thirty books about nature and environment and he has been a leader in the preservation of Israel's natural resources.

Great Cities of the Ancient World

By L. Sprague de Camp

A look at the history of various cities: Thebes, Jerusalem, Nineveh, Tyre, Babylon, Memphis, Athens, Syracuse, Carthage, Alexandria, Rome, Constantinople, Anurâdhapura and Pâtaluputra. Very readable and informative, the only thing I didn't care for were the fiction inserts from the author's novel which I didn't think they belonged in a book like this. All the chapters were interesting and full of fun nuggets of info. The only chapters I had trouble with were the chapter on Thebes, which had detailed and dull descriptions of the buildings of Thebes. The other chapter was the one on Constantinople which seemed very long. Other than that, I enjoyed reading this book.

Review from Kirkus Reviews.

The Kite Runner

By Khaled Hosseini

Amir grew up in Kabul, Afghanistan. His closest companion was the son of his father's servant. The boy, Hassan, was about the same age as Amir. Not only was Hassan Amir's closest companion but he also prepared his breakfast, cleaned his bedroom and took care of his clothes.
All his life Amir had ambivalent feelings about Hassan. Amir spent most of his time with Hassan, yet he did not consider him his friend. Amir went to school but Hassan did not and was illiterate. Yet even though Amir had book smarts, Hassan was no fool and Amir was aware of this and rather disconcerted by it. After all, Hassan was his servant and thus shouldn't be better than Amir at anything. But Hassan was better at lots of things. He was athletic, intelligent, kind, gentle, brave and loyal. Amir was also intelligent but he was not the athlete Hassan was nor was he as good a person. Another thing that bothered Amir was that his father seemed to approve of Hassan but seemed to be disappointed in his own son, Amir.
Every year in Kabul there was a kite flying contest. The boys would fly their kites and attack each other's kites and the last kite left flying was the winner. As the defeated kites fell to the ground, the kids would run after them and claim them for their own. Hassan excelled at running down and finding the falling kites, he seemed to know where they would land by instinct.
One year, Amir entered the kite contest and Hassan promised him that if Amir won, Hassan would run and catch the final defeated kite for a trophy for Amir. Amir won the contest and Hassan ran off to find the fallen kite. He was gone for a long time and Amir went looking for him. He discovered Hassan being sexually assaulted by a neighborhood boy that has bullied the two boys in the past. Amir hid and watched the assault but was too frightened to intervene.
Amir can't cope with his feelings of failure and guilt. He can't face Hassan knowing he did nothing to help him. So he framed Hassan for a petty theft and Hassan and his father leave. Amir's father is very upset that Hassan and his father won't stay.
When the Russians invaded Afghanistan, Amir and his father fled to the United States. Amir's father, who was an important and wealthy man in Afghanistan, could only find work at a gas station. Amir settled in to American life pretty well, going to college, working with his father selling stuff at a flea market to make a little extra money. He met an Afghani woman and fell in love and married. His father became ill and died. Amir and his wife try to have kids but can't.
One day, Amir was summoned back to the Middle East by an old friend of his father's. He told Amir that Hassan is dead, killed by the Taliban, and that Hassan's son is in an orphanage. He wanted Amir to get the boy, Sohrab, out of the orphanage. Amir agreed to go back to Afghanistan and rescue the little boy, and in the process faced his own failings and personal demons.

This was a pretty good book. The first part, about Amir's childhood and the last part, where Amir comes back to Afghanistan to rescue the orphan were more interesting than the middle part, where Amir is in America going to college and meeting the woman he will marry. That part was kind of draggy. It was interesting to get a glimpse of Afghani culture as portrayed in the novel. It is hard to understand how a group like the Taliban could ever appeal to anyone. Reading a book like The Kite Runner may not help one understand that, but at least it is an introduction to a very different society than what is in the West.

Review by Sarah A. Smith in the Guardian. 

New Word
Caracul: Hardy coarse-haired sheep of central Asia; the lambs are valued for their soft curly black fur. "Baba was wearing a green suit and a caracul hat."

A Concise History of the Middle East

By Arthur Goldschmidt, Jr.

Arthur Goldschmidt, Jr. is a professor emeritus of Middle Eastern history at Penn State.

