The Middle East Journal back issues from July 2005:
Editor's Note
Jul 01, 2005; ... As this issue goes to press, Lebanon is concluding its parliamentary elections, the first since the Syrian withdrawal. The signs are both encouraging (there is a genuine enthusiasm on display) and somewhat disappointing (the unity displayed by the opposition during the "Beirut Spring" has ...
The United Arab Emirates: Statehood and Nation-Building in a Traditional Society
Jul 01, 2005; ... Nationals represent barely 20% of the population in the United Arab Emirates, but form the economically and socially privileged group of UAE citizens. The Rulers of the seven emirates were able to retain the historical loyalty of the "Emiratis" by advancing the economic development of the ...
Women, Islam, and the Moroccan State: The Struggle over the Personal Status Law
Jul 01, 2005; ... Since 1991, the status of women in Morocco has been the subject of widespread debate. Efforts by women's groups and liberal political forces to change the Shari'a-based Personal Status Code (moudawwana), were vigorously opposed by conservative and Islamist forces. For both sides, the issue was ...
Women's Parties in Israel: Their Unrecognized Significance and Potential
Jul 01, 2005; ... Women's parties have played a significant role on the Israeli political scene since the beginning of the 20th century until the present. Moreover, women's parties had far reaching impact on both the status of women and wider society. However, the significance of women's parties has been ...
Chronology-Central Asia and the Caucasus
Jul 01, 2005; ... Feb. 1: Three policemen were killed and 13 injured in a car bomb explosion in western Georgia. The blast occurred at a police headquarters, 80km west of the capital city, Tbilisi. [RFE, 2/5] Feb. 3: Georgian Prime Minister Zurab Zhvania was found dead in a Tbilisi apartment. The ...
Chronology-Petroleum Affairs
Jul 01, 2005; ... Jan. 30: US oil companies were awarded the majority of contracts offered at the first open license auction in Libya since the removal of US sanctions. [BBC, 1/30] Feb. 2: India's Oil and Natural Gas Corporation was awarded a $1.2 billion contract to build an oil refinery in Sudan. [AFP, ...
Democratic Development in Oman
Jul 01, 2005; ... Everyone accepts a one size fits all model cannot deliver successful democratic reform. But it is less widely understood that the process is open-ended, with no predetermined finishing line. Development depends on a political version of bio-diversity, in which democracy emerges organically out ...
National Human Rights Institutions in the Middle East
Jul 01, 2005; ... Ten states in the Middle East have created or plan to establish "national human rights institutions" to implement internationally recognized norms. This article offers a systematic survey of this new but unexplored terrain, examining issues of institutional creation, design, and impact in the ...
Chronology-Afghanistan
Jul 01, 2005; ... Jan. 16: US forces in Afghanistan freed 81 Taliban prisoners from a jail at the Bagram air base, north of Kabul. [Al-Jazeera, 1/16] Jan. 20: Afghan regional Commander 'Abd al-Rashid Dostum narrowly escaped assassination after a suicide bombing injured at least 21 people including ...
Chronology-Bahrain
Jul 01, 2005; ... Jan. 15: Bahrain's King, Shaykh Hamad, reshuffled his cabinet. Fatimah al-Baloushi became Minister of a newly formed Ministry for Social Affairs, only the second woman ever appointed to ministerial rank. [AN, 1/15] Feb. 28: Security forces detained 'Ali 'Abd al-Imam, who ran an Internet ...
Chronology-Israel
Jul 01, 2005; ... Feb. 12: Ten police officers were hurt in clashes with right wing activists opposed to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's Gaza disengagement plan. Approximately 15,000 people attended a rally at the Gush Katif settlement in the Gaza Strip to protest the disengagement from Gaza. There were several ...
Chronology-Arab-Israeli Conflict
Jul 01, 2005; ... January 16, 2005 -April 15, 2005 ABBREVIATIONS AFP, Agence France Presse Al-Jazeera, Aljazeera.net AME Info AN, ArabicNews.com AP, Associated Press BBC, www.bbc.co.uk CNN The Daily Star DAWN The ...
