Lipstick Jihad

I realize that I am nearly alone in my opinions of Lipstick Jihad- I enjoyed the book.  I admit that the book has its flaws, but I enjoyed the author’s story, and enjoyed the fact that it was a bit of a change from some of the other readings.

One flaw that was obvious was one that the class discussed the other day: it constantly alternates in the style and format of writing.  It alternates between informational, journalistic, and memoirist writing styles. Now, I do not know much about different types of writing (let alone their technical terms!), but even I could detect these changes.  At first the switches were very distracting and made the story harder to get interested in, but after I got deeper into the story, the switches did not less noticeable.

Another flaw that was brought up in class was that the author did not have enough authority to analyze/criticize Iranian culture in the way that she did.  This is due to the fact that she was born in America, was in a very specific situation (going between the two cultures as a journalist), and also due to the fact that she was ”indoctrinated” with Western Orientalist ideas.  She was a reporter for the New York Times, which raises a huge red flag, according to others in the class.  Though I understand these red flags, I also do not think that her work should be criticized too harshly, either.  In my opinion, her opinion should matter.  Yes, she may have been in a very specific circumstance, but we still get the privilege of looking into that situation through her eyes.  I think there is much to benefit to learning from a person that is going back and forth between two different cultures, and is able to see both sides of issues in a way that other people cannot.  Yes, one culture will most likely dominate, but there are still advantages.

I hope to further analyze this text, and not to discount its story just quite yet! 

 

You Tube Video on Iran

                  The You Tube video on Iran was fascinating- and extremely useful if one does not know any Iranian history.  Though Rick Steves was not always the most tactful host, I still thoroughly enjoyed the program.  As some mentioned in the class, I think it is important to remember, though, that the program was “guided,” and probably heavily screened by the Iranian government.  Nevertheless, both the images and the information given were very helpful in beginning to understand Iranian culture.  At least, for those of us who might never visit the country for ourselves!

                  There were several things in the program that peaked my interest.  One thing was the mighty Persian Empire that was talked about so much.  I had forgotten that it was the Persians who used cuneiform writing.  I had also forgotten how mighty that empire really was (their idea of “peace through strength” was interesting).  Another thing that was important in the film is that fact that Persians are not Arabs- they are Persians, and they speak Farsi, not Arabic.

                  My favorite part of the program, other than just being able to see parts of beautiful Iran, was the part when Rick was talking to the students in Tehran.  Though I did not like the way he was addressing students, I loved their answers.  The young woman student was very bold in her answers, and she did not seem to be afraid to say what was on her mind.  Her comment that war is between governments, and not always peoples, was intuitive.  It surprised me that she was able to state that she believed that the main problem with Iran was that the religion and politics are mixed.  I did notice that the film cut out right around this time, and that made me wonder if they cut out something else that she said.  This would be disappointing, because she was brilliant, and I wished I could have heard more of her thoughts.

Good choice, Iran group!

Two Women

            It has been a few weeks since I watched the film Two Women.  But as I was watching it for another class, I was totally mesmerized by it and its characters.  I loved the two main characters, Roya and Fereshtah. 

                  In the other class, we discussed the significance of repetition in the film, the “beating of the dead horse,” if you will.  My own conclusion was that that repetitive scenes in the movie were not accidental, but served to show how monotonous life would be for a person such as Fereshtah.  They showed how frustrated one would be if she were continually denied justice, freedom, and an education, as Fereshtah was.  Also, the darkness of some parts of the movie may have been frustrating to viewers, but it showed how frustrating and depressing it would be to constantly live inside as Fereshtah was forced to do.

                  Another quam that the other class had with the movie is that most of the men in it men were portrayed as ignorant, brutish, and awful in their treatment of women.  There were only two or so that were portrayed positively (the cousin and Roya’s husband).  Maybe this is because the film is trying to get across a point about Iranian men in general.  The generalization did not seem fair, but since I do not live in that society, I do not know how accurate it really was.

                  In reality, this film is very depressing- not just informational, but depressing.  It confirms some of our stereotypes of Iran as being broadly true, with some exceptions, of course, like Roya.  Watching the film, I could not help but feel terribly for what Fereshtah had to go through, especially the emotional abuse of never being trusted by anyone and never being treated as the responsible, intelligent person that she was.

The Article

                  “The Eternal Forough: The Voice of Our Earthly Rebellion” was intriguing (a word I often use!).  I am not quite sure of its exact context, though, other than that it seems to be referring to a new sort of Orientalism, which it attempted to define.  Though I did not necessarily agree with the entire article, I found the author to be a compelling writer and quite effective at getting her points across, even to people like me, who may not agree with her.  There were several portions of the text that I underlined and marked for referral, which is rare for me(and which is why I loved paper photocopies!!!)!

