Arts & Culture
Anxious Muslims: The struggle for the soul of Islam
Books Reviewed:
The Great Theft: Wrestling Islam from the Extremists
by Khaled M. Abou El Fadl
The Shia Revival: How Conflicts Within Islam Will Shape the Future
by Vali Nasr
Journey of the Jihadist: Inside Muslim Militancy
by Fawaz A. Gerges
Wahhabism: A Critical Essay
by Hamid Algar
When I am asked why Muslims have not stood up to denounce terrorism, I often suggest that the questioner do a Google search under "fatwa against terrorism" (it will spew some 80,000 hits), or I ask if he or she knows where in the Muslim world the largest demonstrations against the attacks of 9/11 took place (Tehran and Karachi). Most Muslims do not approve of terrorism or acquiesce in it. Their typical response to terrorism is fear, stress and anxiety-fear in the face of agents of extremism who feel unconstrained by mainstream Islamic law; stress at the thought of a son or daughter becoming a supposed holy warrior; and anxiety over the future of an entire faith community.
Much of this anxiety is reflected in these four books, which aim not to save the West from terrorist attackers but rather to save Islam from those same attackers, who pose the greatest threat to that faith tradition.
by Richard McGregor
Barriers to Peace
Barrier: the Seam of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict
by Isabel Kershner, 2005. Palgrave Macmillan.
Reviewed by Peter Ryan
The barrier that now separates ordinary Palestinians and Israelis is no longer symbolic-it is physical. In densely populated areas, the barrier takes the form of a giant "wall," composed of concrete slabs 8 meters high and 45 centimeters thick. Outside of cities, the barrier takes the form of a "fence," which in reality includes a 45 meter wide "buffer zone" composed of ditches, mounds of razor barbed-wire, security cameras and non-civilian roads patrolled by Israeli military jeeps. Absurdly, the primary debate in the U.S. media over the barrier has been whether to call it a "wall" or a "fence" even though it is clearly both.
Israeli Journalist Isabel Kershner has chosen the somewhat more neutral term "Barrier" as the title of her book covering this complex and divisive topic. She is careful throughout to never stray from the tone of neutrality that her title implies, never fully denouncing or endorsing the project.
Lesson for Iraq in the Asian Soccer Cup
by Caesar Chelala
NEW YORK, New York - Two very dissimilar events with contradictory results took place recently in Iraq, practically simultaneously: the withdrawal of five Sunni ministers from the so-called unity government of Nouri al-Maliki and the victory of the Iraqi national soccer team over Saudi Arabia for the Asian Soccer Cup. The first is indicative of the battle for power being waged among the factions present in that troubled country, while the second succeeded precisely because those factions were able to overcome th eir deep-seated differences and work towards a common goal. The politicians could learn a valuable lesson from the latter.
America's gift: a new tradition in Islamic thinking
 America contributes to maintaining the global order and has created and sustained some of the most important institutions of the international system, such as the United Nations and the World Bank. In recent years, U.S. foreign policy has resulted in billions of dollars of tsunami relief in Southeast Asia, earthquake assistance in Pakistan and economic and development aid across Muslim lands. The United States is the biggest foreign aid donor to the Muslim World.
In the past, the United States has also intervened militarily on behalf of Muslims in Bosnia, Somalia, Kosovo and Kuwait. On the domestic front, the United States is one of the best places to live on the planet according to many. People from all over the Muslim world apply, in the millions, for visas to come to the US (even after 9/11) in search of a better future. Yet hardly any indigenous American Muslims are seeking to migrate to predominantly-Muslim countries to improve their lives. The United States, and not any one of the fifty five Muslims nations, is the number one choice of Muslims for permanent relocation. |
Cinema, Courtroom Reflect Wishes, Reality of Contemporary Turkey
In the recent film "Valley of the Wolves: Iraq," a Turkish James Bond figure makes much use of his license to kill, dispatching U.S. soldiers with ease and cool usually associated with 007's effortless slaughtering of gangs of KGB agents. Sinister Israelis are blasted as well, their trade being in the stealing of organs from Iraqi babies, provided to them by an obliging U.S. military when it is not too busy machine-gunning wedding parties. Grotesque as all this might seem, it has been the most popular Turkish movie in years, breaking all box office records within days of release.
By Jon Gorvett
Arab American gets 'Dubai'd'
Sami Merhi was recently endorsed by the Democratic party for the candicy of Freeholder (a county supervisor position). The very next day, a state legislator, Gary Shaer, attacked the endorsement, pointing to a four-year-old New York Times story in which Merhi was quoted as saying that the Sept. 11 attacks on the US were different from terror attacks against Israel.
For four years now, Merhi has insisted that the Times quote was partial and inaccurate. He has made clear that he opposes all forms of terrorism, including attacks on Israeli civilians. But it has been for naught.
by James J. Zogby
Palestinian Hip-Hop Comes to DC
 ARAB and African hip-hop artists converged Dec. 16 at Washington, DC's local progressive hot spot, Bus Boys and Poets, to raise funds for the forthcoming film "Slingshot Hip Hop: The Palestinian Lyrical Front," expected to debut at film festivals this year. Over a hundred people packed the restaurant's small performance space, and hundreds more were turned away.by Matt Horton |
