Summer Reading Time

By Betsy Barlow

Longer days, warmer weather, vacation time all provide more opportunity for digging into books that we did not think we had time to start. Here are two suggestions of books that are timely and fascinating. The June 1967 War After Three Decades, edited by William W. Haddad, Ghada H. Talhami, and Janice J. Terry and published by the Association of Arab-American University Graduates, is a paperback book which provides excellent background for understanding the expected renewal of Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations. Several of the chapters appeared in an earlier version in The Arab Studies Quarterly , but are even more timely now than they were in 1997.

Elaine Hagopian examines the Oslo peace process, and asks if it is truly a process for peace. It will probably not surprise readers of the Washington Report to learn that she states that, at the present time, it is not. Hagopian then discusses the sort of process that might lead to a lasting peace, noting that adherence to international resolutions and international law are important.

She also states that today it appears that no matter what the Palestinian entity is called, it will still be subject to Israeli interests and ultimate authority. If the whole of Israel/Palestine is already one state, a binational state, with Palestinian enclaves, then perhaps a better option would be to resurrect the binational democratic secular state.

Naseer Aruri provides his usual masterful analysis of U.S. policy toward the Arabs—a policy that frequently does not accord with its own stated goals.

Phyllis Bennis examines the role of the U.N. in the controversy. Initially U.N. resolutions, such as the partition plan in Resolution 181, were embraced by Zionists. Having established their state, however, many Zionists are now claiming that the resolution no longer applies. Bennis shows how U.S. leaders have attempted to push the U.N. to the background or out of the picture completely.

Clovis Maksoud reviews history from 1967 to 1997 in an attempt to learn from mistakes. He suggests (1) restoring the framework of the PLO as the expression of Palestinian national unity; (2) Egypt and Jordan freezing diplomatic relations in the face of proven Israeli violations of international law and U.N. resolutions; (3) restructuring the League of Arab States to provide a forum for Arab civil society; and (4) connecting the Arab nationalist discourse to human rights, women’s empowerment, environmental quality, and cultural openness and enlightenment.

New in this book is an article by William W. Haddad, “Fighting the June 1967 War,” which explains concisely and clearly what is now known about the events before and during the war.

Also new is Edward Said’s “Reflections on the Arab-Israeli Conflict: Its Past and Future,” in which he suggests that Palestinians and Arabs demand consideration and reparations from the Jews of Israel without in any way minimizing Jewish Israelis’ own history of suffering and genocide, as the suffering of the two peoples is connected.

Marc Ellis has written “A Jewish Meditation on the 1967 War,” in which he asks if it is “possible to prepare the next generation for a reconciliation with the Palestinian people if the Orthodox and liberal leaders of our people pretend that the central question of Jewish life—the oppression of the Palestinian people—does not exist?”

Ghada Karmi gives a powerful example of the Israeli attempt to claim Hebron in “Rewriting History: The Jewish Claim to Hebron.” Janice Terry provides a list of selected sources in English on the 1967 war which should be helpful to scholars and/or the general public. This book is available from AAUG Press, 4201 Connecticut Ave. NW, Suite 303, Washington, DC 20008.

Another very timely publication is Jerusalem 1948: The Arab Neighbourhoods and Their Fate in the War, edited by Salim Tamari. With negotiations over Jerusalem expected during the next year or two, this book provides reliable information, pictures and maps of the area.

In American discourse, it is widely assumed that western Jerusalem was Jewish, and that few or no dislocation tragedies took place. Salim Tamari provides an introduction to the “Phantom City” and describes Jersualem’s relationship to its rural hinterland, while Rochelle Davis writes about “Ottoman Jerualem” and “The Growth of the Western Communities.”

Terry Rempel and Dalia Habash, in a chapter on “Assessing Palestinian Property in the City,” state that “At the time of the U.N. Partition Plan in November of 1947, Palestinian Arabs individually owned as much as 40 percent of the property of the new city of Jerusalem as compared to the 26 percent owned by individual Jews. The remainder of the property in the new city was held by religious communities and the British Mandate government.”

Palestinian Arabs were expelled and evacuated, leaving behind their belongings to which they hoped to return. After the hostilities ceased, Israel did not allow the refugees to return. Henry Cattan, a Palestinian lawyer from western Jersualem, described these events as one of the “greatest mass robberies in the history of Palestine.”

This book, published by the Institute of Jerusalem Studies and Badil Resource Center, is available in the U.S. for $20 from the Institute of Palestine Studies, phone: 1 (800) 874-3614; e-mail: <bookorders@ipsjps.org>.

A periodical available from the same organization is The Jerusalem Quarterly File, another resource filled with good information, maps and pictures on topics of contemporary interest and available at a very modest price.

Also good for summer reading are two books of poetry edited by Naomi Shihab Nye. This Same Sky is an excellent collection of poems from around the world with a generous selection from countries of the Middle East. The selection will appeal to adults as well as secondary-level students.

The collection was published by Aladdin Paperbacks, and should be available in most quality bookstores. Another collection is The Tree Is Older Than You Are, a bilingual gathering of poems and stories from Mexico, also selected and edited by Naomi Nye and published by Aladdin.

