Zaat

For my next reading assignment I chose to read Zaat by Sonallah Ibraham. This book was highly recommended by a former presenter in our class so I thought I would check it out. Unfortunately I found this one of the hardest books to read. Zaat is an average woman in Egypt who is in an arranged marriage. The book talks about the corruption in Egypt, but it jumps around a lot and the book is kind of hard to follow. The chapters alter between reading about Zaat and her life and different excerpts from the newspaper she works for and articles that are printed in the paper about the corruption in Egypt and it's government.
The story doesn't flow, but jumps from event to event with very little information. There is one part in the story that did talk a little more in depth. Zaat is diagnosed with breast cancer, but the way she was diagnosed was very sketchy at best. She is told she needs surgery to have them removed, but after discussing this with her husband she decides against the surgery. Being a survivor myself this part kind of lost me. There are so many things wrong with this part of the book that I'm not sure where to begin.
After reading this section of the book I completely lost interest in the book and really had to push myself to finish it. The book does have a few good points in it with dry humor, but overall I did not enjoy this book at all.

Turkey

Last week while I was out sick we had a guest speaker who talked about Turkey. I'm not very familiar with the history of Turkey, but I did find a couple nice web sites about the country. Turkey is the home of the Ottoman Empire and the first capital was Bursa.
Unfortunately I found more web sites on how to cook a turkey than I did on the country of Turkey.


This is a web site that talks about the history of Turkey during the Ottoman Empire.
http://www.kultur.gov.tr/EN/BelgeGoster.aspx?17A16AE30572D313E603BF9486D4371D56573D7CD94618A3

This web site talks about the dress of the women during the Ottoman Empire. There were several types of dress for women in this time period. This web site even talks about the dress for non-muslim women in the capital city of Bursa.
http://www.kultur.gov.tr/EN/BelgeGoster.aspx?17A16AE30572D31371BE64510F6C8BC92E327A7616BC3132

This web site tells about the different sultans in the Ottoman Empire which I thought was pretty cool to see.
http://www.kultur.gov.tr/EN/BelgeGoster.aspx?17A16AE30572D313A79D6F5E6C1B43FF1ABB7EB6D1B95756

Iraq War presentations

On Wed we listened to Dr. Ellin give qutie an interesting talk about Israel and the wall surrounding the West Bank. I was surprised at his views on the wall. He talked about the wall being built to help keep the suicide bombers in check and the bombings have decreased quite significantly. All the other aricles and videos we've seen gave a completely different view of the wall. This really makes you think about the facts we are given by our own news media. He also gave us handouts disputingJimmy Carters book "Palestine: Peace not Apartheid" which we had read for class. The paper disputed several points in Carters book. In one section Carter claims the 1949 armistice demarcation lines becamo the borders for the new nation of Israel and were accepted by both the United States and Israel and recognized by the United Nations. The paper claims the lines were not borders according to the Armistice Agreement dated April 3, 1949.

We also had the pleasure of listening to Lt. Phillips, Sgt. Gilmer and Sgt. Merrit speak about the Iraq War. While I was listening to them speak I kept thinking about the difference between the Gulf War and the Iraq War. The differences between the two are so far apart. Before the Gulf War started everyone seemed to be for the war and pushing Hussein back out of Kuwait, but there is so much controversy for the Iraq War. The soldiers gave a view of things in Iraq that I have not heard from any news report here in America. They stated things have improved a little bit in Iraq which is quite surprising compared to what we hear on the news. These were my favorite speakers so far and I really wish we would have had more time to talk with them on Wed.