Chronology-Iran
Jul 01, 2005; ... Feb.14: The Iranian government formally protested US intelligence services flying surveillance drones over Iranian airspace. [GN, 2/14] Feb. 15: At least 59 people were killed, and 210 injured, by a fire that raged through a crowded mosque in the Iranian capital of Tehran. [BBC, ...
Chronology-Palestinian Affairs
Jul 01, 2005; ... Jan. 19: Palestinian President Mahmud 'Abbas fired dozens of advisers to late president Yasir 'Arafat, the first sign of major reform since he was elected on January 9. [AlJazeera, 1/19] Jan. 25: Palestinian President Mahmud 'Abbas sent bulldozers to demolish hundreds of buildings ...
Chronology-Kuwait
Jul 01, 2005; ... Jan. 22: Kuwait announced a search for eight to ten persons with links to al-Qa'ida and a local anti-US group. Three of them, 'Adil al-Shimari, Khalid al-Dosari and Ahmad alMutairi are wanted for their role in facilitating and training foreign militants to fight in Iraq. [Reuters, ...
Chronology: Regional Affairs
Jul 01, 2005; ... Feb. 20: Jordan returned its Ambassador to Israel for the first time in over four years. [NYT, 2/20] Feb. 21: Saudi Arabia handed over 19 Yemenis arrested in the Kingdom to Yemeni authorities. This was the second time in two years that Riyadh handed over Yemeni suspects to their ...
Chronology-Libya
Jul 01, 2005; ... Feb. 7: Boeing announced the sale of six 737-800's to Buraq Airlines, a privately owned Libyan airline company. The sale was valued at $366 million. Buraq Air is Libya's first private airline. [Wichita Business Journal, 2/7] Feb. 9: US Assistant Secretary of State WiIliam Burns met with ...
Chronology-Algeria
Jul 01, 2005; ... Jan. 16: The Algerian government signed a peace agreement with the Berber delegation representing Tanseqeyat al-Aroush from the al-Kabyle area to the east of the capital. The same Berber group complained of government discrimination in 2001, and over 100 died in clashes with government forces ....
Chronology-Egypt
Jul 01, 2005; ... Jan. 22: The Rafah border crossing connecting Egypt to the Gaza Strip was reopened for the first time in six weeks. Several thousand Palestinians were trapped in Egypt unable to return home after a December 12 bombing, which killed five Israeli soldiers. [AN, 1/22] Jan. 23: The ...
Chronology-Morocco
Jul 01, 2005; ... Feb. 6: Thousands protested in Rabat over the continued detention of Moroccans in the Polisario separatist camps in Tindouf, in southwestern Algeria. [AN, 3/7] Apr. 1: The Moroccan government officially adopted the United Nations Convention Against Corruption ....
Chronology-Qatar
Jul 01, 2005; ... Mar. 19: A British national was killed and 12 others were wounded in an explosion in the Qatari capital of Doha when a suicide bomber rammed a vehicle into a theater. [GN, 3/20] Mar. 21: About 1,000 expatriates and citizens of Qatar held a rally in protest of the March 19 suicide car ...
Chronology-Jordan
Jul 01, 2005; ... Jan. 27: Jordanian police prevented a trade union from meeting in 'Amman. Police closed the entrances and roads leading to the complex where the meeting was to be held. [AN, 1/27] Feb. 20: Jordan sent an ambassador to Israel, marking the resumption of top-level diplomatic ties after a ...
Chronology-Iraq
Jul 01, 2005; ... Jan. 19: Twenty-six people were killed in several bombings in Baghdad. In the morning, a bomb exploded outside the Australian Embassy killing two Iraqi guards. Less than an hour later a bomb exploded outside a police station in the al-Wiya district killing 18 and injuring over 36. Three other ...
Chronology-Syria
Jul 01, 2005; ... Jan. 19: Four Syrian opposition parties and trade associations announced the formation of a national coordination committee in defense of basic and human rights in Syria. [AN, 1/19] Jan. 25: Syrian President Bashar al-Asad signed a declaration with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin ...