This book does not cover the ancient history of the Middle East. It starts with the era shortly before Muhammad and goes on from there. Like it says, it is a concise history, but still contains interesting details that help liven up what is basically a college text book for beginning students of Middle Eastern history. The author's style is very readable and his explanations some of the best and most clear that I have read. He lays out the history of this complex area simply and makes the connections apparent. This book gives the reader a really good, basic understanding of the region. I wouldn't mind having a copy of this book on my bookshelf.

Teta, Mother, and Me

By Jean Said Makdisi

Makdisi takes a look at the history of the two most important women in her life, her grandmother and her mother. Makdisi is a Palestinian Christian who lived through the upheavals in Palestine, Lebanon and Egypt. Her grandmother was born in 1880 in Syria. Her father (Makdisi's great-grandfather) was an Arab Protestant minister in Syria. Previously the family had been Greek Orthodox Catholic but he was educated at a Protestant mission school and converted. Makdisi's grandmother and mother and Makdisi herself were all educated in Protestant mission schools. It is Makdisi's contention that the skills and values communicated to herself, her mother and grandmother were intended to created modern women of them and they succeeded in turning the three women into typical examples of modern middle class women. But Makdisi feels that they were alienated from the traditional Arab culture that, according to Makdisi, values women's place in society more than modern culture. She says that her mother and grandmother became isolated and redundant once their duties of childcare were over: "She existed in an empty, undefined space created by the new structure of society, and it was a space that provided little comfort or status for women who had no husband and no property. Teta [her grandmother] was dispossessed of the high status traditionally granted to Arab matriarchs precisely by that society which she had helped to form." She feels that the 'veil' of modesty taught to her as a child, was a "veil far darker and more impenetrable, and far more durable, than that outer cloth which covered the faces of ... Muslim girls..." She says the mission schools created a "system which repressed, rather than liberated, women..." Makdisi's mother also felt betrayed by the modern society that was supposed to make her life better, and that "Mother wrote grimly that she did not think her children had appreciated her hard work, her hospitality or her contributions to their lives." Somehow this is all the fault of a Western society imposed on Arab culture by the racist mission schools, according to Makdisi.

That Makdisi doesn't like the West or its values comes through pretty clearly. That is understandable, given that she is Palestinian. It is not a very balanced look at the effect of modernity on Middle Eastern women. Plus, it is just not a very interesting book. The writing is dry and dull and full of a lot of boring details, except about herself. Although she does talk about her childhood, Makdisi skims over her adult life. I found this book a chore to read and I was glad when I finally got through it.

For another review of the book, see Christianity Today.

A Thousand Splendid Suns

By Khaled Hosseini

Miriam is born in 1959 into a hard life in Afghanistan to a bitter and unhappy woman. Her mother is angry at Miriam's father, because, when she became pregnant, instead of marrying her, he set her up in a little hut on the edge of town. She and Miriam live as outcasts. Miriam's mother tries to teach her daughter the facts of life for women: "Like a compass needle that points north, a man's accusing finger always finds a woman. Always." And, "It's our lot in life, Miriam. Women like us. We endure. It's all we have." Despite this, Miriam loves her father desperately. When the Disney cartoon "Pinocchio" comes to town, Miriam wants to see it so badly she runs away from her mother and goes to her father's house in town. He refuses to see her and won't even open the door. She spends the night sitting in front of the door and in the morning she is taken home by her father's driver only to discover her mother has killed herself in her absence. Her mother was sure her daughter had abandoned her forever. Miriam's father finally takes her into his home, but only for a few weeks. He arranges for her to marry a shoemaker from Kabul. The shoemaker, Rasheed, is a widower and much older than Miriam. He wants to get married again because he wants a son. Miriam gets pregnant many times, but always miscarries. Her life with Rasheed is miserable. He blames her for the miscarriages and he beats and belittles her.
In the neighborhood where Miriam lives is a beautiful girl named Laila who has a crush on a boy, Tariq. Tariq's family leaves Kabul when the civil war makes life there dangerous. He says goodbye to Laila and they have intercourse. Laila's family also decides to leave, but are killed in a bomb blast. Laila survives and is taken in by Rasheed and Miriam.
Rasheed is lusting after Laila and wants her to marry him. Rasheed knows she is in love with Tariq so he arranges for a man to come and tell Laila that Tariq is dead. Laila has no one she can turn to and she knows she is carrying Tariq's baby. So she agrees to marry Rasheed. At first, she and Miriam don't get along because Miriam resents her. Laila gives birth to a baby girl and Rasheed is angry and disappointed.
Laila and Miriam become allies against Rasheed and they try to flee Kabul and escape his terrible abuse. They are caught and returned to him and he punishes them cruelly. Later, Laila finally gives birth to a boy, but Rasheed never forgives her for trying to escape him.
Hard times come and money is scarce. Rasheed forces Laila to put her little girl in an orphanage. This crushes Laila and Miriam, they both love the little girl dearly. Then one day, Tariq shows up, looking for Laila. Laila's son tattles to his father about Laila's male visitor and Rasheed goes ballistic. Laila and Miriam are in a fight for their lives.

