Zaat

I chose to read Zaat by Sonallah Ibrahim for my next reading assingment. I will admit that I did not finish the novel yet, but I have done a decent amount of reading in it.

The book is interesting to say the least. It focuses on the title character, Zaat, who is your typical middle class Egyptian woman. The chapters alternate between Zaats everyday life, and the headlines of the Egyptian newspaper that she works for. Many of these newspaper events deal with Egyptian politics in the late 1980's and early 1990's. The chapters dealing with Zaat's life are a bit scattered and jump from event to event. The stories are random, dealing with everything from house remodeling to bureaucratic dealings to marital relations. Oddly enough things like children and work are hardly mentioned. This isn't a story that flows at all, but is still very well written, and is extremely interesting to read. At times Ibrahim's sense of humor is blatant and other times it is hard to catch, but at times I found myself laughing out loud to some of Zaat's experiences. It did seem like a lot of times Zaat's thinking and ideals were very childish, and slightly demeaning, especially from a female perspective. I did enjoy the book, and would recommend it highly. It isn't the easiest to read, but it is defiantly a good read.

Turkey

I must admit that I don't know much about the country, but upon researching, I did find out some basic facts:

-Turkey is a parliamentary representative democracy. Since its foundation as a republic in 1923, Turkey has developed a strong tradition of secularism. Turkey's constitution governs the legal framework of the country. It sets out the main principles of government and establishes Turkey as a unitary centralized state.

-The territory of Turkey is more than 1,600 kilometres (1,000 mi) long and 800 km (500 mi) wide, with a rectangular shape

-President: Abdullah Gul as of 2007

-Prime Minister: Recep Tayyip

-Population: 71,158,647

-99% of the population is Muslim, but Turkey is a secular state that assures complete freedom of worship to non-Muslims.

-The following is the economic status of Turkey:

Industry: textiles, food processing, autos, mining, steel, petroleum.

Agriculture: tobacco, cotton, grain, olives; livestock.

Exports: apparel, foodstuffs, textiles, metal manufactures, transport equipment.

Presentations

I really enjoyed listening to both Dr. Ellin and the panel of veteran soldiers that came to present their views Wednesday.

Dr. Ellin was well versed in the study of the Jewish/Palestine conflict. One thing in particular that I found interesting was that the wall being built around Israel is a "security barrier" used to protect Israeli citizens from suicide barriers. According to Dr. Ellin, since this wall has been built, the number of attacks have decreased significantly. I had never thought of the wall this way, and if it is really one of the main reasons it is being built, it is not as offensive as I once viewed it. He also provided us with an informative hand out about "A (Partial) Collection of Jimmy Carter's Falsehoods" disputing some of the facts in Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid. One of the most interesting points I found in this article was that the wall being built, supposedly in Palestinian land, is not at all true, it has been built on disputed grounds and at certain points, veers into Israeli land.

Lt. Phillips, Sgt. Gilmer and Sgt. Merritt were also intriguing speakers. I was moved after listening to them speak about their trips to various parts of the Middle East, and it almost made me want to become apart of the military. Each spending over a decade in our armed forces, stories of war and assistance not only spoke of their character, but also of their feelings for our country. They are here to protect us and keeps us safe from threats of violence, whether they are real or imagined. Their presentation reminded me of who I am (an American) and what out freedom stands for. Even further, they have more knowledge and experience with the Middle East and their culture more than any other speaker to date, which I believe gives them more credit than most. By far, my favorite set of speakers to date :)

Modern Day Harems

Upon completing Dreams of Trespass, I though it would be interesting to see what information I could find about Harems used as a form of protection, not for sex, and if there were still Harems like this that exist today.

Unfortanuatly I could not find anything specifically adressing the type of Harem that Fatima Mernissi lived in, but I did find information about this specifice type of harem. According to the Lexicon Orient, some of these harems do still exist, in places like Saudia Arabia, and household harems were a place for women to live, and in pre-islamic times, wives and concubines live together in the same house.

There was also a very informative artical on Wikipedia that gives the background and history of harems. The name "harem" itself literally means "something kept safe." Originating in Turkey, ancient harems could house hundrands, up to thousands of women at once for safe keeping. Some went willingly into these harems and others were forced their against their will.

Dreams Of Trespass

For my next reading assignment, I decided to read Dreams of Trespass by Fatima Mernissi.