These are a couple web sites that I found interesting about the Gulf War.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gulf_War

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/gulf/

Fatima Mernissi

Here are some related links to Dreams of Trespass that I found interesting.

http://lexicorient.com/e.o/harem.htm

http://hrw.org/backgrounder/mena/morocco0506/5.htm

This link has some really good pictures of Morocco and the inside of a harem.

http://moroccofortheprofessors.blogspot.com/2007/02/bread-baked-in-sand.html

This link gives a little background on the author Fatima Mernissi.

http://islamlib.com/en/page.php?page=article&id=461

Dreams of Trespass

"Dreams of Trespass" was written by Fatima Mernissi. Fatima is a feminist writer and sociologist from Morocco. She writes about growing up in a family harem in Fez, Morocco in the 1940's. They live in a traditional harem set in Fez with her parents, siblings, uncle and aunt, cousins and her paternal grandmother. The opinions vary greatly amidst the harem occupants. Her grandmother is very much a traditionalist and strictly adheres to harem rules. Her mother rebels against the rules quite often and hates the restrictions and lack of privacy.

Fatima http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fatima_Mernissi talks about 2 different types of harems in Morocco. One is the traditional in which she lives with her family. The other type is a more open and modern type harem in which the women do have a little more freedom by living on a farm. This farm harem is where Fatima's mother was raised and lived before she was married.

Harem life is very restricting and all decisions are made by the men living in the household. The women are kept locked behind gates to "protect" them as the men tell them. They are not even allowed to go shopping for cloth and must depend on the male the call the "gatekeeper" to buy the things they need. The gatekeeper has the key to the gate that keeps the women locked inside the harem. Even the meals are segregated with the men eating at the head table. The women are seated at the second table with the kids sitting at the third table. The last table is reserved for those who come in late for any meal regardless of their stature.

At the end of the story she is talking to one of the servants about men and women. The servant explains that men don't understand women and women don't understand men and that there is a cosmic frontier in which the powerful walk on one side and the powerless walk on the other side. Fatima asks the servant how she would know what side she is walking on. The servant replys; "If you can't get out, you are on the powerless side." I think this pretty much sums up life in a harem.

Nawal El Saadawi

Nawal El Saadawi is a famous Egptian feminist and author. Her stories are mainly about womens issues in the Arab world and she has angered the Egyptian government. Her first novel was confiscated by the government. She was born in the small village of Kafr Tahla in 1931 and has eight brothers and sisters. Her parents both died young She began writing about 25 years ago and her books are translated in twelve different languages. She researched women and neurosis at Ain Shams University from 1973 to 1976 and published the book Women and Neurosis in Egypt based on her studies. She also wrote Women at Point Zero, which is based on a true story of a woman who was convicted of killing her husband. In 1980 she was arrested under the Sadat regime for alledges "crimes against the state." In 1982 she was released from prison and published her book Memoirs from the Women's Prison in which she continued her attacks against the Egyptian government. Here is a video of Nawal El Saadawi giving a lecture in Montreal. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cwpaeOdb3Hk

Woman at Point Zero

I read "Woman at Point Zero" by Nawal El Saadawi. This is a very disturbing book and tells about the life of a woman named Firdauswho is condemned to hang for killing a man. Throughout the book Firdaus tells her life story from early teens to the time she is hung. First she tells of having to go out to the fields every morning and how she is molested there by a boy who also has to work in the fields for his family. Then one day after she comes home from the fields a her mother has a woman come over and do a female mutilation on her. She talks of crying herself to sleep at night and not being able to feel anything down there after that. She also talks of abuse and neglect from her father who will not go without his evening meal even though his family does not have anything to eat.

After her parents both die her uncle takes her to live with him. I'm not sure if he was molesting her or not. The book hints at it but doesn't really give any clear indications. He eventually sends her to a boarding school and he marries a woman while Firdaus is at school. She is eventually married off to an old man who beats her and she finally leaves him and becomes a prostitute. She seems to like this lifestyle as she can make her own decisions of who will have her and how much they have to pay. After many years she is harrassed by a pimp, but she stands up to him in the beginning. She eventually finds out she can't get away from him since women are condemned for her line of work and the authorities look the other way for the men involved. He eventually pushes Firdaus past her limit and she stabs him. She talks about how easy it was to stab him which is quite frightening.

After what she has suffered it's understandable why Firdaus hates men, but the things that have happened to her over her lifetime are very disturbing., but it's also frightening how she violently attacked the man she killed. The author is famous for writing about issue that Arab women face in their daily lives.