I found this book very griping and well worth reading. It is a revealing look at life in Afghanistan in a society that views women as property whose only function is to produce and rear children. Although I was aware of the bare facts of life for women under the brutal and repressive Taliban, still it was fascinating reading about the lives of these two women. I really enjoyed this book.

For a more complete summary of the novel, visit Wikipedia.

Review by Natasha Walter in The Guardian:   https://www.theguardian.com/books/2007/may/19/featuresreviews.guardianreview21.

The Middle East: A Brief History of the Last 2,000 Years

By Bernard Lewis

Bernard Lewis is an authority on Islamic and Middle Eastern history and an Emeritus Professor of Near Eastern Studies at Princeton. He has written several books about the Middle East and Islam.
As the title says, this book is a brief history of the Middle East from the beginnings of Christianity up to modern times. Written in 1994, it is now a tad dated. It is a comprehensive look at the history of a part of the world that is composed of many different peoples and cultures united under one religion, Islam. This is not to say that Islam is the only religion in the region but it certainly is the dominant one.

This book lays out a good overview of the area, discussing the different dynasties in brief and concentrating on the forces that drove the history of the area. Bernard Lewis is English born and bred and sometimes the language is a bit difficult. I had to keep a dictionary nearby to look up words at times. Some foreign words, Arabic and other terms, are used throughout. I would have preferred their English versions. Despite these quibbles, though, I found it a very well laid out, interconnected look at the history of this area of the world.

For a deeper review of this book, visit Daniel Pipes. Daniel Pipes is an author, historian and Middle East analyst.

Iran Awakening

By Shirin Ebadi

Shirin Ebadi won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2003 for her work for children's and women's rights. She is the first Iranian to receive this award and the first Muslim woman to receive it.
Iran Awakening is about her experiences with the repressive revolutionary religious government that took over Iran after the overthrow of the Shah.
Initially, Ebadi supported the movement to overthrow the Shah because his government was corrupt and repressive and not democratic. She fancied that the new regime would be more democratic than the old. She soon discovered how mistaken she was. As she says, "It took scarcely a month for me to realize that, in fact, I had willingly and enthusiastically participated in my own demise. I was a woman and this revolution's victory demanded my defeat."
Shirin Ebadi before the revolution was a law judge, presiding over a court room. After the revolution, she was only permitted to be a law clerk as a woman was not deemed fit to be a judge. She tries to conform but eventually leaves the court to move into private practice. Her focus becomes abused children and women who have no one to defend them or stand up for their rights in this cruel, male-dominated society that the revolution has created and sustains.
The main problem with the revolution in Iran and in all fundamentalist Islamic societies is their desire to enforce an outdated, centuries-old legal code based on a macho, tribal culture that views women and children as the property of the men in their lives. As Shirin says, "The laws, in short, turned the clock back fourteen hundred years, to the early days of Islam's spread, the days when stoning women for adultery and chopping off the hands of thieves were considered appropriate sentences."
Shirin takes on the cases of abused children and women and of the other victims of the regime. She brings these cases to public notice and comes under the hateful gaze of the government fanatics. She lives knowing that her life is in danger and that she could be killed or locked up at any time, as has happened to so many who have spoken out. Indeed she discovers in government transcript between a government minister and a death squad member that she is reviewing for a legal case that she is on the list of people to be killed: "The next person to be killed is Shirin Ebadi."
After decades of living under a religion-dominated government, Ebadi has come to believe that democracy will only be achieved when religion and government are completely separate. As she says, since the Islamic Republic considers their interpretations of Islam to be divinely inspired and nonnegotiable, how can tolerance and an appreciation of inalienable human rights ever be guaranteed under such a system? The only solution is to separate the two.
Despite the overbearing tactics of the Islamic government in Iran, Ebadi continues to believe that "an interpretation of Islam that is in harmony with equality and democracy is an authentic expression of faith." She also believes that change will come to Iran eventually, even if it takes decades.
At the end of the book she warns the US that using strong arm tactics against Iran will only backfire because it will serve to strengthen the regime's hand against any dissidents and prompt Iranians to stand behind their government out of defensive nationalism.

