Reviews

Book review: A Palestinian century in a poet's life

Mya Guarnieri 19 November 2009


My Happiness Bears No Relation to Happiness bills itself as “A Poet’s Life in the Palestinian Century.” To better understand Adina Hoffman’s biography of the Palestinian poet Taha Muhammad Ali, however, consider it: “A Palestinian Century in a Poet’s Life.” But this syntactical slip doesn’t discredit Hoffman’s work. By deftly stacking shattered recollections atop dusty stones of history Hoffman has built a literary landmark — not only is My Happiness the first English-language biography of a Palestinian writer, it offers an evocative biography of pre-1948 Palestine. Mya Guarnieri reviews for The Electronic Intifada. 

Book review: "A World I Loved"

Matthew Cassel 4 November 2009


“This is my story, the story of an Arab woman,” Wadad Makdisi Cortas states in the opening line of her memoir A World I Loved. Born Wadad Makdisi in Beirut in 1909, which at that time was considered a part of Syria, she discovered Arab nationalism at a young age and lived a life true to the idea in every sense. Cortas believed passionately that Arabs, in order to protect their culture and values, should liberate themselves from Western colonialism which sought to impose its ways and divide the people. Matthew Cassel reviews for The Electronic Intifada. 

Book review: How aid hurt Palestine

Ali Abunimah 26 October 2009


International relations specialist Anne Le More’s first monograph, International Assistance to the Palestinians after Oslo, the first in Routledge’s Studies on the Arab-Israeli Conflict series, provides an important critique of the belief that reconstruction, development and humanitarian aid form essential counterparts to political processes aimed at resolving longstanding violent conflicts. Ali Abunimah reviews. 

Book review: Juan Cole's "Engaging the Muslim World"

Muhammad Idrees Ahmad 19 October 2009


In his timely and insightful new book, Engaging the Muslim World, University of Michigan professor Juan Cole debunks prevailing myths and presents a set of compelling policy prescriptions that aim to encourage dialogue and defuse hostilities. However, while he convincingly addresses the questions of knowledge, he leaves issues of power largely unexamined. Muhammad Idrees Ahmad reviews for The Electronic Intifada. 

Book review: Palestinian views on suicide operations

Asa Winstanley 13 October 2009


In his new book The Making of a Human Bomb: An Ethnography of Palestinian Resistance, Nasser Abufarha examines the phenomena of Palestinian suicide operations. It is based on extensive fieldwork conducted in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, mostly in and around the northern town of Jenin. A native of the city, Abufarha interviewed families of suicide bombers, observed demonstrations and studied Palestinian cultural products that addressed suicide attacks. Asa Winstanley reviews for The Electronic Intifada. 

Review: Darwish, between the national and the human

Raymond Deane 5 October 2009


“All beautiful poetry,” wrote the late Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish, “is an act of resistance.”. At a time when the US unconditionally backs Israel’s war against the Palestinians, and when everyone agrees that books are on their way out, two new, beautifully produced translated collections of Darwish’s work from independent American publishers are real acts of resistance. Raymond Deane reviews for The Electronic Intifada. 

Review: Gannit Ankori's "Palestinian Art"

Maymanah Farhat 2 October 2009


In 2006 Israeli art historian Gannit Ankori published Palestinian Art (Reaktion Books LTD, London), a 200-plus page text that attempts to “emphasize the broad range and richness that characterize Palestinian art, as well as its specific manifestations and individual narratives. Maymanah Farhat writes for The Electronic Intifada, the first in a series reviewing recent surveys of Palestinian art.