Monthly Archives: December 2007

International Journal of Contemporary Iraqi Studies

Iraq, Iraq War, Teaching Resources

The International Journal of Contemporary Iraqi Studies is a new peer-reviewed, tri- annual, academic publication, sponsored by the International Association of Contemporary Iraqi Studies, and is devoted to the study of modern Iraq. In recognition of Iraq’s increasingly important position on the editors are: Tareq Ismael and Jacqueline Ismael at the University of Calgary (ijcis@intellectbooks.com).

For those interested, the first issue from 2007 is available free online in pdf format. Contents of more recent issues are also available online. The articles in the first issue are:

The Islamist imaginary: Islam,Iraq,and the projections of empire (Raymond W. Baker)

Media and lobbyist support for the US invasion of Iraq (Janice J. Terry)

Beating the drum:Canadian print media and the build-up to the invasion of Iraq (Tareq Y. Ismael)

The United States in Iraq:the consequences of occupation (Stephen Zunes)

Toward regional war in the Middle East? (Richard Falk)

Reconstructing the performance of the Iraqi economy 1950-2006: an essay with some hypotheses and many questions (Roger Owen)

The Sultan’s Seal

Books You Should Read, Literature, Turkey

“Your brush is the bowstring that brings the wild goose down.”

(Reviewed by Jana Kraus MAR 22, 2006)

Jenny White, an anthropologist and the author of numerous nonfiction works on Turkish society and politics, has written a real winner with her debut novel, The Sultan’s Seal. A historical mystery with a bit of romance thrown in, this book makes for an unputdownable read. Ms. White paints a remarkably vivid portrait of life in 19th century Turkey, from the luxurious sultan’s palaces to the most squalid slums of Istanbul, and writes intelligently of the political turmoil of the period.

Set in the ancient city “Stanbul” on the Bosphorus in the waning days of the Ottoman Empire, (1886), political intrigue, espionage and social upheaval are rife, even in the sultan’s harem. “Young Turks,” a reformist and strongly nationalist group of men, forced the restoration of the constitution of 1876. This new generation of Ottoman political thinkers were convinced that the Empire would never be truly modernized until it had adopted a democratic government and a constitution rather than undiluted power in the hands of the sultan. Gathering secretly in Istanbul, then in exile in Europe, “these reformers propagandized against the governments of Ali Pasha then, when Ali died in 1871, against the increasingly autocratic rule of Sultan Abdulaziz.” There is a tremendous struggle taking place to find a middle ground between traditional values of the non-secular East and the very different, more progressive ways of the West. Continue reading The Sultan’s Seal →

Tenure Affirmed, not Bulldozed

Anthropology/Sociology, Arab-Israeli Conflict, Archaeology and Antiquities, Ethics

[Note: The recent tenure case of Dr. Nadia Abu el-Haj generated a great deal of heat in the blogosphere, but I am pleased to report that she was granted tenure based on the internal reviews and despite the external attempts to bulldoze her voice out of the academy. I had reported on this case in a post here on September 13. The details are provided in a blog item by Richard Silverstein, which I include here to bring closure to this case.]

by Richard Silverstein, Tikkun Olam, November 2, 2007

The long, arduous journey of Nadia Abu El-Haj, Barnard professor of anthropology, to tenure is finally over. The Columbia administration has approved Barnard’s recommendation and she will become tenured faculty on approval of both institutions’ boards of trustees. Thanks to Sol Salbe for noting the JTA report on this from earlier today. However, a Jewish journalist friend of mine has pointed out a typical JTA error in the copy for the story:

El-Haj is the author of “Facts on the Ground,” a book that attacks the Israeli archaeological establishment for fabricating material used to legitimize Israeli policies.

My friend called this sentence:

a complete and utter distortion of the book, which, of course, the journalist, whoever he/she might be, has not read. What he/she has read is Paula Stern’s petition or Gabrielle Berkner’s New York Sun story. On deadline, people [just] WRITE STUFF. It’s a pity The Sun gets to set the template.

Continue reading Tenure Affirmed, not Bulldozed →

You’ve Gotta Be Al-Qaiding Me

Algeria, Arab-Israeli Conflict, Osama Bin Laden, Terrorism Issue

Pick up your morning newspaper or log on to an online news source and chances are there will be reports of suicide bombings somewhere in the Middle East (or Sri Lanka). The latest example, reported only a few hours ago, is from Algeria, as published in The Guardian:

At least 47 people, including a member of UN staff, were killed in two car bomb attacks in the Algerian capital today.

A car packed with explosives rammed into the offices of the UN’s refugee agency (UNHCR) in Algiers, and another was detonated outside the constitutional court.

Official estimates put the death toll at 47, but the BBC reported that the figure was over 60. A further 43 people have been injured.

The US president, George Bush, condemned the attacks as “senseless act of violence”.

The two car bombs, in upmarket areas of the capital, happened 10 minutes apart.