This is a very interesting autobiographical story about a girl growing up in a harem in Fez, Morocco in the 1940'a. For those of you who don't know, a harem is "living quarters reserved for wives and concubines and female relatives in a Muslim household." It isn't the typical ideal of men and concubines, but more of a place for the women of the family to live so that they are not violated or misled by men outside of the household. The harem dictates how the women live, and seems more like a prison that a place to live. The women are not allowed to leave unless it is the early morning hours. Fatima is constantly told not to question authority, and lives a very sheltered and secluded life. Unwilling to live her life in such a sheltered environment, Mernissi seeks solace in discovering what is truly on the other side of the walls of her home that keep her prisoner. She is urged by her mother, though, to escape the harem life she is living, and the novel introduces a lot of feminine ideals and movements for the Islamic religion. It was enlightening to learn that this particular religion was not as opressive to women as the media has made it out to be.

I really enjoyed this novel, and I would recommend it to anyone, especially someone who is into feminine movements. Not only was it easy to read, but it promoted a lot of the ideal that I hold personally for my self and for women everywhere, which is to not allow themselves to be overpowered by others who think lower of them simply because they are women.

Research on Woman at Point Zero

The following websites provide some interesting information about woman and their role in Egyptian society.

http://www.nawalsaadawi.net/
This is the author, Nawal El Saadawi's personal website that has a personal biography and information on women's rights in Egypt.

http://www2.hu-berlin.de/sexology/IES/egypt.html
This website give information about sex and sexuality in Egypt, very informative.

http://www.themuslimwoman.com/herrights/womensrights.htm
This is a detailed website about women's rights in Islam, what they are entitled to civilly and humanly.

Woman At Point Zero

For my first independent novel, I chose to read Woman At Point Zero by Nawal El Saadawi. This was a fascinating story about a woman who suffered a life of abuse and despair from her childhood, up to her execution. Told from the perspective of Saadawi, the woman, Firdaus relates her tale from her prison cell the day before her execution. She has been sentenced to death after killing her pimp, Marzouk, and is based on a true story.

Firdaus has lived a truly unfortunate life. She was beaten and neglected by her parents, and sexually abused by friends and relatives before she even finished high school. She is later married off to her uncle's wife's old, dirty uncle, who abuses her so badly she flees from her home. It is here that she turns to prostitution as a means of survival. She goes through a series of ups and downs, until she is told that her profession "is not respectable." She gives up prostitution for a brief stint as a entry-level secretary for a large company. She realizes that her life isn't as profitable as when she could sell her body for money. Returning to prostitution only results in her arrest and death.

This story is an insight to the struggles that women in the Middle East face. Firdaus states that "all women are victims" and "all women are prostitutes" in one way or another, to themselves, to their husbands and to society. She has a very negative outlook on marriage, feeling that as soon as a woman marries, she becomes a slave to her husband, which I believe to be true in this particular society. In the end, she comes to "hate men" and everything that they stand for. She also emphasized that the pain of selling her body was not as bad as the pain of a broken heart, illustrated when she falls very hard for a young worker, Ibranim.

From a female perspective, there are a lot of things that hit close to home for me. In no way am I comparing my life and situations to Fidaus', but her pain and suffering at the hands of men is still something that can be seen splashed across the headlines of newspapers today. Women abused, battered, raped and prostituting themselves out as a profession is still common today in our own country. It made me angry, the further into the book that I went, not only at the men who abused Firdaus, but at Firdaus herself for not fighting harder for respect and self dignity. The book was very powerful and I would recommend it to anyone looking for a book that shows the struggles of a woman in modern Middle East culture.

Information on Iraqi War

The following web site was pretty interesting. It outlays all the money spend on the Iraq war, and gives examples of what we could have done with the money instead. The total amount increases by the millisecond, and you can even specifically narrow down the spending in your own community. The site is called the National Priorities Project.

Cost of War

The following is a video I found on YouTube that illustrates just how horrific war can be to both the soldiers and the innocent bystanders. The injuries abstained by the children sends chills down my spine, and the mass graves put in perspective how much life has been lost in this war.