                  The first portion that I marked was the portion on page 37 where she talks about travelers thinking that Iranian girls are “deprived the opportunity to think” on account of radical teachers and traditional parents.  The author seems to indicate that these travelers then suppose that these girls are less “intelligent” or “dynamic” as other girls around the world.  But I disagree that the concept of being deprived of the chance to think is necessarily linked to the concept of being less intelligent.  On the contrary, maybe some of these travelers view Iranian girls as being highly intelligent with a lot to say, but still as not always having a voice. 

                  I was also intrigued by the part of the discussion where she says that something went wrong in Muslim societies for them to have gone from being ahead of other civilizations to being “behind.”  I wondered what she meant when she called the Europeans “lucky” or “clever” for not being Muslim.  In that same part of the discussion, she aptly diagnoses the West’s illness of “technology worship.”

                  I think our discussion on this article, especially as compared and contrasted to Persepolis, will be great!

Persepolis

            Having just finished Persepolis, I have to say that I was disappointed with the ending.  I loved little Marjane in the beginning, but grew annoyed with her character when she got older.  Overall, though, I enjoyed the book, especially since it was my first graphic novel to read.

                  The author’s portrayal of Marjane as a little girl was perfect.  Marjane was spunky, loveable, and adorable.  I loved how her family as a unit was strong and admirable.  The mom and the dad had an excellent relationship, and they truly cared about their only daughter having a promising and satisfying life.  Each member cared about the desires of the other members (with the exception of Marji’s selfishness sometimes).  And I loved how Marji always came back to her family for reassurance.

                  The beginning of the book was definitely my favorite part; its humor amazed me.  I especially enjoyed the parts about the headscarves, and how the girls made fun of them and performed stunts with them.  And Marji’s immediate obsession with politics, religion, and social issues, even as a small child, was intriguing.  I especially loved the part when she was imagining herself as the last prophet and said that “no old person should have to suffer” and it would “simply be forbidden” according to her rules.  Her simple childishness was effective in getting the author’s points across.  Another hilarious part was when she and her friends had their own “revolution” and shouted “Down with the king!”  Some of these incidents reminded me of my own interest in politics at a young age, and how refreshing it is to hear children talk about politics in simple terms.  I grew annoyed with her character later, though, because it seemed like she lost her sweet innocence, and hardly ever seemed satisfied with her life.  But I appreciated that she always kept a strong connection with her family and never lost her deep affection for them.

                  I also have to say that the illustrations were extremely effective.  Having not read a graphic novel before, I was thoroughly surprised at how compelling it could be.  I was pulled into the story at once by the images, and it held my interest for much longer than most books do!

Anthony Bourdain Episode

            The Anthony Bourdain  episode of “No Reservations: Saudi Arabia” was fascinating.  Kudos to Katie for picking it out!  It was educational and hilarious! 

                  It was surprising to me that the show was allowed to come to Saudi Arabia at all.  And because it is rumored to not always be the safest place for non-Muslims, I am surprised that Anthony chose to go there!  But I am glad he did… so we could all benefit from his experiences!  I was slightly shocked that the woman (was her name Donya?) who led Anthony around did not think women to be very oppressed in her country, or at least she did not express it in front of the camera.  She did not speak out against her inequality, and maybe did not even think of it as inequality, though she could not drive or go out into the public uncovered.  Though she seemed to have much more independence than I would have thought for a Saudi woman, I wondered how much of this was due to her being raised in the United States. 

                  Though Donya tried to show that Saudi culture was not necessarily oppressive to women, just different form Western cultures, it was still sad to see all the women covered from head to toe in black while walking in public.  And what was up with the closed booths at the restaurant?  It was actually sort of a neat idea for a restaurant, but not for the purpose (I think) it was supposed to serve in that culture! 

                  I was actually surprised that Donya was allowed to travel with Anthony.  Was her husband with her while she traveled?  I did not think that this would be allowed for a Saudi woman, especially one who was married.  I just wonder if it was a special case because she was a film maker, or if she was ridiculed or even punished for traveling with another man who was not her relative. 

                  Oh, and the food on the show looked wonderful, except, of course, the camel and the lizard!!!!

More Turkey!!!!

                  The “excursions” in Turkey the last couple of weeks have been a blast!!!  Many thanks to the Turkey group, who have let us experience tastes of Turkish culture!  The Turkish and Armenian dishes that the girls brought last week were wonderful!!!