An interesting look at life inside Iran in the decades following the Islamic Revolution, Ebadi's book is informative, compelling, engrossing and well worth reading.

Review from Kirkus Reviews:   https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/shirin-ebadi/iran-awakening/.

The Septembers of Shiraz

By Dalia Sofer

What was it like to be a wealthy Jew in Iran after the fall of the Shah and the rise of the Islamic totalitarian regime? Isaac Amin and his wife Farnaz and their young daughter Shirin are living the good life when it all comes crashing down when Isaac is arrested and thrown into prison. His crime? Well, truly his crime is being a wealthy Jew. His alleged crime is that he is spying for Israel. This is based on the fact that he has traveled to Israel a few times in the past and that is proof enough of his guilt to the intolerant religious fanatics running Iran after the fall of the Shah.
Isaac is a self-made man. He father was a cold and indifferent man and an alcoholic. Isaac built his business from the ground up. He and his family have lived well, traveling to Europe, owning a vacation home; he drives a Jaguar.
At the start of the novel, Isaac is suddenly arrested and imprisoned. He is interrogated and tortured when he refuses to admit to being a spy.
His wife, Farnaz, doesn't even know where her husband has been taken. She visits the local prisons trying to track her husband down. She is never permitted to see him. His brother, who is a bootlegger, comes to Farnaz for money so that he may flee the country as he is afraid he will soon be arrested too. He is not the only one anxious to escape. All the time Farnaz hears of people who are sneaking out of Iran. All the time she hears of people who have been arrested on the slightest of pretexts and executed. A talented pianist friend is arrested and murdered. His crime: he played the piano for the Shah.
While Isaac is suffering under harsh treatment in prison, his employees take advantage of his absence to loot his business and steal his assets. Farnaz catches them in the process and tries to stop them. She pleads with them and asks them why they have turned against the man who gave them good jobs. Their response is to call her a "dirty Jew."

This is a very good story about a terrible, cruel regime and its destruction of a nation as seen through the eyes of a family subjected to its excesses. Although it is a work of fiction it tells the truth about Iran and religious intolerance. It's a must read for anyone interested in the Middle East.

Review by Caroline Miller in The Guardian:   https://www.theguardian.com/books/2008/sep/20/roundupreviews.fiction.

The Reluctant Fundamentalist

By Mohsin Hamid

I guess it is just too much to hope for, a balanced approach to 911 by a Muslim. Mohsin Hamid's approach is certainly not balanced. He suffers from the same tunnel vision that seems to afflict most Muslims. In this story, the main character actually smiles when he hears about the destruction of the twin towers. Which is OK, in a work of fiction. But reading that part of the story, I got the strong feeling that the character wasn't the only one smiling at this terrible tragedy: it felt like the author was also grinning at America's comeuppance. The author thoughtfully goes on to explain why the USA deserves this fate: it's because we don't mind our own business! We actually have the nerve to demand accountability in those governments and countries to whom we provide aid! The Gall! To quote: "I reflected that I had always resented the manner in which America conducted itself in the world; your country's constant interference in the affairs of others was insufferable. Moreover I knew from my experience as a Pakistani—of alternating periods of American aid and sanctions—that finance was a primary means by which the American empire exercised its power. It was right for me to refuse to participate any longer in facilitating this project of domination..." He goes on to say, "Such an America had to be stopped in the interests not only of the rest of humanity, but also in your own." At this point in the story narrator has become a terrorist, although this is never explicitly stated, but it is hinted at, "What exactly did I do to stop America, you ask? Have you really no idea, sir?" He doesn't admit doing anything and we don't see him doing anything, as the story ends abruptly, but that question is the question of a guilty conscience.
However, as much as I dislike the author and his narrow viewpoint, I did enjoy the story. I found it instantly engaging and it kept me interested for most of it. It follows a young Pakistani man, Changez, as he graduates from college and gets a prestigious job with a New York financial concern. In the course of the story, he becomes enamored with an American woman, Erica. Erica, who is a metaphor for America, fails to return his affection because she is still attached to her long dead lover. All this was very captivating. But it became rather tedious at the point where the character decides that everything that is wrong in the world is America's fault. Also the abrupt ending was very dissatisfying. Overall, I can't recommend it.