Iraq - Crimes Against Humanity

Iraq Invasion

The Iraq Invasion has become known as the Second Gulf War or Operation Iraqi Freedom. It's official start began on March 20, 2003, and although it was opposed by the United Nations, the United States and its backers continued with their plans, in order to confiscate the supposed Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD). Upon further investigation, there turned out to be no WMD, but I think the most beneficial outcome of this situation was the liberation of the Iraqi people from the dictatorship of Saddam Hussein, who was captured and removed from power on December 13, 2003. By helping the innocent Iraqi's who suffered from this tyrants power for decades, I believe the occupation of Iraq was more than beneficial. On January 31, 2005 the Iraqi Transitional Government was set to draft a new constitution for the Iraqi people, so then could live free lives without the fear of punishment or death. Restoring power to the people was a step in the right direction.

Israel Lobby vs. Israel Lies

The two pieces of reading required for today's class were by far the most interesting and consuming of all that I have read for this class so far. The Israel Lobby by John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt, and it's rebuttal, "Debunking the Newest-and Oldest-Conspiracy" by Alan Dershowitz present many arguments on why to be pro-or-anti Israel support. The television debate between the two provided insight into their individual views as well.

Mearsheimer and Walt provided a paper that is full of research, facts and statistics, and while it still isn't clear to me exactly why the United States supports Israel, there are many things presented that make me question exactly why no one has raised and issue about the amount of support we provide for them, when they are strategically useless, and in my opinion, they act like a spoiled child when they don't get their way. It is argued in "The Israel Lobby" video provided by americanfreepress.net, that while many disagree on the portrayal of United States and Jewish leaders, the one thing that Mearsheimer and Walt point out is that the issue of Israel is taboo and no political leader in the United States really wants to debate it.

Dershowitz rebuttal is disappointing. He addresses some of the issues presented in "The Israel Lobby" most of the paper attacks the sources, and argues that they "are taken out of context." Sources are taken out of context all the time, and I was hoping to see him actually debate the issues at hand instead of simply split-hairs over sources. He does point out that Israel lobbies don't always win US favor, especially when they are competing with Saudi lobbies, who win out a majority of the time. He also brings up the issue of "Paranoid Style of American Politics" which refers to the paranoia of the exaggerated influence of one party on specific governmental policies.

All in all I learned a lot about the Israel Lobby, and frankly I am not happy with what I see. Israels treatment of the Palestinians can be compared to the holocaust many of their ancestors experienced during World War II. The other thing I don't understand is Dershowitz argument that the Jews just want "a small democracy in which Jewish culture can thrive". Israel is not a democracy and never will be as long as church and state intermix. When the US broke off from England, they struggled for year to build a country and economy on their own, with threats of domination from all direction. We didn't take hand outs or rely on one particular country to establish our democracy. If Israel wants its democracy so badly, maybe they should have to actually work for all of the hand outs they are receiving, and maybe they would appreciate it a little more...

Palestine: Peace Not Aparthed

Apartheid - "Any system or practice that separates people according to race, caste, etc...."
I will be one of the first to admit that I do not know much about many of the situations that have arisen in the Middle East over the last few decades. I am sure that there are many others just as ignorant as me in this subject, which is probably why there are so many misunderstandings about Arab/Israeli relations. Jimmy Carter's Book, Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid is very informative, and while I am still not an expert on this subject, I know a great deal more about the current situations in the Middle East than I did before.

One thing I tried to remember while reading this book is that it is a personal perspective, and a good selection is part of Carter's recollection of the events during his presidency.

PLO - Palestine Liberation Organization....In other words, the group that serves as the voice of the Palestinian people.

Resolution 242 - Recognized sovereignty and political independence of every state in the Middle East including Israel.

According to Carter, during his presidency, he attempted to make peace between the Arab and Israeli nations. The Camp David Accords were negations that took place between Palestinian and Israeli leaders in effort to resolve the following problems: Israeli troop withdrawal from Arab countries, the rights of Palestinians, the rights of Israelis, respect for Jewish holy spots and the sharing of Jerusalem, which is a religious land mark for Christianity, Judaism and Islam.