                  The film on the rising importance and influence of Turkish music was a new topic to me, as were the many of the images of Istanbul.  It was rather strange seeing the modern city of Istanbul, especially the parts of the city where the night life was very active.  It actually saddened me, wondering if the West’s influence in the country has mainly revealed itself through rebellious teenagers and wild music.  This would be sad, but it may be true.  It is also sad to see the images of some parts of modern Istanbul, compared to how beautiful parts of the city were during the Ottoman Empire.  Maybe there are still parts of the city that maintain this beauty, but the images that stuck out to me were the ones that looked like run-down parts of Chicago.

It was also wonderful to have Dr. Mirzeler come to speak last week.  He is very eloquent and it was neat to hear him talk about some of the wonders of the Ottoman Empire, especially during the Tulip period.  The images he showed us were beautiful, and I loved the history he gave about the old bridge that is seemingly indestructible!  The signature /seal of the Sultan was also fascinating, and it would be neat to learn more about its history.  I don’t know about everyone else, but his stories made me want to travel back in time to see the wonders of the Ottoman Empire myself! 

Thanks, Turkey group!

The White Castle

                  The White Castle by Orhan Pamuk is the book that I chose for the Turkey group.  I have not quite finished it yet, but am over half-finished.  The writing style reminds me of old British literature, and because of this I have greatly enjoyed it. 

                  It was surprising to me that the main character is not actually Turkish or Muslim.  When Hoja was first introduced, I imagined that the storyline would be something along the lines of “long-lost twins reunite.”  I thought the story took an interesting turn when the two look-alikes become master and slave instead of royal relations.  Hoja’s behavior toward the main character (does anyone know his name???) was especially shocking to me; he was quite psychotic!   I had hoped to admire his character, but as soon as he commits any kind action, he does something doubly worse!

                  The bubonic plague part of the novel is fascinating.  I never realized that it affected Turkey; I had always thought of Western Europe as being the only place it was heavily present.  Hoja’s behavior here was shocking as well, when he purposely scares the main character and even tries to infect him with the deadly disease.

                  The most fascinating aspect of the book to me so far has been the Muslim-Christian relations.  The Muslim Turks continually try to convert the main character, punish him when he rejects Islam, but also somewhat respect him for being faithful- even willing to die for- his religion. 

                  It has been hard for me to read long portions of this book in one sitting.  I really enjoy the book, but I think that it has such a depressing tone that it is hard to take too much in at one time.  But I cannot wait to see how it ends!

 

Turkey!

The Bus Driver Who Wanted to Be God had some interesting stories in it.  I actually did not enjoy it as much as everyone else seemed to enjoy it, but did find some of the stories to be “cute,” for lack of a better word(!).  Mostly, they were just shocking to me!  Especially the fact that these stories were Israeli!  They sounded more American, a point that proves the many similarities between Israel and America.  The “cutest” story, in my opinion, was the short story about the little boy and his piggy bank.  This short story, and a few other more children-like stories, seemed out of place with stories like “Kneller’s Happy Campers.”  It was a little odd to see all of these unrelated stories that were meant for many different age groups lumped together in one book.  As far as teaching them to high school students, some of the material would probably be offensive.  But then again, the piggy bank story is a classic for all ages!

It is neat that we started the Turkey group last week, because I am also reading a couple of other Turkish texts for another class right now.  I read most of Memed, My Hawk, and a few other short stories.  The other class also had a Kurdish speaker come, who grew up on the Turkish countryside in a small village- Dr. Mirzeler.  Finally, we also watched two documentaries, one on the infamous honor killings in Turkey, the other about the banning of the headscarf. 

One thing that was new to me that the group talked about last week was the Armenian genocide.  I had probably heard about it before, but it was fascinating to learn more about what happened, and to hear Lauren’s relatives’ stories.  I am also enjoying the book that I am reading, The White Castle, and hope to finish it tonight!

The Ottoman Empire

                  The powerful Ottoman Empire lasted from 1300 until 1923, over six hundred years.  It was the most powerful in the world at that time, with 30-35 million people under its rule, and an army of approximately 100,000 people.  The Ottomans defeated the Serbian Empire (the Serbs were Greek/ Orthodox Christians), and the Byzantine Empire, and among their conquests were Egypt, Syria, Arabia, and the Balkans.