Chronology-Turkey
Jul 01, 2005; ... Mar. 4: The Turkish army deployed 1,357 more soldiers in northern Iraq to fight Kurdish separatists. [Al-Jazeera, 3/5] Mar. 17: Over 150 Turkish journalists took part in a protest against a new penal code they claimed impinged upon freedom of the press. The demonstrators, some ...
Chronology-Lebanon
Jul 01, 2005; ... Jan. 17: Israel carried out air strikes against Hizbullah targets in southern Lebanon in retaliation for the bombing of a bulldozer in the disputed Shebaa Farms area. [BBC, 1/17] Feb. 14: Former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq al-Hariri and eight others were killed by a car bomb in Beirut ....
Chronology-Mauritania
Jul 01, 2005; ... Jan. 18: Mauritania raised its minimum wage by more than 600%, as part of a series of measures aimed at preventing further trouble after three coup attempts in 2003 and 2004. [Al-Jazeera, 1/18] Feb. 4: A Mauritanian court sentenced four soldiers to life imprisonment with hard labor for ...
North Africa's Desperate Regimes
Jul 01, 2005; ... North Africa's Desperate Regimes The Performance of Human Rights in Morocco, by Susan Slyomovics. Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2005. ix + 204. Notes to p. 243. Bibl. to p. 262. Index to 268. Acknowl. to p. 271. $55 cloth; $24.95 paper. Searching for a Different ...
The Banality of Indifference: Zionism and the Armenian Genocide/The Banality of Denial: Israel and the Armenian Genocide
Jul 01, 2005; ... ARMENIANS The Banality of Indifference: Zionism and the Armenian Genocide, by Yair Auron. New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Books, 2000. 332 pages. $29.95 paper. The Banality of Denial: Israel and the Armenian Genocide, by Yair Auron. New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Books, 2003. 338 pages ....
Chronology-Pakistan
Jul 01, 2005; ... Jan. 19: Pakistan denied violating a ceasefire after India said its forward posts in Kashmir were targeted by mortar shells from across the de facto border. [Al-Jazeera, 1/19] Feb. 11: Fifty-four people died and over 400 were reported missing and presumed dead when the Shadikor dam burst ...
Chronology-Sudan
Jul 01, 2005; ... Jan. 16: A reconciliation agreement was signed between the Sudanese government and the opposition Democratic National Coalition in Cairo. [AN, 1/17] Jan. 21: The Sudanese government and southern rebels agreed to extend the mission of the international observers who supervise the ...
Sabra and Shatila: September 1982
Jul 01, 2005; ... LEBANON Sabra and Shatila: September 1982, by Bayan Nuwayhed al-Hout. London, UK and Ann Arbor, MI: Pluto Press, 2004. xiv + 324 pages. Notes to p. 343. Appends, to p. 434. Bibl. to p. 462. $24.95 paper. The September 1982 massacre of more than a thousand Palestinian refugees and others ...
Occupied By Memory: The Intifada Generation and the Palestinian State of Emergency
Jul 01, 2005; ... Occupied By Memory: The Intifada Generation and the Palestinian State of Emergency, by John Collins. New York and London, UK: New York University Press, 2004. xvi + 228 pages. Appendix to p. 233. Notes to p. 252. Gloss, to p. 254. Bibl. to p. 256. Index to p. 284. $60 cloth; $20 ...
Chronology-Tunisia
Jul 01, 2005; ... Mar. 2: Tunisian authorities arrested a lawyer, Muhammad Abu, who criticized, in an article on the internet, President bin ...
Chronology-Yemen
Jul 01, 2005; ... Feb. 5: A Yemeni court has sentenced to death the leader of a group of 15 men found guilty last year of bombing a French supertanker. [Al-Jazeera, 2/5] Mar. 16: Police in the Yemeni city of Ta'izz clashed with demonstrators protesting a proposed sales tax increase. As many as nine people ...
A New Old Damascus: Authenticity and Distinction in Urban Syria
Jul 01, 2005; ... A New Old Damascus: Authenticity and Distinction in Urban Syria, by Christa Salamandra. Bloomington and Indianapolis, IN: Indiana University Press, 2004. xi + 164 pages. Notes to 171. Refs. to 187. Index to 199. $49.95 cloth; $21.95 paper. This ethnography focuses on the typically ...