Review by Laila Halaby on The Washington Post:    http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/19/AR2007041903000.html.

A Border Passage

By Leila Ahmed

This is a memoir of Muslim woman, Leila Ahmed, about growing up in Egypt in the 1950s and 1960s. I really enjoyed reading about Leila's early life in Egypt and I was frankly astonished at the commonalities we shared as girls of a similar era, even though we lived in two far distant cultures, she in Egypt and I in the USA. She grew up reading and speaking and being educated in English, attending school run by the British until the troubles that forced the British out of Egypt. We played similar games, enjoyed similar friendships, family outings, sports: she did things that I had never pictured an Islamic female doing.
But still, she acknowledges that her culture is one that is hostile to and dangerous to women and that life as an Islamic woman is one of restrictions and limitations for most women. She escaped these restrictions by moving first to Britain then ultimately to America.
I was struck by how angry she is at the racism she faced upon coming to Britain. She mentions how she was spit on when riding on a bus by a fellow passenger when he realized she was not Israeli but was Egyptian. Her resentment of being classified as "colored" and therefore less human than whites appears throughout the book. But this is completely understandable.
She goes into some detail on the transition of Egypt from being Egyptian (as she was raised to think of herself) to being Arab and part of the whole Middle Eastern situation and not really African anymore. She also, towards the end of the book, traces Egypt's transformation from support of a homeland for the Jews in Palestine to being totally against the new country of Israel. This part was particularly surprising for me for I didn't know of Egypt's early support for the Jews. She also discusses how this change from pro to anti-Jew has changed Egypt's formerly tolerant pluralistic & multicultural society to an Islamic-only society where non-Islamics are openly hated and persecuted. It is a story well worth reading.

Scars of War, Wounds of Peace: The Israeli-Arab Tragedy

By Shlomo Ben-Ami

This is a look at the history of the Arab Israeli conflict starting with the early days before the Zionists had managed to make a state of Israel. Right from the start both sides refused to consider their opponents views as valid. To the Arabs, the Israelis are Zionist, western crusaders and invaders who have taken over what is rightfully Arab territory. To the Israelis the Arabs are backward, religious fanatics who refuse to accept the reality of the state of Israel.
The state of Israel was founded by the United Nations in 1947. The Israelis immediately found themselves under seige by their Arab neighbors who had voted against the formation of Israel and who refused to accept the presence of the Jews on Arab land, i.e., Palestine. The Israelis held on to the land and even expanded the borders beyond that stated for them in 1947. Then in the Six Day War in 1967, they acquired even more territory, including the jewel in their crown, Jerusalem.
What do the Israelis want? They want security. They want to survive. And they want the holy places that are mentioned in their holy writings. They especially want Jerusalem. What do the Arabs and Palestinians want? Well, what they really want is for the Jews to get out of the Middle East and go back where they came from. But Israel is staying put. So, what do the Arabs want if they can't get rid of Israel? They want a state for the Palestinians, a place where they can live in safety and security on their traditional homelands. They also want the right to bring back the Palestinian refuges who fled during the wars, about 5,000,000 people. And they want Jerusalem.
Back in 2000, President Clinton and his team put together the best compromise that was workable for both sides. Israel was willing to accept the terms, even to sharing Jerusalem with the Palestinians and accepting Palestinian statehood. But Arafat could not accept them. He knew if he went back to his people and told them they would have to share Jerusalem, that Israel would not go back to the 1947 borders and that the refugees would not have the right to return that his ass would be grass and that civil war would be likely between the more moderate & practical Palestinians and the Islamics like Hamas and Jihad. Since then, Israel has built themselves a safety barrier to try to stop the Palestinian terrorist attacks. The Palestinians are in a state of chaos as Hamas and Fatah wrangle over who is going to lead their people. And it is still a huge mess. But as Ben-Ami points out, if responsible and brave leaders would be willing to sit down and work out a compromise, then there is still hope.
Ben-Ami takes a close look at the process of trying to bring about peace between Israel, its neighbors and the Palestinians. He shows where leadership failed on both sides, not only because of mistakes and miscalculations, but also because the respective populations of both sides would not accept the compromises required for peace.
In the last chapter of the book, Ben-Ami reccommends that an international effort must be made and a protectorate set up in the Palestinian territory that will give them the peace, security and stability that is so desperately needed in the Middle East.