Osman founded a Sultan dynasty of ten rulers around 1300.  The Sultans were mostly good leaders, though all under them were considered both slaves and family (not quite sure how that worked!).  The Sultans’ palace was also the place that held a harem of 2000 women.  Another famous sultan was Sulieman the Magnificent (1520-66), who was sultan and caliph, and who claimed the leadership of Sunni Islam.

Topkapi Palace was the center for Ottoman Power, and was in Istanbul, or Constantinople, as it was called before the Turks conquered it from the Byzantine Empire in 1453, under Mehmet II.  The Topkapi Palace’s kitchen fed 5,000 per day, and 10,000 per day if there was a banquet.  The grounds were 7.5 million square feet, and contained 10 mosques, 14 bathhouses, 2 hospitals, 4,000 horses, and a Janissary Barracks. 

One interesting thing is that I found about the Ottoman Emipire was their Janissary Corps.  This corps was made from the “boy tax,” or devshirme, a tax that was put on the Balkan Christians.  The boys were converted to Islam, educated, and rose to the top as viziers or as part of the Janissary Corps, which was an elite group of soldiers who were not allowed to marry or own land.  Some Christians resented this “boy tax,” while others saw it as a chance for their boys to advance.  Eventually, the Janissary Corps became discontent, grew very powerful in the government, and eventually were eliminated because of their strength and mutiny against the government.

Israeli Movies

                  Time of Favor was an excellent film.  Unfortunately, I was not able to watch the entire thing, and could not get a hold of Beaufort, either.  But what I did see of Time of Favor, I thoroughly enjoyed.

I cannot remember all of the characters names, so you will have to bear with me- the only names that I can remember are Pini and Menachem.  My favorite character was Menachem, and I did not know what to think of the girl (I cannot remember her name).  I despised Pini.  I say that I “liked” the characters, because to me, this movie was slightly more Hollywood-like than was Paradise Now.  This movie had more of the traditional “happy-ending” with the good characters becoming heroes.  It was nice to see a happy-ending again for a change, I have to admit!

                  It was enlightening to hear what other people had to say about the movie during our class discussion.  I especially think that the parallel that was drawn between Paradise Now and Time of Favor was especially enlightening.  Though the issues addressed were slightly different in each film, the fact that both movies’ plots centered on suicide bombers on either side made them complimentary to one another. 

                  What made me slightly uneasy in class was that we seemed to keep coming back to the Palestinian plight, rather than really keeping focused on discussing what might be troubling the Israelis right now.  I think it is necessary that we discuss both sides evenly, one unit discussing the Palestinians and one unit discussing the Israelis, and not give one side more credit or time than the other.  The class as a whole seemed to more readily denounce Israeli literature as biased, but was not as hesitant to accept Palestinian literature as the same.  Not that I think Palestinian literature is unimportant; on the contrary, it is very important.  But so is Israeli literature.  Just because Israeli literature does not present the opinion that one agrees with does not mean that its opinion is not valid.  And just because Palestinian literature is “new” to many of us does not necessarily discredit the opinions of other more-commonly-read literature.  I hope I am not misunderstanding what was said or implied in class; I only thought that this was something that should be brought up.

 

Elie Cohn

                  The second story that I had chosen for my outside reading had been one titled The Lemon Tree.  But half way through my first book, I came across a book in one of my storage boxes, one that had been given to me a long time ago.  (Don’t you just love when you come across something at just the right time!?)  The story is called Our Man in Damascus: Elie Cohn, written by Eli Ben-hanan.  It’s description is accurate: “the thrilling, shocking, true story of Israel’s most daring spy.”  This story redeemed my outside reading, because at that point I was disappointed and bored with my other book (which I had to get very far into before realizing my disappointment in it!), and I was having trouble finding any films to watch.  But because espionage stories have always thrilled me, this book perked my interest!

                  The story is just as the description, an inside story on the life of an Israeli spy and his vital mission in Syria.  The front cover gives the end away- it shows Elie being hanged, with a huge sign and big Arabic letters on it.  The story was published and printed in Israel and is set in the 1960’s.  Elie’s mission involves becoming intimate friends with the Ba’ath supporters in Syria, who ultimately overthrew the then current Syrian government.  This Ba’athist coup threw Elie into a position of being close friends with the new President and all of the main government officials.  From what I understood in the story, the Ba’athists posed more of a threat to Israel, and by becoming close friends with the new Ba’athist leaders, Elie obtained crucial and top-secret information from them that he transmits back to Tel Aviv.  This detailed information assured some of Israel’s victories over Syrian-planned attacks.