Carter also gives several statics about Gaza, and since the withdrawal of Jewish Israelites, the poverty rate of the Gaza strip has soared. More than half of its population is under 15 years-old, and the per capital income has decreased 40% in the last three years.(176)

I really liked the introduction of the book that listed the chronological events of Middle East turmoil. It gave a nice over view of what even the earliest of times were like. The conflict between the Israelis and Arabs dates back to biblical time, when the Israelis were forced to flee Egypt under Moses' command. Several of the maps throughout the reading we helpful to understand the exact location that was being discussed. The issues between people of Arab and Israeli descent has been present for centuries, and it has only been made a world issue over the last half a century or so. The stubbornness, portrayed by Carter in the book, sounds like it is an issue that can be traced back to hurt ego's and the inability for peace in a world that will never truly understand the meaning of "peace" The idea of a Zionist country almost seems unattainable. A nation based purely on religion would never succeed because there will always be someone who questions beliefs or values or falls out of the religion and follows different views. In seeking a safe-haven for their descendants, Israeli people have cause more conflict than resolve persecuting Arabs who inhabit their country, and Arabs who persecute Jews living outside of Israel have mounted to this growing tension, that has no positive ending in sight.

Wild Thorns

One thing I found very intriguing as I finished up Wild Thorns was the passion and love that several of the characters had for their country. Basil, for instance, illustrates a typical young man who is willing to do anything for his country. He gathers with his friends at the local cafe to discuss the politics and even risks going to prison to stand up for his beliefs. He quickly realizes, though, how much he doesn't understand and how naive he actually is. A lot of parallels can be drawn to many of today's youth, and their response to the 9/11 attacks. Usama is another example of youth and resistance. He returns to his country in order to bring about change, or at least attempt to do so. He criticises his family and friends for succumbing to the ways of the Israelis. What I thought to be interesting was that he sits and criticises, but he was the one who left for several years while the occupation was occurring, instead of staying and helping support his family. What I think is even more baffling is that his solution to the problems in West Bank can be solved by martyring himself and killing several innocent people only trying to provide for their families.

Wild Thorns

It is disappointing to say that I do not know much about the West Bank/Israeli conflict, which is almost embarrassing to say with all the turmoil and new coverage about conflict in this particular area. Upon reading Wild Thorns by Sahar Khalifeh, I was motivated to find out more about this situation.

West Bank is a land locked territory that lies between the Jordan River and the Middle Eastern countries. Most of West Bank is under Israeli military occupation, and many of its citizens are Palestinians. It is not a country, simply an occupied territory, and its inhabitants are not citizens, they are just people without a homeland and permanently displaced from anything remotely similar to what one could call a homeland.


This idea comes to life vividly in Wild Thorns. The central character, Usama, returns home to West Bank, with the intention of becoming a martyr, blowing up the buses that shuttle Palestinian workers to and from Israel everyday. Upon returning home, he is greatly disturbed at what occupation has done to his family and to his people. At one point, he shouts "Oh what has happened to us?" in response to the environment he find himself surrounded in. His mother firmly believes that the occupation will be ended by God himself, but Usama isn't to sure about this.



I thought that Khalifeh did an excellent job in her description of what West Bank occupation is like. She captured the emotions of the characters through her vivid descriptions. There were several instances where she maintained a stream of consciences with both Usama and Adil that allowed us the insight into their minds. Adil was my favorite character. His struggles made you empathize with him, and he was a strong man, who took care of his family no matter what it took. He was a slave to the nine mouths he had to feed, plus the kidney machine that ran his fathers life, and he worked and sweated and bled for all of them, a characteristic that is rare now-a-days.

Palestinian Stories

All of the stories we were assigned to read for class had a unique and interesting perspective. Most of the stories described what life was like under occupation, and the experiences each of the character had in their personal struggles.

My favorite story that I read was "If You Were A Horse..." by Ghassan Kanafani. It is a father/son story, where the two struggle with their relationship, mainly because a lot of the time, the father tells the son that "if he were a horse, he would shoot him." Anyone looking in on this conversation should be greatly disturbed by its content. It is later that we learn about his father's love for horses, and his mother's tragic death when she was stomped by a horse. I thought the use of superstitions in the story really illustrated the point Kanafani was trying to send, which was the strength and power superstitions can have on a relationship. His father is afraid of the son because of a strange birthmark, similar to that of the horse that killed his mother. The son struggles with this and later blames himself for his father's death. This was the most suspenseful of the stories I read, because I really just wanted to understand why his father wanted to shot him, and it isn't until the end of the story that we understand why.

Another story I thought was interesting was "Stealing Away, We Returned" by Rasmi Abu Ali. This was a very brief story about occupation of what I am guessing to be Palestine, by the Jewish people. The narrator and her mother travel to remove some personal items from her deceased grandfather's house. On their return journey, they are stopped by men with machine guns, and the narrator describes the meeting as "we simply froze, knowing that our time had run out." I cannot ever imagine being confronted with that situation or how I would respond to having a gun pointed at me. These people were very brave for enduring what the did, and I commend each and everyone of them for the struggle and hardship they faced.

