|
|
|
|
||
|
HELP | |
|
  $13.95 List price:
Used Hardcover
Ships in 1 to 3 days
More copies of this ISBN:This title in other formats:City of Widows: An Iraqi Woman's Account of War and Resistanceby Haifa Zangana
Review-a-Day (What is Review-a-Day?)"Zangana, who is now based in London, and whose analysis regularly appears in numerous publications in the UK, was imprisoned and tortured at Abu Ghraib for her political activities during Saddam Hussein's reign. In this slim volume, she covers the rise of the modern Iraqi state, life under Hussein, the years of sanctions and occupation, and the status of women throughout. The fact that Zangana can offer so much enlightenment in so few pages is less a testament to her wisdom or writing than to the gaping void that is what most Americans know about Iraq — even now, almost five years after invading it." Susan Chenelle, Bitch Magazine (read the entire Bitch Magazine review) Synopses & ReviewsPublisher Comments:Haifa Zangana, a former political prisoner of the Ba'ath regime, presents the first comprehensive history of women in modern Iraq through the US occupation. Positioning Iraqi women today in a long line of daring and vocal activists resisting foreign aggression and despotism, Zangana traces this lineage from the emergence of a handful of turn-of-the-century poets to women's mass membership in politically affiliated women's leagues, and finally confronts the paradox of women's rising status under decades of repressive Ba'ath rule, when they were the most educated in the Arab world. Zangana contradicts the passive role into which Western media have cast Iraqi women and presents a forceful critique of foreign women's organizations' attempts to hijack the initiatives of Iraqi women. Addressing the stark realities of Iraq today, Zangana reveals Baghdad as a "city of widows," where more than 300,000 women have been left to head households. Just as the sanctions disproportionately affected women and children, the war and occupation have destroyed their way of life. In the rebuilding of Iraq, as so often before, Zangana suggests, Iraqi women will be left to pick up the pieces of their country after yet another senseless imperial adventure. Review:"In her opening line, Iraqi novelist (and former prisoner of Saddam Hussein) Zangana lays out this Iraq primer's unapologetic intent: 'that readers in the West will gain insight into a country they have impacted so fully and terribly.' With 300,000 widows in Baghdad alone, another million across the country, and thousands of women imprisoned without acknowledgement-much less hope for legal recourse-Zangana's dispatches are different from those of U.S. and Iraqi officials who, she says, claim to support 'women's empowerment' while sponsoring militant sectarian forces with 'barbaric ideas' about women in society. The U.S. media, according to Zangana, is happy to fall in line: by repeating the story that Iraqis are killing Iraqis by the hundreds each day, the American reflex has become to blame the victims, rather than an occupation that has deliberately dismantled the country's only ways of coping. Putting the current moment in perspective with an engaging history of women's rights in Iraq, Zangana convincingly indentifies the current Iraqi moment 'a terrible state of regression.' This angry, unforgiving and powerful book is as vital as it is hard to swallow." Publishers Weekly (Starred Review) (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.) Book News Annotation:Zangana is an Iraqi political commentator, novelist, and former
prisoner of Saddam Hussein's regime. Now in her late-50s, she lives
in London where she is a weekly columnist for al-Quds newspaper and a
commentator for the Guardian, Red Pepper, and al-Ahram Weekly. She
offers a personal account of her experiences growing up in Baghdad,
living through wars and periods of peace and prosperity; joining
movements for social change and participating in armed struggles; and
working for equality as a woman, an Iraqi, and as a citizen of the
world. Her text offers an insightful examination of the active role
played by Arab and Muslim women, particularly in Iraq, to shape the
country's modern history in response to internal and external
challenges. Academic but accessible to the general reader. No subject
index.
Annotation ©2008 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com) Synopsis:Zangana, a former political prisoner of the Ba'ath regime, presents the first comprehensive history of women in modern Iraq through the U.S. occupation. She contradicts the passive role shown by Western media and presents a forceful critique of attempts to hijack the initiatives of Iraqi women. About the AuthorHaifa Zangana is an Iraqi political commentator, novelist, and former prisoner of Saddam Hussein's regime. She is a weekly columnist for al-Quds newspaper and a commentator for the Guardian, Red Pepper, and al-Ahram Weekly. She lives in London. What Our Readers Are SayingBe the first to add a comment for a chance to win!Product Details
Other books you might like
Related Aisles
| |||||||||
|
| ||||||||||
|
||||||||||
Don't Miss