Iraq War

After reading a few sites on the Iraq War I came across a web site that really caught my interest. It deals with a few subjects that other web sites don't. The families the soldiers leave behind and also dealing with soldiers coming home with injuries and the care for them. One letter imparticular really caught my interest about Traumatic Brain Injuries. The wife of a soldiers had read an article about TBI http://www.soldierlife.com/ being a growing problem and that it is becoming a burden on tax payers as well as understaffed hospitals. She is right that these men and women are never going to be the same again and after serving our country they deserve help in dealing with the problems brought on by the war.

It was also brought up in class whether or not Saddam Hussein was connected with Al-qeada. This youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Khut8xbXk8 video Iraq War: Legal or illegal? talk about this and other issues pertaining to the Iraq War. This video does give many things to think about pertaining to the war.

The Israel Lobby

This was a long read for me, but quite informative also. According to the article, since the 1973 October War, Washing has given Israel more support, both economic and military, than any other state. Israel is also the only state to get this support in one lump sum. The other states are divided up into quarterly installments. The US also gives Israel access to critical intelligence no other country has access too. This is really disturbing news.

Jewish Americans are also influencing the US Government with a group called the American-Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC). This is the strongest and most influential group of them all. Unfortunately this group has a strong influence on Congress where critics will fall silent when Israeli problems arise and will not debate any issues pertaining to Israel. This makes you wonder who really is running the government....the US or Israel.

News reports are also effected and can't be as objective as they should because of the difficulty in covering events in the Occupied Territories would involve acknowledging Israel's actions. Even the radio station NPR was boycotted for going against Israeli sympathies.

This is very disturbing to think one country can have so much influence over our own country. I thought we were supposed to be a democracy, but in view of this information it realy makes you wonder who really is running this country. There was even a part about intimidating scholars and keeping close vigils on academics using students to litterally rat on the professors.

Palestine: Peace, not Apartheid

The idea of pease in the Middle East seems to be unreachable at this point in time. The Israelis believe they have the right to confiscate Arab land and and persecute the Arab for fighting back. Since the Israeli Jews immigrated from persecution by the Nazis, it seems they would be a little more compasionate towards the Arab people. But it seems they are doing the much same thing to them that the Nazi did to the Jews. The Arab retaliate against the occupation with what they call "Freedom Fighters". These Freedom Fighters are suicide bombers. They don't seem to care who gets killed in their fight. They have killed many men, women and children.

There were a couple other points that really seemed to stick out for me too. The wall they constructed around the West Bank area is really unfair to so many. This wall was built right along the border all the way around the West Bank, dividing peoples homes from their lands. There is even a Church where many Palestine people have worshipped for years that is cut off from it's people it serves. The curch is on one side of the wall and the worshippers are on the other side. It doesn't seem like the Israeli people want to have peace with the Arab. Neither side will give any concessions in the debate for peace. The Jews have a right to their won state, but the Arabs also have the right to live in peace and not be persecuted for being different from the Jews. The Israli government must also comply with international law if peace is ever to come to that area. Maybe someday this will be possible.

Another point brought up was the Hezbollah. I was amazed the Hezbollah has only been around since 1982. I thought the group had been formed much earlier.

Wild Thorns

Wild Thorns gave a very grafic picture of what it's like to live on the Gaza Strip under Isreali occupation. Usama is very idealistic and comes home on the pretext of losing his job and coming home to care for his mother. Being a Freedom Fighter he doesn't seem to really harbor any feelings of kinship with any of his family or any need to take care of them. He is constantly finding fault as if this will justify what he is going to do to them when the Freedom Fighters attack the busses. He plans to bomb the busses taking people into Isreal to work for the Jews. The Freedom Fighters feel this is a betrayal to their people.

His cousin Adil is the oldest son and the responsibility of taking care of the family has fallen on his shoulders. He is constantly reminding himself he has nine mouths to feed and the kidney machine also that is keeping his father alive. He has given up on the family farm and believes no one else in the family knows. Each one seems to be rapped up in their own world and can't seem to see what is happening with each family member. Their father is bitter and blames everyone because he is dependent on the kidney machine and cannot support his family. This makes him feel useless and not needed.