I also liked the story "A Hand In the Grave" by Kanafani. I didn't really understand the message or hidden meaning behind the story, but I found it more humorous than anything else. The narrator and his colleague decide to rob a grave in order to further their medical education. Upon doing so, Sahail, the narrators friend, sticks his arm in a dug up grave in order to grab the skeleton that has been buried there for many years. He goes historical, and later insane because he believes he stuck his fingers in the corpse's eyes. His reaction, at first scared me because I thought he was about to be eaten by some ancient zombie. I broke out laughing when I realized he was reacting this way because he touched its eyes. The character development in the story was very good, and I really enjoyed it.

Men In the Sun

I absolutely loved the short novella, "Men In the Sun". The first part of the story was a bit confusing when there was switching between characters, but the last 20 pages or so ties all these characters together. To give a short synopsis, the story follows four main characters: Abu Qais, an older man trying to escape occupation and create a better life for his family. Assad is trying to make his way to Iraq after borrowing money from his uncle, in order to escape an arranged marriage with his cousin. Marwan is trying to find a job to provide for his family, after his father left for another woman and his brother decided to get married. The last character, Abu Khaizuran, the man who offers to free the previous three of their land restraints.

Abu Qauis plans to escape after a detailed description of of his family and the life he has spent with them. His good friend Saad had escaped to Kuwait, and returned to tell him of all the benefits that come with the risk of the journey. His wife, though, doesn't like the idea or the risk involved. I probably would have agreed with his wife on this.

Assad is a young man trying to escape to Iraq and a marriage he wants no part in. He borrows money from his uncle, the same uncle who is trying to marry him to his daughter, in order to make the trip. He feels slightly remorseful about this, but only for a moment.

Marwans story was probably the one that I found to be the most interesting. His brother has escaped Kuwait, and married, forgetting about supporting his family. His father left many years before for a woman who was missing a leg, but had lots of inheritance money. I personally find this digesting, but cultural difference appear to make this acceptable

Abul Khaizuran is the one that brings the entire story together. He has possession of a lorry, a motor truck, and offers all three of these men safe passage out of Palestine, so they can all achieve the dreams they have. The mission appears like it will be successful, and I believe that Khaizuran is sincerely trying to help these men escape. He puts much effort into assuring they don't roast to death in the water tank of the lorry and he "doesn't slow the lorry down" for anything. It is only at the end when we see them rob the three dead corpses of their valuables, when I questioned whether or not he cared. The final line of the story, "Why didn't you knock on the sides of the tank?" left a chill to run up and down my spine. It seems almost sad how close these three seem to become, and how tragically the novella ends. I wasn't expecting the result and I was a little more than upset about it. My fairytale mind saw these men escaping and making better lives for themselves, but that would have been to perfect, and rarely do things end the way you want them to.

The Koran

The two stories that we had to read from the Koran were quite interesting. The first one, entitled Maryam, is some what of the story of Jesus' birth, according to Islamic view. The second one, House of Imran, give the basic rules for living according to Allah's word. I read both of the surahs is the Shakir translation.


Maryam, or Mary is the twist on the Biblical version of Mary's virginal conception, the birth of Jesus, and all that comes after. There were certain parts of the surah that were strikingly similar to the Bible, for example, when she says "When shall I have a boy and no mortal has yet touched me, nor have I been unchaste?", this is the exact same thing she says in the Bible when the Angel Gabriel appears to her to tell her she is with child. There are some differences as well. For example, the Koran states that Mary gave birth to Jesus under a palm tree, while the Bible says this occured in the stable. One thing I found particularly interesting is that the Koran has Jesus speaking and performing miracles while he is still an infant, which there is no trace of in the Bible. Muslims do not view Jesus as a reincarnation of God, but instead the hold him as a very wise prophet who could perform miracles, which is a major difference between Christianity and Islam.