How Israelis and Palestinians Negotiate: A Cross-Cultural Analysis of the Oslo Peace Process
Jul 01, 2005; ... ARAB-ISRAELI CONFLICT How Israelis and Palestinians Negotiate: A Cross-Cultural Analysis of the Oslo Peace Process, ed. Tamara Cofman Wittes. Foreword by Richard H. Solomon. Washington, DC: United States Institute of Peace Press, 2005. xiv + 148 pages. Index to p. 160. $40 cloth; $14.95 ...
Radical Islam in Egypt and Jordan
Jul 01, 2005; ... EGYPT AND JORDAN Radical Islam in Egypt and Jordan, by Nachman Tal. Brighton, UK and Portland, OR: Sussex Academic Press, 2005. xi+245 pages. Notes to p. 265. Bibl. to 269. Index top. 28!.$29.95 paper. Tal has written a useful account of the rise of Islamic political movements in Jordan ...
The United Arab Emirates: A Study in Survival
Jul 01, 2005; ... UNITED ARAB EMIRATES The United Arab Emirates: A Study in Survival, by Christopher M. Davidson. Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner Publishers, 2005. xi + 300 pages. Tables and figures. Gloss, to p. 306. Abbrevs. to p. 308. Bibl. to p. 326. Index to p. 332. $59.95. With all the crisis situations ...
Palestinians Born in Exile: Diaspora and the Search for a Homeland
Jul 01, 2005; ... PALESTINE AND PALESTINIANS Palestinians Born in Exile: Diaspora and the Search for a Homeland, by Juliane Hammer. Austin, TX; University of Texas Press, 2005. xiii + 225 pages. Appends, to p. 228. Notes to p. 238. Bibl. to p. 259. Index to p. 271. $55 cloth; $22.95 paper. The return of ...
Energy Developments in the Middle East
Jul 01, 2005; ... ECONOMIC CONDITIONS Energy Developments in the Middle East, by Anthony H. Cordesman. Westport, CT and London, UK: Praeger Publishers, in cooperation with the Center for Strategic International Studies, Washington, DC, 2004. xvii + 287 pages. Notes to p. 298. Index to p.308. $55. This ...
Inheriting Syria: Bashar's Trial by Fire
Jul 01, 2005; ... SYRIA Inheriting Syria: Bashar's Trial by Fire, by Flynt Leverett. Washington, DC: Brookings Institution Press, 2005. xiii +167 pages. Appends to p. 214. Notes to p. 275. $27.95. This book is valuable for its account of Syria under Bashar al-Asad but especially for its insights into the ...
The Turks in World History
Jul 01, 2005; ... The Turks in World History, by Carter Vaughn Findley. Oxford, UK and New York: Oxford University Press, 2005. xvi + 237 pages. Notes to p. 261. Bibl to p. 285. Index to p. 300. $74 cloth; $19.95 paper. In his latest book, Carter Vaughn Findley traces the history of the Turkic peoples ...
Turkey: Challenges of Continuity and Change
Jul 01, 2005; ... TURKEY Turkey: Challenges of Continuity and Change, by Meliha Benli Altunik and Özlem Tür. London, UK and New York: Routledge Curzon, 2005. xvii + 139 pages. Map. Tables. Chron. Notes to p. 163. Bibl. to p. 170. Index to p. 174. $18.99 paper. In a succinct and highly readable book, ...
Aden Insurgency: The Savage War in South Arabia 1962-1967
Jul 01, 2005; ... YEMEN Aden Insurgency: The Savage War in South Arabia 1962-1967, by Jonathan Walker. Staplehurst, UK: Spellmount Limited, 2005. xx + 300 pages. Gloss, to p. 305. Bibl. to p. 318. Index to p. 332. BP25. The publicity for this book makes comparisons between the current fighting in Iraq and ...