                  The book is very interesting, but it shows more of the war side of Israel than the culture or religious side, only because it is a short book focused on a spy.  I am also not sure how to get multiple copies of the book, since it was given to me.  But I definitely recommend it to anyone studying Israel who is interested in espionage!

Ps- this is a link to a little history of Elie Cohn:

http://www.jewishmag.com/67mag/eliecohn/eliecohn.htm

Outside Films

                  For my outside film viewing, I watched a couple of documentaries on issues pertaining to Israel and a film titled The Band’s Visit. 

                  The most interesting documentary that I watched was one titled Women of the Wall, a documentary that I picked up at the WMU library.  This is a film chronicling the struggle for women’s rights in the state of Israel, particularly women’s rights to pray in public at the famous Kotel, or Western Wall.  The women in the film go against tradition by wearing the prayer rug and other religious articles that only men traditionally wear, and by carrying and reading from the Torah.  Before this film, I did not know much about these Jewish traditions, and did not realize that Jewish women still did not have as many religious “rights” as Jewish men.  The women in the film meet once a month to pray as a group at the wall, even though it is against the law.  When I looked to see if women had been granted these rights since the time of the film (made in 1999), I discovered that they had not, though they continue to meet once a month and on certain other holidays, such as Purim.  The Supreme Court in Israel had actually granted them these rights for about four days, but the state overruled the court; now women’s communal prayer is “punishable by a fine and seven years in prison.” (see link below)  These facts were very surprising to me, since I had thought that women enjoyed equality in Israel.  Some fascinating information about the Women of the Wall group can be found at this link: http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Judaism/WOW.html

                  The film The Band’s Visit is about an Egyptian police orchestra that is invited to perform at an Arab culture center in Israel.  The band members have trouble pronouncing the “p” sound, and end up in a different town than they plan because of mispronouncing the town’s name (Arabic has no “p” sound, only a “b” sound.).  The band members end up staying with some locals in the small town, and the story is a tender portrayal of the humanness of the Egyptian and Israeli people.  The traditional strife between the two cultures is somewhat eliminated by the sharing of music, and by interacting with one another on an individual basis.  

A Pigeon and a Boy: Almost Finished!

            I have had fun with my outside reading for my group, the Israeli group, but have also been slightly frustrated.  I am reading the book A Pigeon and a Boy, but am now disappointed in it, even though I am near the end.  The book is not what I had expected; it is a little too graphic for my taste, and the story is quite odd. 

                  A Pigeon and a Boy was written by Meir Shalev, and fluctuates between two stories.  The first story is written in the first person about a character named Yair Mendelsohn and is a narrative of his fairly normal, daily life.  The story begins when Yair is a child, and continues until he is a grown man who has a job as a tour guide and who struggles with a failing marriage.  The second story is about two characters called “the Baby” and “the Girl,” two child pigeon raisers who meet and fall in love.  The chapters alter back and forth between the two stories, but the reader does not see the significance of the second story, and how it intertwines with the first story, until near the end of the novel. 

Yair continually addresses his mother as the reader of his tale, though his mother has already passed away.  Two important facts that Yair restates often are the fact that he looks very different than the rest of his family and the fact that his mother did not always have a happy marriage with her husband.  This unhappy marriage seems to affect Yair later in life when he suffers from an unhappy marriage as well. 

I did not think that the novel was teaching me much about life in Israel, but maybe that is because life there is not drastically different from life in America, or any other Westernized country!  What the book has given me is much information on pigeon raising!  Hmm, not quite what I expected!!!

   

A Lake Beyond the Wind

                  A Lake Beyond the Wind  is the book that I chose to read for the Palestinian group.  I have not quite finished it yet, and so far I am still somewhat confused!  Right now the story seems to be going in different directions, and I have not quite fit all of the pieces together.  It is interesting to see how the story keeps switching narrators, but I am not sure how each of the narrators fit together.

                  The one thing that seems to be tying different narrators and characters together in the story so far is the vest.  The navy bullet-proof vest keeps appearing and disappearing in the different narratives.  It is seen in the hands of one character, then seems to leave the story in the hands of a different character, only to reappear in the hands of yet another character.  What is this vest?  Is it a symbol of some sort?  It is continually portrayed as something that each character desires to possess.  Being a bullet-proof vest, could it stand for the desire for peace in Palestine, or the desire that each of the characters has to be “exempt” from leading war-torn life?  If that is the case, then it is even more interesting that the vest was sold to Radi- a young boy- by the hands of a British soldier.  Even more, the soldier was leaving the battle to go home; that is why he had no use for the vest anymore.  But why did he sell it, instead of just taking it home with him? 