The second surah, entitled Al-E-Imran, or The House of Imran, covers several different things. The first few verses tell readers what it means to be a good Muslim, and how to honor Allah. "Our Lord! make not our hearts to deviate after Thou hast guided us aright, and grant us from Thee mercy; surely Thou art the most liberal Giver. " This verse was probably my favorite from this surah, because it is asking Allah to guide the Muslims and show them mercy even when they have done wrong. The surah goes on to tell about the birth of Mary, daughter of Imran, and her upbringing. It give the family tree of Imran, tracing roots to Jesus the prophet. The remainder of the verse states that followers of Allah must fear and be patient, and thier time in heaven will come. There were a few frightening things in this surah, and isnt for the closed minded. It requires complete subordination from those who choose to follow and live Islamic law. I personally don't know if I have that much trust in anyone to place my life in their hands completely, no questions asked.

The Declaration of the Establishment of the State of Israel

I decided to do a little bit of research on the history of Israeli independence, and read the Israeli Declaration of Independence, which was issued on May 14, 1948. It was made official when the Jewish Peoples Council met in the Tel Aviv Museum. The British mandate over Palestine had just expired, leaving room for the Jewish people to create a safe haven, to establish a "home" especially after the holocaust and massacre of Jews. "This right was recognized in the Balfour Declaration of the 2nd November, 1917, and re-affirmed in the Mandate of the League of Nations which, in particular, gave international sanction to the historic connection between the Jewish people and Eretz-Israel and to the right of the Jewish people to rebuild its National Home." The establish that the country will be a safe-haven for all, and that it will be a country for all races, religions and guarantee the freedom of everyone who lives there. It asks for the assistance from the United Nations to help build up the country, and it also asks for the assistance of the Arabs who inhabit the area as well in also building up the country's stability. The following is an expert from the declaration:

ACCORDINGLY WE, MEMBERS OF THE PEOPLE'S COUNCIL, REPRESENTATIVES OF THE JEWISH COMMUNITY OF ERETZ-ISRAEL AND OF THE ZIONIST MOVEMENT, ARE HERE ASSEMBLED ON THE DAY OF THE TERMINATION OF THE BRITISH MANDATE OVER ERETZ-ISRAEL AND, BY VIRTUE OF OUR NATURAL AND HISTORIC RIGHT AND ON THE STRENGTH OF THE RESOLUTION OF THE UNITED NATIONS GENERAL ASSEMBLY, HEREBY DECLARE THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A JEWISH STATE IN ERETZ-ISRAEL, TO BE KNOWN AS THE STATE OF ISRAEL.

The conclusion of the declaration places their fate in the hands of "the Almighty" referring to God, and is signed by several members of the council.

The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam

I thought it was really interesting reading The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam. After doing some background reading on Wikipedia, I discovered that the Rubaiyat is actually a collection of poems, dating back to about 1048 AD. The term "Rubaiyat" actually means quatrains which is the four line verses found throughout his collection. Quatrains are the most basic of poetry and many example can be found upon researching. In all of Khayyams quatrains, lines 1,2 and 4 rhyme, while line 3 doesn't. One of my favorite quatrains was the following (#35):

Then to the Lip of this poor earthen Urn
I lean'd, the secret of my life to learn:
And Lip to Lip it murmur'd--while you live,
Drink!--for, once dead, you shall never return.

This is pretty much telling us to live life to the fullest because once it is gone, it's gone and there is no getting it back. I really try to follow that method as best I can, so I can get everything I possible can out of life.

The other quatrain that I really liked was # 72:

And that inverted Bowl they call the Sky,
Whereunder crawling coop'd we live and die,
Lift not your hands to It for help--for It
As impotently moves as you or I.

I just thought that this was an interesting analysis, seeing the somewhat mystical interpretation in other quatrains in the poem, I thought it was strange that Khayyam doesn't believe that there were any mystical qualities in the sky, and that it was just simply a physical object.

It was a little more difficult coming up with my own poems similar to Khayyam's. The following were personal creations:

Distance makes the heart grow fonder,
But my dear it's easy for hearts to wander
--Stay with me darling and remain true,
and it's this I promise, our love will not squander.

The dusk sets in over the crystal sea,
the white frosty sand below the lonely palm tree,
sparkles and glistens as the moon descends
soon the twinkling stars will be upon us, almost a guarantee.