Review by Ian Black from The Guardian:    https://www.theguardian.com/books/2006/feb/11/highereducation.news.

A History of the Arab Peoples

By Albert Hourani

This is a long book, about 450 pages. Yet somehow, despite the lengthy text, it seemed rather short on the kind of details that can bring a culture to life on the written page. It was pretty dry reading and I would describe it as more of an overview of Arab history. It was published in 1991 so is a tiny bit dated, but I understand there is a new, updated second edition available published in 2003. The new section was written by someone else, as Hourani died in 1993.
Hourani was born in 1915 in England of Lebanese parents. His parents were Greek Orthodox and converted to Presbyterian but Hourani became Roman Catholic as an adult. He was a graduate of Magdalen College, Oxford University and later became the Director of St. Antony's College Middle East Centre, Oxford University.
The book does not focus on personalities and instead describes demographic, economical, ideological and other processes. For example, Suleyman the Magnificent and Salah ad-Din are mentioned only fleetingly. Still, I suppose it is quite an outstanding work of scholarship, covering as it does a span of more than 1200 years. It is a good place to start if, like me, you are a little fuzzy on the history of a part of the world that seems to be in the news every day.

Review by Brandon Robshaw on the Independent:    http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/reviews/paperback-review-a-history-of-the-arab-peoples-by-albert-hourani-8458677.html.

Holy War: The Crusades and their Impact on Today's World

By Karen Armstrong

I knew the Crusades were an attempt by the Europeans to gain control of Jerusalem and of the other sites that were significant to the Christian religion. But that is about all I knew. Just that bare fact. I learned a lot about the Crusades from this book and it is chock full of interesting details. So if you are looking to learn more about the Crusades, you will find this book very informative.
However, one of the author's theories is that the violence visited upon the Middle East by wave after wave of invading Crusader armies is the root cause of the violence in the region today, as Western violence conditioned the Muslims to respond in kind, a conditioning in effect even today. I can't agree with that even after reading her book. It seems to me that violence is inherent in humanity, it's just part of our nature.
One thing I found irksome about her writing is the way she portrays Islamists as just put upon and misunderstood and she soft peddles their violence while condemning Israeli and Western violence in the strongest terms. At times, reading through it, you wonder if she had decided to convert to Islam. She seems to look at Islam through rose-colored glasses. But she has no such glasses for the Israelis, to quote, "Today it is the Jews who are the brutal occupiers of Bethlehem and the other towns in the occupied territories, and some of their methods would have shocked even the Romans." Oh, really? Would have shocked a people who used to go to their arenas and be entertained by watching humans being torn to bits by wild animals? Yeah, right.

Read her book for the historical information but as for the rest of it, keep in mind that she is biased towards Islam and biased against Israel and Christianity. She is not exactly an impartial reporter of the facts.

