Synopses & Reviews
This book provides an avenue for Americans in all walks of life to deepen their understanding of Middle Eastern peoples and their attitudes toward the United States and each other. The book creates contexts for readers struggling to understand current conflicts in the region Iraq, Israel/Palestine as well as the dilemma of the Kurds. It is one of the few books containing an overview of contemporary Middle East culture and politics with balanced views from Jews and Muslims rarely contained in one volume, including: .Transcripts of Bin Laden's videotaped messages .Post-9/11 transcript of the Saudi Arabian ambassador's interview on Meet the Press .A round-up of Arab-American responses with self-criticism by a Muslim and an Israeli scholar Since September 11, 2001, much of the world has turned its attention to the Middle East, mostly with a string of questions. Who were these 19 terrorist hijackers all from the Middle East? Why did they attack the U.S - the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon in Washington DC.? What is there about the Middle East, if anything, that would lead these terrorists to believe they were martyrs in a holy war and would be given a special place in heaven? Through Middle Eastern Eyes attempts to answer these questions and many more. The last five selections in the book deal specifically with 9/11 by presenting the views of Osama bin Laden, the relations to 9/11 throughout the Middle East, the agenda of radical Islamic fundamentalists and the response to this agenda by moderate Muslims. In addition, several other selections in the book deal with the tenets of Islam, its influence on people's daily lives, and the tug of war between traditional and Westernized values in the region. First published almost three decades ago, Through Middle Eastern Eyes attempts to bring to life the Middle East-a seedbed of history and religion, a hotbed of ethnic and religious conflict. Sources range from speeches and historical documents to autobiography, traditional and modern literature, and economic and political analysis.
Synopsis
Includes bibliographical references (p. 397-401) and index.
Table of Contents
pt. 1. Tradition and change -- The importance of children -- Learning to be a man -- Traditional girlhood -- The bard -- Going to a Koranic school -- "My mind was open for information and wisdom" -- Behavior and morality -- Watching one's reputation -- The public bath -- Courtship -- Removing the veil -- The dream -- The life of Mohammed -- Letters on Islam -- The five pillars of Islam -- The pilgrimage to Mecca -- "If God wills it" --- The grocer and the chief -- A Lebanese family -- The Islamic backlash -- pt. 2. Past glories, future hopes -- Colonialism and the making of a revolution -- The Arab golden age: Harun Al-Rashid's Baghdad -- The Ottoman empire -- Ataturk's reforms -- The philosophy of the revolution -- After the revolution: Algerian self-government -- Oil in the Middle East -- Islamic feminism -- The Arab-Israeli conflict -- The life of Joseph Baratz, part 1-3 -- Israel: the forging of a nation -- The Intifada: an uprising for a nation -- The Persian Gulf War -- After the war: the Palestinians and the Kurds -- After the war: a chance for peace -- What now? After the Camp David II talks fail -- Zionism comes full circle -- Declaring war on America -- Terrorists on tape -- Reactions to 9/11 -- Fundamentalist Islam -- Whither Islam- and American?