The first car bomb was driven into the constitutional court building in the Ben Aknoun district, killing at least 30 people. The official Algerian news agency reported that several of the victims were students who had been travelling on a school bus.

Ten minutes later, the second car bomb was driven into the UNHCR, in the Hydra district, killing at least 15.

Farhan Haq, a UN spokesman, said the member of staff who died had been working in the office of the UN development programme, which is across the road from the UNHCR building and was also damaged in the blast.

More of the same, you might think. The story could as easily have been about Iraq or Afghanistan or Israel or fill in the increasing number of blanks. So why is all this happening, as if the pragmatic reasons are not painfully obvious? More of the same again. The media, echoing the Bush administration, has a suspect. Continue reading You’ve Gotta Be Al-Qaiding Me →

Picturing Sanaa

Architecture, Photography, Sanaa, Yemen


Sanaa Satellites

Photograph by Tan Yilmaz

“Sanaa at dusk, taken from the rooftop terrace of Taj Talha hotel. I was not staying there, but non-guests can go up to the terrace for the view (try doing that in elitist Dubai). I did not bother erasing the profusion of unsightly satellite dishes, there are too many. 45mm. focal length, just before sunset. The sky is as dark as it is because of a departing thunderstorm. This is taken 1 day before the last Sanaa photo I uploaded, which was from the Golden Daar hotel. The workshops shows SANAA BY NIGHT.”

MPAC and the Bad News Bear Story

Gender and Sexuality, Islamophobia, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Terrorism Issue

I am a Canadian Muslim who has been living and teaching in Los Angeles for the past decade. My recent book, Oil and Water: Two Faiths, One God is an introduction to Islam for a North American audience. As a Muslim, I am deeply concerned about violence committed by Muslims, especially when it is done in the name of Islam. Muslims around the world have condemned the recent cases in Sudan and Saudi Arabia. For example, the Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC) wrote this in response to the jailing of the teacher in Sudan: “‘Jailing Ms. Gibbons is the real insult to Islam in this case,’ said MPAC Communications Director Edina Lekovic. ‘Invoking Islamic law to jail and deport her for this insignificant class project is absurd and appalling.'” Their full response can be found on their web page and is reproduced here:

MPAC Appalled by Sudanese Jailing of Teacher for Naming Teddy Bear
November 30, 2007

The Muslim Public Affairs Council today expressed its disgust with the Sudanese court decision to jail and beat a British teacher who allowed her students to name a class teddy bear “Muhammad.”

SEE: “Calls in Sudan for Execution of British Teacher” (New York Times, 11/30/07)

The hundreds of protesters, some waving ceremonial swords, outside the presidential palace denouncing the teacher and calling for her execution are falling into a pathetic trap by making a story out of nothing. The leaflets condemned Gibbons as an “infidel” and accused her of “the pollution of children’s mentality” by her actions.

“Jailing Ms. Gibbons is the real insult to Islam in this case,” said MPAC Communications Director Edina Lekovic. “Invoking Islamic law to jail and deport her for this insignificant class project is absurd and appalling.” Continue reading MPAC and the Bad News Bear Story →

Where are the Moderates?

Bangladesh, Ethics, Gender and Sexuality, Islamophobia, Journalism and Media, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Wahhabi


[Illustration: Ayaan Hirsi in the Theo Van Goghin film, left;alleged preparation of woman for stoning, right.]

In a New York Times op-ed published yesterday by Ayaan Hirsi Ali, a controversial Dutch Somali, a relevant and timely question is asked: Where are Muslim moderates when misogynist renderings of Islam sweep the media? She has a point in noting the relative absence of condemnation of three recent tabloid news items. There is the Shi’a woman in Qatif, raped by several Shi’a men, and herself branded (to the barbaric tune of 200 lashes) guilty by a Sunni Wahhabi court for “mingling” with a man not her husband. Then the hug-my-teddy-bear-but-don’t-mention the-prophet’s-name fiasco over a naive British teacher in Sudan, and finally the case of Taslima Nasreen, a Bangladeshi writer vilified for her feminist writings that approach the controversial barzakh of Rushdie’s Satanic Verses. So where are the moderates? For Ms. Ali they are phantom progressives, too blinded by their loyalty to the faith and fearful of telling truth to Muslim power. Here is her assessment:

It is often said that Islam has been “hijacked” by a small extremist group of radical fundamentalists. The vast majority of Muslims are said to be moderates. Continue reading Where are the Moderates? →

When Iran was Welcomed into the Nuclear Club

Environment, Iran

In all the recent back-and-forth about the capabilities of Iran to produce a nuclear bomb, it is well to remember how Iran was once welcomed into the nuclear club defending the free world (well, not that free in Iran at that time), when the Shah was in now-all-too-clear power. Iran was in fact a good example for the folks pushing nuclear power plants in our own back yards. What a difference a regime change makes … The ad above would seem quite dated, but then history does have a habit of repeating itself.