Muhammad His Life Based on the Earliest Sources

By Martin Lings

If you want to read an account of the life of Muhammad as seen by a devout believer then this is the book for you. It is chock full of the kind of details that will make an Islamist's mouth water.
On the other hand if you want to know the truth about Muhammad, then look elsewhere. This book is just a retelling of all the old myths and is completely uncritical of the old stories and it treats all those stories as if they were Gospel. I found the book a chore to read but it did contain some interesting items. While I knew that Muhammad had a child bride who was nine years old, I didn't know he encouraged other men to do the same because, according to him, girls are fun to play with. I also didn't know that when his enemies surrendered to him after a battle, Muhammad had them executed.
The most interesting thing about this book is the author. This man was an Englishman who converted to Islam. Apparently the violence, intolerance and the cruelty to females that are the hallmarks of Arab culture was just what this guy was looking for in a religion. He even acquired an Arab name: Abu Bakr Siraj Ad-Din.
One thing I have learned, after reading this biography: Islam is certainly an accurate reflection of its founder.

Taliban: Militant Islam, Oil and Fundamentalism in Central Asia

By Ahmed Rashid

Ahmed Rashid is a reporter who lives in Pakistan and reports on Pakistan, Afghanistan and Central Asia. In this book he looks at the takeover of Afghanistan by the Taliban and why and who funded their offensive. According to Rashid, after the Soviets pulled out of Afghanistan, the USA, who had been supporting the mujaheddin, lost interest. As a result, a power vacuum developed and the Taliban saw their chance to institute an "Islamic" government in Afghanistan.
In the beginning, the USA supported the Taliban, who are Sunni Muslims, because the Taliban was against the enemy of the US, Iran, who are mostly Shia Muslims. Pakistan and Saudi Arabia also supported the Taliban, providing weapons and gobs of money. Pakistan supported the Taliban because they thought the Taliban would be a good ally against their enemy, India. The Saudis supported the Taliban because they espoused the same kind of Islamic fundamentalism that is popular in Saudi Arabia. For the government of Saudi Arabia, supporting the Taliban would make the Saudi fundamentalists happy and not criticising the Saudi government. Everyone hoped the Taliban would bring peace and stability to Afghanistan so that various oil and gas pipeline projects could be carried through, bringing gas and oil to the big markets in China and India.
But it all backfired. The Taliban turned out to be insane assholes. They didn't really care about bringing peace and prosperity to Afghanistan, all they wanted to do was establish their Islamic revolution. The USA pulled its support when the Taliban's harsh and loony treatment of women was revealed to the world. Saudi Arabia withdrew their support when Taliban leaders insulted one of the Saudi princes. Pakistan continued to support the Taliban, even though the Taliban's rule in Afghanistan promoted the growth of heroine poppies and smuggling of drugs and consumer goods to the detriment of the revenue coffers of the surrounding countries, Pakistan included.
So after years of war with the Soviets, civil war and ethnic strife after the Soviets, and the depredations of the Taliban, the people of Afghanistan are fragmented, divided, desperate and ignorant, knowing nothing but hardship and war.

This is an excellent book and takes the reader right to the roots of the advance of the Taliban in Afghanistan. I recommend it to anyone who wants to know more and understand better this part of the world.

Review from Daniel Pipes on Middle East Forum:  http://www.meforum.org/1362/taliban-militant-islam-oil-and-fundamentalism-in.

A History of God

By Karen Armstrong

In this book, Armstrong looks at how the idea of God developed and changed in the three monotheistic religions: Judaism, Christianity and Islam. It's a fascinating look at the history of religion from its earliest beginnings in the Middle East up to the 1980s. (The book was published in 1993.) It shows how very much alike we all our in our thinking and our beliefs about God. It also explores the different ways people have come to view God, from a far off and rather indifferent sky god, to the rationalistic view of God, to the anthropomorphous, personal God and to the mystical, intuitively experienced God of Kabbalah, Sufism & Greek Orthodox Christianity. (According to Armstrong, mysticism never really took hold in the western Christian churches.)
Armstrong never says how she herself thinks of God, though it seems at times that she tends towards Islamism and perhaps even mysticism. One thing for sure, she really doesn't like or approve of fundamentalism, which she believes is a blight on civilized society. But she also points out that atheism has not made humanity happier either.

I found this book really informative, although I read it knowing that the author was pretty secular in her view point. If you are offended by this kind of worldly speculations about religion and God, then don't read this book. But if you have a curious and open mind and are firm in your faith, read it with caution.

Review from The Guardian:   https://www.theguardian.com/books/2009/jul/04/case-for-god-karen-armstrong.