                  It was interesting that each of the characters in Radi’s village so admired the vest, and had never even seen one before.  It was almost like magic to them, totally surreal.  Could the author be implying that the Middle East, at least the Palestinian area, deeply desires peace, but it has been so long removed from the area that it is only a foreign and superstitious idea to its people?  Could he be implying that they deeply admire peace, but have trouble believing in it?  And even more, does he imply that peace comes and goes in each character’s life, never staying very long with any one of them?  Hmmm, these are thoughts I will continue to ponder as I finish the end of the book!

Paradise Now

                  Wow… Again.  When I watched Paradise Now last night, I figured I would turn it off when I got too tired, because it was already almost eleven-thirty when I started it.  That didn’t happen!  I was enthralled with the movie, and could not keep my eyes from being glued to the computer screen.  I also cried, but no one needs to know that…

                  Even though I did not agree with much of the film Reel Bad Arabs, I definitely agree on their review of Paradise Now!  It was an excellently produced movie, along with having a phenomenal story line.  The way that they were able to show what went on inside the minds of the two would-be suicide bombers, and the many different aspects and struggles of the whole mission was both amazing and heart-breaking.  Before this movie, I had never quite thought about all the struggles that a suicide bomber would deal with before he died.  I had only thought, “How could a person do that?  What about his whole life that he is throwing away, and how will his death really affect his family, especially if his death makes no difference to their situation?” 

                  These subconscious thoughts were brought to the front of my mind during the scene where Saha is talking to Khaled in the car, and they are trying to find Said.  In my opinion, this was the climax of the movie.  Saha had wise words for Khaled.  Though this movie was definitely pro-Palestinian, the words of Saha in this scene softened the tone, when she said that their deaths would only give the other side another reason to bomb them.    

                  Needless to say, I thought that the end was going to be slightly more happy (how naïve of me) and more informative.  From the preview, I expected both Khaled and Said to make the same decision.  But we instead are left hanging about Said’s decision!  Ahhhh, movie endings!!!!  But still, good choice of movie, guys!

A Further Question about Iraq War Sentiments

“What other questions do I still have about Iraq?”  Wow, how about “which question am I going to pick to do some research on?!”  Hmm, let’s see: how about  “If some Iraqi civilians dislike Americans being in Iraq (for war purposes, at least), and some agree with Americans being there, how would I find out what percentage of each exists?  And what about all of the opinions in between?”  Ok, so this question is going to be about as difficult to answer as finding out what Americans themselves think about the war in Iraq… or even more difficult!  So here go my efforts…

When I first began to research on the internet to see if I could find any pro-American sentiment from Iraqis toward the war, I did not find much (possibly a statement in itself, possibly just because I was not using the right words in the search engine).  But I did find this interesting site that talks about Indian pro-American feelings.  Now it may not seem to relate to the topic very well, but there are many Muslims in India, and the article has some interesting polls that relate to the Iraq war and feelings about it on the international level.  Here is the site: http://pewglobal.org/commentary/display.php?AnalysisID=1002  

The next article I found was a NY Times article that talks about a blog by three brothers in Iraq who seemed to approve of America’s presence there.  The blog was very controversial, and I would like to find it in order to view it myself.  Here is the article: http://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/18/arts/18blog.html

Another article that I found cautioned us to be careful to understand any pro-American Iraqi sentiment, to see if it is really true or if it comes from some sort of government push from America to bolster its approval rate.  It is interesting and has some valid points, but I also think that we must then be careful to treat anti-American sentiments with the same level of critique.  Here is that article: http://terrorism.about.com/od/wariniraq/a/IraqResistance.htm

Finally, below are listed some various sites that link to polls on the Iraq war, some from Americans and some from Iraqis.  Now, granted I do not know the level of credibility of any of these sources; and if I were ever to teach any of these materials, I would definitely be doing more in-depth research!  The internet IS the just the internet!!!!!

Poll sites:

http://i.abcnews.com/PollingUnit/story?id=4444000&page=1   -- ABC news polls

http://www.abcnews.go.com/images/PollingUnit/1060a1IraqWhereThingsStand.pdf  --pdf of poll

http://www.pollingreport.com/iraq.htm  polls- though from Americans, I think

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_opinion_on_the_Iraq_War#Iraqi_opinion  -- Iraqi polls, Wikipedia

ENJOY!!!!