Educational Programs

The Middle East Center at the University of Utah on June 15-16 presented a two-day workshop on “A Medieval Banquet in the Alhambra Palace: Strategies for Teaching About the Arab World and Islam.” The major presenter for this Park City, Utah program was Audrey Shabbas, president of AWAIR and editor of the curriculum unit “A Medieval Banquet in the Alhambra Palace.”

Participating teachers received hands-on curricular material. In addition to sessions on cultural geography, history, art, architecture and women’s issues, Shabbas conducted sessions on poetry, current events, the Middle East in general, and the world of Islam. The program was co-sponsored with the Utah State Office of Education and the Middle East Policy Council.

Utah is also planning a fall workshop slated for Oct. 15 and 16 at the Utah Museum of Fine Arts on “Middle Eastern Threads in Western Culture: A Cultural Connections Workshop.” Presentations will include “Islamic Contributions to the West”; “Charms, Calligraphy, Carpets, Cartography—Art the Islamic Way”; “Cultural Stereotypes Seen through the Eyes of ‘The Mummy’—The Middle East in Western Media”; “Water Wars: The Middle East and the Wild West”; “Illuminating Iran: Persian Culture and Civilization”; Majestic Expression: Language Woven into the Tapestry of the West”; and “The Art of Music and Dance.” The workshop includes a Middle Eastern lunch and a T-shirt; in-service credit is available. To register, contact the Center at (801) 581-5003.

Utah will offer a business outreach venture at the International Festival to be held at the Salt Lake Area Chamber of Commerce on Oct. 21, 1999. The Center will provide information on doing business in the Middle East to Utah businesses.

Ohio State University will present a Middle Eastern Cultures Workshop June 21-July 2. The course will introduce K-12 social studies teachers and others interested to cultural patterns and issues of contemporary society in the Arab world, Iran, Israel, and Turkey. Applications will be accepted according to space available. For information, applications, and financial aid opportunities, contact Kim Schreiber at (614) 688-4406 or e-mail at <schreiber.38@osu.edu>.

Georgetown University’s Center for Contemporary Arab Studies will present a workshop July 12-16 on “Approaches to Teaching the Middle East.” Participants will learn multidisciplinary perspectives on teaching this region, including sociology and art. Places at the workshop are limited to 25 teachers from the Washington, DC metropolitan area. Contact Zeina Azzam Seikaly at (202) 687-6176 for more information.

Ms. Seikaly will also be organizing a teachers’ workshop for Thursday, Nov. 18 in connection with the annual Middle East Studies Association meeting to be held in Washington Nov. 19-22. More information about this will be available by September.

An international conference will take place June 21-23, 1999 at Birzeit University entitled “Palestine at the Crossroads: Perspectives of Citizenship and Prospects of Identity.” Sponsored by the Arab Thought Forum, Jerusalem, the program is supported by the U.N. Development Program and the Swiss Development Cooperation.

Topics will include “The Palestinian Entity: Four Years of Trial and Error,” with Ibrahim Abu Lughod and Mustafa Barghouthi, among others; “The Political Environment and Possibilities of Establishing a Palestinian State” with Azmi Bishara, Sa’eb Erekat, Jad Isaac, Michael Hudson, and others; and “Final Status Issues” with Hanan Ashrawi, Geoff Aronson, Faisal Husseini, William Quandt, and others.

There will be simultaneous Arabic-English and English-Arabic translations of all sessions. To register, contact the Arab Thought Forum, phone 972-2-626-4774, fax 972-2-626-2338, or e-mail <multaqa@planet.edu>. See also their Web site: <www.multaqa.org>. The Arab Thought Forum is dedicated to development, education, research and analysis of issues that affect the process of building a democratic and independent state for the Palestinian people, and is not affiliated with any government, political party or organization.

Film Festival

The Freer Gallery and the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, both part of the Smithsonian Institution, with the American Friends of Turkey and the Turkish-U.S. Business Council of the Foreign Economic Relations Board of Turkey, currently are hosting the film series “Turkish Cinema Now,” in the Freer Gallery of Art on the Mall in Washington, DC. The remaining film in the series is “Cholera Street” (1998, 120 minutes), a story of a prostitute and her lover, who must fill the shoes of a much-loved and recently murdered crime boss, which will be screened on Thursday, June 24 at 7 pm and again on Sunday, June 27 at 2 pm.

All films are in Turkish with English subtitles. Free tickets are distributed one hour before the films begin. The Freer Galley is located on Independence Avenue at 12th Street, SW (Metro: Smithsonian). For further information, call (202) 357-2700.

New Resource

The Center for Contemporary Arab Studies at Georgetown University is publishing a new teaching module, “The Arab People,” written by Dr. Steve Tamari, a graduate of Georgetown University and currently a teacher at Sidwell Friends School in Washington. The unit provides information on history, language, religions and nationalism, and contains a map and photographs, poems and vignettes by and about people living in the Arab world. Contact Zeina Seikaly, address above, to order this publication.There is a small charge for postage and handling.

Betsy Barlow is the program coordinator for the University of Michigan’s Center for Middle Eastern & North African Studies in Ann Arbor.