It's hard to imagine living in fear the way these people do from day to day. The Jews raid their homes and blow them up if they feel the people living there have helped the Freedom Fighters in any way. The prisons are diplorable and it seems the people are lucky if they make it to their cells still alive. There seems to be no justice system on the Gaza Strip other than what the Jews in charge will allow them to have. Even the children are taken from the streets and put into these prisons at the will of the Jews. The Freedom Fighters feel justified in what they believe will help free their people and country from occupation, but it's hard to justify murder by blowing up busses with innocent people on board.

Short Stories

A couple of these stories were pretty strange and I'm not sure I really understand them. One is "A Hand In The Grave." It's about two medical students who are told they have to supply a skeleton for class and don't want to pay for one. So they make arrangements with each other to dig up a corpse from the local graveyard and use that skeleton for class. While he's waiting for the time for him to meet his friend he is cursing the hour he decided to enter medical school. After they have dug down to the coffin of the corpse the first student decides he can't reach in the coffin to get the skull so he talks his friend into doing the deed. His friend is horrified when he thinks he's put his finger into the eye sockets. This makes them both decide that medical school is not for either of them and they finally leave the corpse where it's buried. Later they find out there are actually no corpses buried in this graveyard. It's was a wasteland belonging to a Turkist peasant who constructed earthen graves that were actually covers for small storage spaces where he kept his wheat and flour to keep them safe.

Norma and the Snowman was a nice little story about a volunteer. One of his comrades find a white rabbit one night almost frozen to death and he brings the rabbit into their tent to let it thaw out. At first I wondered if they were going to eat the rabbit, but they didn't. It thawed out and they let it go the next day. I think in a way the rabbit represents the freedom they all would like to have someday, and they seemed to experience it in that rabbit. Norma is the love of one soldiers life and is called the "juice lady." In the end she has decided that she will eventually join the volunteers soon also. It's nice to see that in the midst of so many horrors in the middle east there is still love and compassion for both people and animals.

Men In the Sun

Men In the Sun was a very interesting book to read. It's scarey to think about all the hardships these people had to live through just to survive. Not ever having been exposed to such violence while growing up, it's hard to imagine the terror these people lived with each and every day. I do remember hearing a lot of the things that did go on over there back in the 70's, but I never realized just how bad things were.

At a couple points the book was hard to follow in the beginning, but once I got into the book it was much easier to keep up with each of the men involved and what they were doing. A couple places in the beginning it was a bit hard to determine which parts the man was actually living and which parts the man was dreaming in. The struggle these people went through in just their day to day lives to survive and not knowing if you would see another day. It's so hard to imagine living like that. It's very understandable why they are so untrusting of many people when their lives depend on their instincts just to survive.

The ending was very disappointing for me. I really thought the men would make it to Kuwait after all they had gone through just to get there. It's also very morbid what Abul Khaizuran did with the bodies, but understandable too. He had to protect himself, but I also wonder if his boss knew what Abul was doing when he drove his lorry across to Kuwait or if his boss was also transporting people to safety.

Maryam

After rereading the Maryam there is one other part that caught my attention. On the first page Shakir states: "And surely I fear my cousins after me, and my wife is barren, therefore grant me from Thyself and heir." Later Shakir states: "She said: When shall I have a boy and no mortal has yet touched me, nor have I been unchaste?" First of all, how does he know is wife is barren if she has not been touched by any mortal? Maybe I missed something in the translation here, but it sounds like a conflict in the scripture. I also found these same scriptures in Al-E-Imran.

Orientalism

What an interesting story. I grew up listening to the story of the birth of Jesus when my grandmother read it directly from the bible. I don't remember Mary ever giving birth by a palm tree, nor being showered with dates. Where was Joseph also? In the story in the bible Mary gives birth to the baby Jesus in a stable with animals around her and Joseph is right beside her. Where are the shephards also? Even the animated story on the birth of Jesus shows these happening.