Baghdad Diaries

                  I am in the group that is reading Diaries of Baghdad and watching a film.  I have not quite finished the first half of the book yet, but I have already found it interesting.  Granted, it is not the most exciting book, but it has an interesting and important viewpoint on the Americans’ wars in Iraq.  The diary is written by a woman who is, if I am not mistaken, at least fifty years old.  She is unmarried and has not mentioned ever having a husband.  This in itself I found interesting, because usually we hear love stories portrayed by or about Middle Eastern women, since marriage is such an important aspect of the Middle East.

                  I have picked up bits and pieces of the diary here and there that have really popped out at me.  One was how the author mentioned that war was unusual in Iraq before the war involving Kuwait.  I found this statement eye-opening, since in my naivety, I had assumed that there was probably much war there just like in other laces in the Middle East.  Her statement about Baghdad being punished for wrongdoing, and other nations not being punished, to be thought-provoking.  She said something to the effect that every nation makes mistakes, so why is Iraq being punished so severely?  This is a peculiar point of view.  Another interesting thing was that she did not want to call herself an Arab at one point in the book.  Finally, She mentioned that there seem to be three dominant images of the Middle East in the West: terrorists, Sheikhs, and women covered in black.  My thoughts on this were that they should not be the dominant views, but the latter two are nevertheless somewhat peculiar to the Middle East, are they not?

                  Finally, one last thing I observed in the book was the constant referral to different pets that the author and others had.  Being an animal lover and working for a vet clinic, I naturally found this fascinating.  I had no idea that pets were important in Iraqi culture.  Neat!

Opinionated Me

                  Lately class has left me slightly frustrated.  I do not agree with many of the opinions on the topics we have been discussing, but have not been up to arguing my points (bad excuse, I know).  Two such issues that I have issues with are Orientalism and imperialism.  I do not necessarily agree with a positive view toward Orientalism or imperialism.  But I also will not discount all of the positive aspects that I have heard about either in my previous years of study.  I will not discredit everything good that the “West” along with the bad.  I think it is very easy for us to get carried away with our own opinions, especially as passionate students, and begin to regard them as fact.  But I will not take other’s opinions as my own without critical consideration.

I also have an issue with the idea that the majority of people in the US believe we should support Israel and that the majority villainize the Palestinians and Arabs.  Everywhere around me, I constantly hear the opposite: I hear people saying how the US has showed undue support for Israel.  I also hear many people feel incredibly guilty the instant they hear anything about the American media or people misrepresenting and/or villainizing the Palestinians and/or Arabs (even if they personally have done nothing wrong).  Now maybe these views are prevalent because I am frequently on campus, and students have vastly different viewpoints than previous American generations.  But just the same, I hear both sides of these two issues constantly being represented.  If these views can be linked to conservatism and liberalism, I think it is safe to say that liberalism seems to be increasing in numbers, while conservatism is decreasing.

                  I say all of this because we definitely began to delve into some politics last class period.  I am in know way saying that we should villainize the Arabs.  I am personally very conservative, but do not think we should villainize other human beings.  But I enjoy Dr. Webb’s class because he permits open discussion is happy when we do not all agree!   

Ps- I thought the little cartoon was hilarious!!!

            I enjoyed the reading that Dr. Webb assigned for class this week ("The 'Middle East'? Or ... / Arabic Literature and the Postcolonial Prediciament" by Magda M. Al-Nowaihi (p. 282-303)).  I thought the author was exactly right when he said he could not write such a short essay over the “Middle East.”  I think that is an important concept we often forget: the “Middle East” is such a vague concept, and comprises many countries.  Each area of the Middle East that contains a few “similar” countries is different, each  individual country is different, and even each area within each country is different. 

This also reminds me of our talking about stereotypes in the last couple of classes.  Before we disregard every stereotype that we have about the Middle East (there I go using the same term), I think we should realize that some may be partly true.  But even if some of our stereotypes have some truth in them, they often come from only one small area in the Middle East.  Even if a specific stereotype, such as oppression of women, is true, it may only be true in a specific area. 

This is an important concept because many people want to condemn all stereotypes, especially students belonging to a “new” generation.  Students are prone to defy information inherited from previous generations, wishing to discover “new” information never before discovered.  (I know I may be going on a tangent, but it is something that I have been contemplating for a long time, even before this class.)  The desire to discover new information is not inherently bad, because it is what encourages new inventions to be made, etc; but we also must realize that we use the information gained from previous generations (that once was considered “new” as well) to be able to discover what is “new” today.

            So anyway, the purpose of that tangent was to get all of us to think even more deeply about stereotypes we have inherited, and the “information” (some true, some false) by which they were conceived, and to reconsider (again) the entire Orientalist view. 

