Middle East Books

This compilation of newspaper columns over six years presents urgent reading for this year of national electoral decisions, and provides each Roman Catholic in the USA substantial theological nourishment for our present Lenten lectio divina, and for action thereafter.

Can we be Catholic and vote Republican? Can we be both Catholic and "support" in any way the continued bloody occupation of Iraq, condemned now by two of our Popes, including Our present Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI, especially in the light of the climactic passages to his monumental Apostolic Exhortation The Sacrament of Charity: Sacramentum Caritatis? Is what ways are our militarist, imperialist policies around the world "stupid, unjust and criminal?"

The Reverend Father Andrew Greeley with increasing urgency and moral standing presents the clear and courageous case for Catholic moral theology within our presently morally compromised context. These essays begin with a certain nebulous and cautious approach, recognizing his readership, but by 2005 and become increasingly clear, courageous, prophetic and concrete about the moral, theological, sociological and historical reasons for rejecting absolutely our present national policy in Iraq.

The Introduction to these essays explicitly examines the reasons for invading Iraq and our immoral conduct of the disasterous occupation of Iraq in the light of the traditional "just war" criteria, which are well defined in the United States Catholic Bishops Conference document The Challenge of Peace: God's Promise and Our Response (A Pastoral Letter on War and Peace, No. 863). Father Greeley concisely and correctly finds no reason by these lenient criteria neither for the invasion, and no morality for our endless occupation of Iraq. He finds no justifiable reason for supporting any further (and much less from the beginning) this immoral and unjust and criminal military involvement.

The Introduction concludes with his grateful dedication to his Cardinal who has supported him in his prophetic, courageous and orthodox witness.


It is very hard to draw a few representative samples from this rich work by the Reverend Father Greeley, a work which courageously gives voice to our unvoiced US Catholic Church, silenced as Father Greeley reveals by other pressing and persecuting concerns, perhaps intended to provoke silence. We must the more gratefully receive these truths spoken without fear by Father Greeley, reflecting the policies running right up to the Vatican itself.

On whether prior US soldiers killed warrants continued warfare and occupation, Father Greeley wrote September 2, 2005: "Bush's contention that because some men and women have died, others must continue to die demonstrates just how morally bankrupt the war is and he himself is (p. 136)."


On the falsity of the reasons for going to war, Father Greeley writes November 4, 2005, as in several places, this: "The Bush administration, led by the vice president, systematically deceived the American people about the war and continues to do so. There were never any nuclear weapons, never any raw uranium, never any Iraqi involvement in the World Trade Center attack. The Iraqi war was never part of a 'war on terrorism' (p. 138)."

Regarding comparative economic policies, Father Greeley wrote in November 18, 2005: "The Republican administration and the Republican Congress are presiding over a major shift in wealth from the poor and the middle class to the rich. Thus, they are trying to take $70 billion from food stamps, Medicaire, education (loans and scholarships for college students) and veterans and give the money to the rich as increased tax deductions. Pension money and health-care money is being taken away from workers and retired owrkers to provide profits for badly run organizations (like United Airlines and General Motors) and their exhorbitantly compensated executives (p. 142)."

This GOP economic shift directly violates the statement on economic morality by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops Economic justice for all: Pastoral letter on Catholic social teaching and the U.S. economy (Publication /Office of Publishing and Promotion Services, United States Catholic Conference) and also violates the recent Apostolic Exhortation mentioned above which finds our Eucharistic compulsion to alter unjust economic systems and notes with horror how a very small percentage of the military budget could relieve the suffering of so many poor. Several earlier papal encyclicals and documents support this finding as well.

This collection of writings by the Reverend Father Greeley grows more earnest and more reasoned, with each year, as his serious commitment and personal conviction on this issue grows and deepens, and his conversion to peace takes root.It is difficult to leave out any citation in this important work of applied Roman Catholic moral theology. One would like to type out at least the entire page 169, from July 28, 2006, but must be content with sharing this further and concluding passage for us prayerfully to consider, and so to act:

"Is the blood on the hands of those Americans who support the war? Again, one must leave them to heaven. But in the objective order it is difficult to see why they are not responsible for the mass murders. They permitted their leaders to deceive them about the war, often enthusiastically. How can they watch the continuing murders i Iraq and not feel guilty? How would you feel if the street were drenched with the blood of your son and daughter, if your father were in the hospital with his legs blown off? We cannot permit ourselves to grieve for the Iraqi pain because then we would weep bitter and guilty tears every day."

Father Greeley issues a collection of his essays going back to the tragic events of September, 2001. Some of his writings are prescient, some spot-on and some prove to be wrong, but he has the courage to include them all in this easily readable book. Would that all pundits issue complete collections of their political writings, and stand by their convictions as Dr Greeley does.