Politics of Piety: The Islamic Revival and the Feminist Subject
Jul 01, 2005; ... WOMEN Politics of Piety: The Islamic Revival and the Feminist Subject, by Saba Mahmood. Princeton, NJ and Oxford, UK: Princeton University Press, 2004. xvi + 199 pages. Gloss, to p. 203. Refs. to p. 223. Index to p. 233. $55 cloth; $17.95 paper. This book explores "the conceptual ...
Germany and the Middle East, 1871-1945
Jul 01, 2005; ... MODERN HISTORY AND POLITICS Germany and the Middle East, 1871-1945, ed. by Wolfgang G. Schwanitz. Princeton, NJ: Markus Weiner Publishers, 2004, 243 pages. Maps, figures, and documents. About the authors. $89.95. Will the Middle East be the key political region of the 21st Century? The ...
Israelis and Palestinians. Why Do They Fight? Can They Stop?
Jul 01, 2005; ... ARAB-ISRAELI CONFLICT Israelis and Palestinians. Why Do They Fight? Can They Stop? (Second Edition), by Bernard Wasserstein. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2004. xii + 178 pages. Maps and figures. Chron. to p. 193. Notes to p. 208. Sel. bibl. to p. 218. Index to p. 228. $16 paper ....
Making Cairo Medieval
Jul 01, 2005; ... EGYPT Making Cairo Medieval, ed. by Nezar Alsayyad, Irene A. Bierman, and Nasser Rabbat. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books, 2005. 256 pages. Sel. bibl. to p. 259. Index to p. 266. Contribs. $75 cloth; $27.95 paper. This book of 11 chapters is a reexamination of why and how the city of Cairo ...
The Future of Kurdistan in Iraq
Jul 01, 2005; ... IRAQ The Future of Kurdistan in Iraq, ed. by Brendan O'Leary, John McOarry, and Khaled Salih. Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2005. xxi + 307 pages. Appends, to p. 340. Contribs. to p. 344. Name index to p. 348. Subject index to p. 355. $45. The 12 chapters and ...
Shiraz in the Age of Hafez: The Glory of a Medieval Persian City
Jul 01, 2005; ... PRE-20TH CENTURY HISTORY Shiraz in the Age of Hafez: The Glory of a Medieval Persian City, by John Limbert. Seattle, WA: University of Washington Press, 2004. xii + 124 pages. Appends, to p. 141. Notes to p. 162. Bibl. to p. 172. Index to p. 182. $22.50 paper. In 1960, Arthur Arberry ...
The Kurdish Question and the 2003 Iraqi War
Jul 01, 2005; ... The Kurdish Question and the 2003 Iraqi War, ed. by Mohammed M.A. Ahmed and Michael M. Gunter. Costa Mesa, CA: Mazda Publishers, Inc., 2005. xvi + 275 pages. Maps. Index to p. 279. Contribs. $35 paper. This book is based on an international conference held on September 6-7, 2003 in Boston to ...
Woman's Identity and the Qur'an: A New Reading
Jul 01, 2005; ... Woman's Identity and the Qur'an: A New Reading, by Nimat Hafez Barazangi. Gainesville, FL: University Press of Florida, 2004. xii + 136 pages. Notes to p. 147. Sel. Bibl. to p. 164. Index to p. 172. $59.95. Women's Identity and the Qur'an: A New Reading makes a valuable contribution to ...
Herzl's Nightmare: One Land, Two Peoples
Jul 01, 2005; ... Herzl's Nightmare: One Land, Two Peoples, by Peter Rodgers. New York: Nation Books, 2005. 129 pages. Notes to p. 133. Sel. reading to p. 136. Index to p. 147. $13.95 paper. Theodor Herzl's vision of a Jewish homeland was fulfilled with the creation of the state of Israel in 1948, but was his ...
Children of Palestine: Experiencing Forced Migration in the Middle East
Jul 01, 2005; ... PALESTINE AND PALESTINIANS Children of Palestine: Experiencing Forced Migration in the Middle East, ed. by Dawn Chatty and Gillian Lewando Hundt. New York: Bergahn Books, 2005. xiii + 179 pages. Appends, to p. 265. Gloss, to p. 267. Index to p. 274. $60 cloth; $25 paper. Hundreds of ...