 

A Pigeon and a Boy, the First Two Chapters

            I have started my outside reading with a book titled A Pigeon and a Boy.  It is a novel written by Meir Shalev, and originally published in Hebrew as Yona V’naar in 2006.  It was translated into English and published in the United States in 2007.

                  Chapter one starts out with an old man describing a battle that he was in, and an old pigeon raiser that let a pigeon go free right before dying in the battle.  We learn that the author is listening to the story; he is a travel guide, leading a group of tourists (bird watchers, I believe) in modern Israel.  The book is addressed to his mother, whom he appears to be writing a letter to about his experiences.  The first chapter is somewhat detached from the second, and I have not figured out the exact relationship between the author, the old man telling the story, and the pigeon raiser.  We also get a glimpse in this chapter into the author’s failing marriage.

                  Chapter two takes us back to the author’s childhood, and tells us about his experiences as he grows up in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem.  His father, whom he affectionately calls Yordad (Your Dad), is a well-known pediatrician.   He has a brother named Benjamin, whom he is always jealous of because of his abilities.  His mother’s name is Raya, and she is an independent-minded woman.  The author is obviously very attached to both his parents, but especially his mother, and constantly details exactly how he saw or heard his mother react in any given situation.  He relates many stories of his childhood, including their move from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, a move that seemed to break his mother’s heart.  The second chapter is sad, though, as it chronicles how his parents drifted apart, and eventually his mother leaves his father and moves to a different part of town.  The chapter continues to relate different stories and memories, all the way until the author and his brother are married and his mother dies at a young age.

                  I can’t wait to see what happens in the next chapters… so far, the author brings in several different “trails,” and I can’t wait to see how he brings them all together!

My Under-Developed Ideas!!!!

            Dr. Webb said that our blogs could be our under-developed ideas… so here are my under-developed ideas!  I certainly have many!

                  First, I have learned many new things about Orientalism in this past week, especially since I have not had much exposure to it before.  I think that the whole concept is very intriguing, and have not understood the breadth of it until now.  One thing that we talked about in class that particularly intrigued me was the way that we romanticized those people we call “Orientals,” while at the same time labeling them “barbaric.”  I guess the two terms do not have to contradict each other, but I always thought of “romantic” as having a positive connotation, while “barbaric,” of course, as having a negative connotation.  I think it is interesting how we think of the Orient as a beautiful place, while also being frightened of it, because it is so different from our own culture.    And because it is such a different culture, I think we tend to think of the people there as being totally different than ourselves, when in reality, humans are humans, no matter where on the globe they live.

                  Another interesting idea about Orientalism is the veil that it tends to create, and the dialogue that veil prevents.  This is ironic, though, because Orientalism also fosters a general interest in the “other” culture.  But usually that interest is satisfied only by reading about the “other” culture, instead of experiencing that culture for oneself.  The problem is that, if one does experience another culture, he will probably want to write about his experiences; but experiences are always viewed through the eyes of the one experiencing, and may be totally different from what someone else would experience.  No two people experience the same thing (or culture) the same way.  I think that is why when one reads a travel guide and then travels to that same place, he does not always think that the guide was accurate.

                  So there are my unfinished thoughts from class the other day!  I hope to be able to delve deeper into some of these ideas, and answer some of my own questions!

                  

First Look into This Class...

I am very excited about this class, though a little intimidated, too!  I think this class and its awesome focus on Middle Eastern literature is going to be an amazing journey!  Even more, I am very excited about my group, Israeli Literature.  I cannot wait to see what interesting things I can find out about Israeli literature, especially since I have never really read any of it before!

                  The book that we have been reading together, Orientalism, has been very intriguing so far.  I have heard about Orientalism before, and have a rough idea of what it is, but have not studied it in depth until now.  The book and what we have discussed in class so far has caused me to contemplate my world view and how it has been affected by being raised in the West.  Until now I never would have thought that there could have been a different “North” and “South,” or a different map of the world, if they had been based on an un-European point of view.  I had also not realized the greatness of the tragedies that happened to many of the indigenous people of the lands that were being colonized by European nations.  All of these new realizations has caused me to think much more deeply about my worldview. 

                  Also, I really enjoyed the article that we read about Dr. Webb’s book that is going to be published.  I was very impressed with how much research was involved with the class that the article was about, how many different sorts of activities the students participated in for the class, and how many student quotes there were in the article (even though Dr. Webb said that there had been many more before the article was published).  I am thrilled and honored that Dr. Webb is having us help him with this book project!

                  See you all in class tomorrow!