I am slowly forming a collection of books on Sudan (children's, photography, tourism and literary) and by far this is my favorite. I thought the book was comprehensive and I particularly appreciate how it covers the vast and diverse regions of the entire country. I saw many tribes and many cultural practices being mentioned. Although the description of the book recommends it for 9th grade, I thought the reading level was much simpler (perhaps it would be more appropriate for a younger age group) and not thorough/detailed enough for an older age.
I am also a big fan of Michael Freeman's "Sudan, the land and the people". It's a wonderful family read. It covers most (if not ALL) of Sudan's HISTORY and shares an amazing artistic perspective of its people. However, Michael Freeman's book is short on photography of the Northern regions of Sudan and the Northern people.
All in all, I think "Sudan: Cultures of the World" is a wonderful additional to your library at home.

I was very impressed with the volume of SUDAN from this series. The series as a whole is wonderful, and the SUDAN text is no exception. It's difficult to find good, recent resources about this country; this is a true find. I teach ESL and my adult students from Sudan were VERY impressed by this book. I'm actually ordering copies for a few of them for their homes!

Professor Hafez breaks down the complex system of Iraq and the insurgency there into a very readable and well organized analysis. I have read almost every book out there on suicide bombers and political violence and this is my favorite since the author takes the reader through a systematic understanding of the motivations behind the suicide bombers.

Professor of political science Mohammed M. Hafez presents Suicide Bombers in Iraq: The Strategy and Ideology of Martyrdom, a scholarly evaluation of the all-too-real cruelty and tragedy of suicide bombing in Iraq. Suicide bombings in Iraq appear to be perpetrated largely by non-Iraqi volunteers from Saudi Arabia, Europe, Syria, Kuwait, Jordan, and North Africa, and the targets are generally either Iraqi security forces and Shia civilians rather than coalition forces. Suicide Bombers in Iraq meticulously dissects and deconstructs the methodologies used to justify suicide bombing and the sectarian equivalent of ethnic cleansing, and adds to the search for means to stem the tide of such attacks. In addition to current strategies, Professor Hafez also recommends a drive to delegitimize suicide bombings, directly attacking the ideological, theological, and other justifications that the masterminds of suicide bombings rely upon to recruit volunteers. Suicide Bombers in Iraq is entirely free of illusions - whether positive or negative - about the Iraq occupation, absolute "must-read" for anyone concerned about the future of Iraq.

I wan to know more about this book,please give me more imformation

I wan to know more about this book,please give me more imformation

from Ron David, author of ARABS & ISRAEL FOR BEGINNERS

The writer William Gass once described a book as "so good you don't judge it, it judges you." SWIMMING UP THE TIGRIS by Barbara Nimri Aziz is that kind of book. Like most other writers on the Middle East I have focused so intently on America's two military invasions of Iraq that I misjudged the near-fatal impact of the economic sanctions on the Iraqi people.
Aziz describes (or to be more accurate, allows the Iraqi people to describe) the various ways in which the sanctions and embargoes devastated Iraq more deeply than the 1990-91 Gulf War. To grasp the enormity of that charge, bear in mind that the U.S. dropped more bombs on Iraq during the first Gulf war than were dropped on three continents during all of World War Two.
In brief, self-contained chapters Aziz shows the incredible resilience of the Iraqi people and their determination not to let their identity as a people be erased by America's casual brutality. In order to survive the sanctions Iraq rebuilt and literally reinnvented its economy, its medical system, even its oil industry --and unfortunately, its attitude toward America.
Aziz resembles the Nobel Prize winning novelist Toni Morrison in her refusal to accept the obvious answer to any question. (Has anyone but Aziz argued that the sanctions and embargoes hurt Iraq more than the bombs?) Another thing Aziz has incommon with the magnificent Ms. Morrison is her uncanny ability to find the truth in terms of what is not there. Example: One of the most beautiful and harrowing chapters in the book is Aziz's observation that the defining characteristic of Iraq's playgrounds is the absence of children. (Just silence.)
The poem by Lisa Suhair Majaj that introduces the chapter "Empty Playgrounds" is called "Arguments." It is, in itself, worth the price of the book.
Given the current political atmosphere in the U.S. --the drum-beating for a war or sanctions with/on Iran-- SWIMMING UP THE TIGRIS is required reading if we want to avoid the same mistakes with Iran we made with Iraq.
A beautiful, truthful book.

If you believe, as I do, that the war against Iraq is one of the most important issues facing people in the US and world-wide, then you must read this book.