1001 Nights Cont....

I decided to write my paper on racial inequalities and prejudice in the stories that we had read in class. I really found some of my research to be quite interesting and learned a great deal about how Europeans viewed Middle East culture and some of the issues that sparked racial tension between the two groups. Some of this tension still is present today between Middle Eastern countries and the United States. The follow is an excerpt from the rough draft of my paper:

The infamous One Thousand and One Nights also presents several racial references. When King Shahryar’s younger brother catches his wife in bed with “a black cook of loathsome aspect and foul with kitchen grease and grime” he immediately executes them both. The question I find interesting is, had the man been white, would the same measures been taken. The plot thickens when King Shahryar’s own wife is caught in the same circumstance with “a big slobbering black moor.” It can be argued that the circumstances leading up to both wives execution was simply infidelity. Clearly, though, the issue of racial sexuality is truly more disgraceful than the affair alone. According to Katherine O’Sullivan’s review on Charles Stember’s book Sexual Racism, the “sexual self-image of black men is one of ‘impurity’ and inferiority.” This leads to the conclusion that by committing adultery with a black man, the wives are tainting themselves, which is a far greater disgrace than anything else imaginable. In the eyes of the kings, the only way to remove the stain from their reputation is by execution.

It was also interesting to read a few more stories from 1001 Nights as well.
The first one I read was The King's Daughter and the Ape. This has to be the most provocative story in the entire collection. It discusses the Sultans daughter, who has a sex addiction that can only be fulfilled by the black slaves. When her father discovers that she is keeping a black slave locked in her room, he plans to execute her. She escapes only to have he slave killed by a butcher who misunderstands her circumstance. He plans to replace the black man as her sex slave, but cannot perform at the level to fulfill her. He meets with an old woman and with a series of herbal remedies, they are able to fix the daughters sexual addiction. All in all the story was pretty bizarre and sexually explicit.

The other story I read was called The Miller and His Wife. This story was about a Miller who had an evil wife and a thing for the guy next door, who cannot stand her. The miller has a dream about where a pile of riches is buried, and tells his wife about it, making her promise to keep it a secret. The wife, in turn, tells the neighbor, hoping to win his favor. The two go and dig up the treasure, but greed overcomes the neighbor, and he kills the miller's wife, burying her where the treasure was. The next morning the miller comes out to where the ass rotates the mill wheel and tries to get him to move, but when he doesn't because he knows the millers wife is buried below him. The miller becomes enraged and kills the ass. He then discovers that his treasure is gone, his wife and ass are dead, and is saddened by all of it.

One Thousand and One Nights

I thought the overall basis for the tale of One Thousand and One Nights was intriguing. The thought of one person telling a series of stories over the course of 1001 nights (close to 3 years) fascinates me. The introduction story The Story of King Shahryar and His Brother sets the scene for the remainder of the book. Both brothers catch their wives cheating, and kill them, and Shahryar, in response to all this, marries a virgin every night and kills her the following morning. Soon there are no virgins left and the daughter of his close advisor is used as his next victim. Instead she tells a story every night, concluding with a cliff hanger, forcing him to keep her alive for another day. What I find humerus is that he, who doesn't trust women, is in fact being outsmarted by one :)
I also found it interesting that both of the wives cheated with a "blackamoor". It would be curious to know if the kings would have responded differently to these situations, had the women involved themselves in affairs with Caucasian men instead. While the act itself is still wrong, I do believe that the kings would have looked down with less disdain, had the wives stuck to a similar race.

One of the other stories I choose to read was The Christian King's Daughter and the Moslem. This story was a bit confusing and the language was a little more difficult to understand than the other stories, but from what I understand, the Moslem traveler is able to heal the daughters ailment, but she dies while they make a pilgrimage to Mecca, where she is able to pray and fast.

The next story I read was The Three Unfortunate Lovers. I actually really enjoyed this story, and it had a romantic circular flow. The 3 young lovers all faces a sudden death, starting with one, and the other two pine away at the loss of love.

The Third story was the Tale of the Trader and the Jinni. This was a bit broken up because there are 4 separate parts to the story, but a Jinni takes a wealthy merchant's soul on the basis that the merchant killed the Jinni's son, and plans to kill him only allowing him the opportunity of one year to settle his final affairs. Each of the Shaykh's he meets before his death want part of his blood. It was a little confusing, but and interesting tale.