On the Battlefields of the Cold War: A Soviet Ambassador's Confession
Jul 01, 2005; ... AUTOBIOGRAPHY AND MEMOIRS On the Battlefields of the Cold War: A Soviet Ambassador's Confession, by Victor L. Israelyan. University Park, PA: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2003. 402 pages. Index to p. 414. $45. This book is not about the Middle East, which merits only a few pages ...
The Martyrs of Karbala: Shi'i Symbols and Rituals in Modern Iran
Jul 01, 2005; ... IRAN The Martyrs of Karbala: Shi'i Symbols and Rituals in Modern Iran, by Kamran Scot Aghaie. Seattle, WA and London, UK: University of Washington Press, 2004. xvi + 161 pages. Maps and color photos. Notes to p. 178. Bibl. to p. 193. Index to p. 200. $24.95 paper. This book explores the ...
The Sharafnâma: Or the History of the Kurdish Nation - 1597, Book One
Jul 01, 2005; ... KURDS The Sharafnâma: Or the History of the Kurdish Nation - 1597, Book One, by Prince Sharaf al-Din Bitlisi. Translation and commentaries by M.R. Izady. Costa Mesa, CA: Mazda Publishers, 2005. xxxv + 247 pages. Gloss. Maps to p. 254. Dynastic stemmata to p. 261. Bibl. to p. 265. Index ...
Company C: An American's Life as a Citizen-Soldier in Israel
Jul 01, 2005; ... Company C: An American's Life as a Citizen-Soldier in Israel, by Haim Watzman. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2005. 384 pages. Acknowledgments. $26. In this book, the author, a translator and journalist who immigrated from suburban Washington, DC to Israel in the mid1970s and now ...
Reading Chubak
Jul 01, 2005; ... LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE Reading Chubak, by M.R. Ghanoonparvar. Costa Mesa, CA: Mazda Publishers, 2005. x + 134 pages. Notes to p. 152. Appends to pg. 192. Bibl. to p. 202. Index to p. 209. About the author. $28 paper. Modern Iranian fiction has served as a window through which to depict ...
Civil and Uncivil Violence in Lebanon
Jul 01, 2005; ... LEBANON Civil and Uncivil Violence in Lebanon, by Samir Khalaf. New York: Columbia University Press, 2004. xxiv + 328 pages. Notes to p. 334. Bibl. to p. 351. Index to p. 368. $18.50 paper. Lebanon's societal divisions, resulting from deep sectarian loyalties and religious differences, ...
Historical Dictionary of Saudi Arabia
Jul 01, 2005; ... SAUDI ARABIA Historical Dictionary of Saudi Arabia (second edition), ed. by J.E. Peterson. Oxford, UK and Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press, 2003. xxxviii + 163 pages. Maps. Chron. Appends, to p. 204. Sel. bibl. to p. 258. About the author. $75. This reference work begins with a succinct ...
Folktales from Iraq
Jul 01, 2005; ... Folktales from Iraq, ed. and trans. by C.G. Campbell and illust. by John Buckland Wright. Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2005. 236 pages. Illust. Notes to p. 246. $15.95 paper. This is a collection of stories from the Shi'a Arab tribes of ...
The Other Side of Israel: My Journey Across the Jewish/Arab Divide
Jul 01, 2005; ... The Other Side of Israel: My Journey Across the Jewish/Arab Divide, by Susan Nathan. New York: Doubleday, 2005. xv + 274 pages. Maps. Gloss, to p. 290. Sources to p. 299. $25 paper. In this book, Susan Nathan, a British-born Israeli, recounts her experiences as a divorced, practicing Jewish ...
Radical Islam's Rules: The Worldwide Spread of Extreme Shari'a Law
Jul 01, 2005; ... Radical Islam's Rules: The Worldwide Spread of Extreme Shari'a Law, ed. by Paul Marshall. Lanham, MD and Boulder, CO: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc., 2005. xix + 212 pages. Index to p. 224. Contribs. $85 cloth; $27.95 paper. The spread of an extreme and oppressive interpretation of ...