Independent journalist Barbara Nimri Aziz traveled throughout Iraq, beginning in 1989 in the days after the end of the Iran/Iraq war and up until the most recent disastrous invasion and brutal occupation. Her quest as an anthropologist was to document Iraqi society. She became a reluctant war correspondent.

This book documents the terrible years of grinding deprivation that was Iraq under the deadly US/UN sanctions. Why look at that period? Because everything that is happening today is rooted in the merciless sanctions period where more than 1.5 million people perished unnecessarily.

Every family in Iraq was touched. Everybody there would never be the same. Aziz writes brilliantly and compassionately about the people of Iraq, the ones we never hear from. The ones whose destiny is tied up with ours so completely.

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The author provides insight to the brutal and archaic customs of Saudi society. His description of a "routine" beheading is like a butcher carving up a side of beef and total control by religious fanatics leave the people with little freedom.
The book is well worth reading and a must for anyone considering employment in Saudi Arabia.

This book gave me insight into the world of contract work in Suadi Arabia. Working for one of the "alphabet soup" companies that ring the beltway in Washington, DC and "managed" by retired military officers. The characters and their foibles
are there to see and be amused.
The author vividly descibes the scenes of the Kingdom that the embassy staff or the military personnel assigned there would not see from their protective conclaves that they live in.
It was a good read.

This book was very interesting from a historical standpoint, with an added bonus of interesting recipes. I haven't tried any yet, but am looking forward to it.

Having loved "A Taste of Pennslyvania History", I was so excited to get this book. Taste of Ohio History is just as wonderful as the authors' first book. Plan on getting every book in the series--I look forward to all 50 books (just ordered Virginia and anxiously await Maryland). The writing is wonderful and the descriptions of the restaurants and the recipes are such a great addition to my kitchen bookshelf.

An interesting combination of historical research, recipes and cultural analysis, this book has some wonderful avenues to wander down. You can read it strictly for the recipes...you can read it for the historical research...you can read it for fascinating insight into the lives of the Medieval Middle East.

Try some of the recipes...you'll be surprised at just how complex the flavors can be, and just how TASTY they are!

This book is an academic sociological study on the cultures of the Middle East using food studies as its medium. Although it does not contain any recipies, the essays provide facinating insight into the attitudes and customs involving food. This book would be enjoyed by anthropologists, archaeologists, extreme foodies, and those interested in a deeper understanding of social and cultural aspects of food production and consumption.

This book is well researched and well written - a must for any university course that looks at education & international relations. You will find that the discussions go beyond the obvious and look at the highly complex nature of education and how that intertwines with national identity & politics. For example, when comparing the religious curricula among the countries, Dr. Doumato discusses the critical impact of both teacher instruction (quality of) and the "weight" each country gives each subject. Dr. Starrett's work is impressive and provides an excellent foundation for future research on Islamic studies in the US. Furthermore, this is a book that every foreign policy maker in the US should read to garner a better understanding of the issues so that the US might develop a more effective foreign policy in this area.

Edited by Eleanor Abdella Doumato (visiting fellow, Watson Institute for International Studies at Brown University) and Gregory Starrett (professor of anthropology, University of North Carolina at Charlotte), Teaching Islam: Textbooks and Religion in the Middle East is an anthology of scholarly essays by learned authors concerning the political and social priorities underlying religious education in nine Middle Eastern countries. One essay is devoted to Egypt, Iran, Jordan, Kuwait, Oman, The Palestinian National Authority, Saudi Arabia, Syria, and Turkey; three additional essays examine the role of Islamic textbook creation and the impact of Islamic teaching methods upon the populace of a given nation state. An invaluable close scrutiny, especially in the wake of the September 11th attacks and accusations that textbooks fostering violence have heavily infiltrated Saudi Arabia and the Muslim world. Highly recommended.

TEEN VOICES FROM THE HOLY LAND: WHO AM I TO YOU offers up an intriguing survey by author who asked young Palestinians and Israelis to describe their lives and dreams for the future. Their words offer insights into not only their lives and experiences but their perceptions of past, present and future, making this a top pick for any spiritual collection or library strong in Middle East issues.

Sad, amusing, wise, naive, and touching, these anecdotes, observations, and speculations by Jewish and Arab teenagers will long reverberate in the mind of the reader. Each account reflects the mind and temper of a thoughtful, self-aware individual poised between the innocent hopefulness of childhood and an adult's growing consciousness of the complexity of life and the history it brings. For Jews and Arabs living in the Holy Land, that history has, for a hundred years, been particularly burdensome. For the reader, news and events emerging from that area will likely have the joy and the weight of new names and faces inextricably attached to it.