Another thing about this piece is God judging man. Every story I've ever heard has told of God judging man individually on what he has personally done in life. Not standing together with other men and devils. Being raised christian this goes against some things I was taught.

Some of the more current history on the East is a little familiar to me. There were a few things I do remember from listening to the news as they were happening. I remember the debate over dependence on oil from the Middle East.

The history on the "Orient" was pretty interesting also. I like how they have it broken up into different areas. It gives you a much better idea just how large the "Oreint" really is and how many countries are considered the Orient.

poem

Sleep! For the sky is dark with the night,
Stars will shine brightly in the midnight light,
thy soul will soar in heavens dreams,
Only to take flight with the break of day.

1001 Arabian Nights

After reading the history of 1001 Arabian Nights, I have a better understanding of how they came about. It's been interesting reading them. There is such a wide range between many of the stories. Many have blatant racism, and of course the infidelity.
One story, The Tale of The Three Apples, was a little surprising. The beginning of the story was a little misleading to where the story was going. A poor fisherman pulled a trunk from the river in which a body had been placed. There were 3 men who confessed to killing her, but it was her husband who was guilty. The rest of the story explains why. His wife was ailing and wanted an apple, but there were no apples where they lived so he traveled far and brought her back 3 apples. When he returned to her she was very ill and bed ridden. A couple days later one of their sons took one of the apples. The apple was taken from him while he was playing by a black slave. He claimed it was given to him by his mistress, who he claims is the mans wife. The man believed the story and slayed his wife by cutting her up in pieces and putting her the trunk.
It's really annoying that these men will believe these stories about their wives infidelity, but will not check to make sure what the truth really is. Are they afraid to talk to their wives? What makes them slay them without a question? After the man slayed his wife he found out that their son did take the apple and that the black slave stole the apple from their son. The black slave was slayed for the killing of the woman. Maybe in at least one of the stories they will believe the woman before slaying her.

1001 NIghts

The history of this book and how it came to be was very interesting. The story of King Shahryar and His Brother was pretty entertaining also, but also disturbing. It seems all the stories are about women being unfaithful to their husbands. It's ok for the kings, and sheiks to have concubines to sleep with, but the wife has to remain faithful. When she does become unfaithful, she is labeled evil and it is deemed no woman is ever faithful. Do they have a vendeta against women? King Shahryar kills his first wife and every wife after her for 2 years. Why was he allowed to do this? The people of his kingdom had to know what he was doing. His last wife, Shahrazad is highly intelligent and educated. I think she was faithful to her husband, but they never do say if she was or not.

I also read The First Shaykh's Story. In this story the husband takes a concubine because his wife of 30 years has been unable to produce an heir for him. The concubine gives him a son he dotes on and again they make the wife into a witch who turns the concubine and her son into a heifer and a calf and turned them over to the herdsman's care. The son and his concubine were both slayed for the Great Festival of Allah.

The Take of the Trader and the Jinni is a strange tale. I'm not sure I understand this one, but it was interesting to read.

Othello

This is the first time I've read Shakespeare and I enjoyed it thoroughly. Some of the main characters were quite intriguing. At first I felt a little sorry for Othello, but after thinking about it I feel he doesn't deserve pity. He had no faith in his wife who was completely devoted to him. Iago wants to destroy him and move into his position of power, so he insinuates to Othello that his wife is cheating on him. He also believes his own wife Emilia has cheated on him so he is convinced every woman in incapable of being faithful to her husband.

Emilia defends her mistress Desdemona to Othello, but he has already convinced himself that she has played him falsely. It's hard to believe someone in his position of authority would be so easily turned by ideas that were manifested and blown out of proportion. He very naively believes that Iago is a trusted friend and has only his best interest at heart

He ulitmately kills his wife Desdemona and then kills himself. By taking this way out he does not have to face the consequences of his actions, but I believe he thinks he will eventually be reunited with Desdemona in the afterlife.

My first impression of him was a man of great honor and strong mind. He had earned the respect of many by his earlier actions in battle, so I expected him to have a much stronger character. One not so easily led astray by ideas that were suggested and then manifested.