Analysis of Othello

The article Turning Turk in Othello: The Conversion and Damnation of the Moor by Daniel Vitkus was a very intriguing article on the "Moor" Othello in Shakespeare's play. I found it interesting that the phrase "turning Turke" actually referred to a prostitute returning to the streets or the brothel. I liked the analysis that the word "turning" could be applied to Othello, a Christian soldier of dark skin, who turns into "an enraged murder", similar to "turning Turke." This does seem like a very racial and insensitive comment, but literature and analysis like this was very common in Shakespeare's time. Of course Othello would ultimately be the villain in Shakespeare's work, encouraged by the European fear of Middle Eastern overtake and domination.


I also thought is was intriguing that many European Christians believed that Moors were look upon as having skin "demonic black, burnt by hellfire and cursed by god." It seems that seventeenth century Christians were very uninformed of the Islamic religion and there were quite a few misunderstandings "reviled by Western Europeans" and was probably the cause for so much animosity in the past, and possibly still presently. Although there was much cause for alarm because of the barbaric attacks by African and Middle Eastern tribes, I believe that there was an excess of worry by much of the English community. One could possibly compare this to the present outlook on people of Middle Eastern descent, given the past six years of tension, terrorist attacks and war. I even catch myself sometimes judging a person based mearly on their skin or what they are wearing. Some would argue that this is good and others would argue that it is bad. I think that this is simply left up to interpretation, and in some cases, it could be a good thing, but probably more commonly that not, it is more of racial discrimination. Islam used to be "defined as a licentious religion of sensuality and sexuality." I find it interesting that today we think of it as almost completely opposite, representing a repressive outlook towards women and a overall lack of love, sex, and sensuality.

Othello

Othello was an interesting play. I was only able to read the first three acts of the play, but the idea of the story was that the title character is a Moor, who finds himself places in an environment of caucasion Christians. While the term "Moor", accoriding to Wikipedia, is a Greek word meaning "black" or "very dark" but doesnt necessarly refer to the Muslim religion. This word was actually originally used to refer to an individual of African or Arab decent. The thought of Othello involved in a marriage with a white woman was an out cry in the play, and Roderigo even refers to Desdemona and Othello as "an old black lamb tupping your white ewe" which I thought was a very crass and rude statement. It should only seem to be a given, then that the marriage between Desdemona and Othello was destine to fail, according to The Folger Shakespeare Library because there was such a difference in race, gender, background and culture. I tend to agree with this statement because there do have to be some similarties in a cultural sense for people to be compatable with each other. Marina Smiley comments in her article, How To Fight Cultural Differences In Marriage And Stay Happy, that cross cultural marriages can be very difficlut and more often time than, not can lead to failure. I think that the impulsiveness of their marriage was romantic, but it doesnt seem like they thought much beyond that, and didn't consider the consequences or impact that this could have much later on. It also seems that they rushed into things a little fast because otherwise there would be more trust between Othello and Desdemona.

The crusades had quite an impact on the Middle East and the Islamic culture/religion. Islam and Islamic History in Arabia and The Middle East provided an in depth analysis on the crusades and the results from the conquests. Arab scholars look at the crusades as more of an irritation than anything else, and the crusaders were not very successful because of unfamiliar territory and hostile environment. Although the crusading armies were able to capture the holy city of Jerusalem, they were not successful, all-in-all, in converting the so called "barbaric" Muslims into Christians. In fact, Saladin, who proves to be quite and interesting character, is the While the long term effects of the crusades as far as a military stand point were unsuccessful, there was a lasting effect on trade, governmental relations and the integration of western culture into the Middle East. The Encyclopedia of the Orient also provides interesting information on the present effect of the Crusades today, claiming that,"the work that conservative Christians, led by Jerry Falwell, and extremist Muslims, led by personalities like Osama bin Laden do for provoking a religious war with Israel/Palestine as the epicenter is clearly a modern time crusade. The idea of jihad got a revival through the crusades. As the Christians fought a holy war against the Muslims, captured the 3rd holiest Muslim city and even attacked Medina and Mecca during a campaign. " It is interesting how similar the current war we are dealing with in the Middle East is very similar to the Crusade conquests that occurred 1095.


The Decameron was an interesting piece of literature. While there was a great deal of description and thought behind Novel IX, the language and grammer used made it a bit difficult to read, and I found myself wandering off in different directions while I read it. The honor of Saladin is similar to the wikipedia article we read, and he is quite the noble knight, allowing Messer Torello to be reunited with his wife only days before she is to be remarried. The tale is a bit of a fanatsy, involving black magic, but can be linked to many modern day love stories in that the man comes back to save the one he loves.