All posts by tabsir

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 →

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 →

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.

Iran’s Nuclear Weapons Program Never Existed

Anthropology/Sociology, Iran

by William O. Beeman,
New America Media, News Analysis, Dec 05, 2007

Iran has never had a proven nuclear weapons program. Ever. This inconvenient fact stands as an indictment of the Bush administration’s stance on Iran.

The recently released 2007 National Intelligence Estimate that Iran “suspended its nuclear weapons program in 2003” caught the Bush administration flat-footed. In his panic, Bush grasped desperately at the idea that the weapons program may have once existed. However, the report does not offer a scintilla of evidence that the weapons program was ever an established fact. Continue reading Iran’s Nuclear Weapons Program Never Existed →

The professions: from Woodstock to a novel life, in so many words

Anthropology/Sociology, Books You Should Read, Languages, Literature


Professor Robert Leonard, right.

by Patricia Kitchen
Newsday, November 29, 2007

Fans of mystery novelist and forensic anthropologist Kathy Reichs may have noticed a new character in her most recent novel, Bones to Ashes. That would be forensic linguist Rob Potter, a Woodstock rock star-turned-linguist and onetime graduate school mentor to Reichs’ main character, Temperance Brennan.

The newcomer is based on one of Reichs’ friends, Robert Leonard, 59, a real-life former rock star-turned-forensic linguistics professor. Leonard, in fact, heads the Forensic Linguistics Project at Hofstra University. Professionals in that field analyze written and spoken language – including grammar, word choice, dialect and structure – in contracts, confessions, ransom notes, spoken threats, undercover recordings, transcripts of interrogations and other correspondence linked to crimes.

Think professor Henry Higgins meets Sherlock Holmes. Continue reading The professions: from Woodstock to a novel life, in so many words →