Meanwhile in Iran…
Ninjutsu is considered to be one of the deadliest forms of martial arts in the world. But this doesn’t deter the 3,500 odd Iranian women who are currently receiving official training in the sport.
Tell them Muslim women are oppressed. I dare you.
— Nadia El Awady
— Samhita dropping knowledge at Feministing about the ban on face veils in France.
— Mohja Kahf, “Muslim Women Rule and Other Little-Known Facts”
— Noam Chomsky (via fuckyeahchomsky)
Well I won’t pretend to be an expert on all Middle Eastern politics- I mostly focus only on the Israel/Palestine conflict.
However, I feel like you’re under the impression that the Middle Eastern region is inherently a violent place, and that’s not true. From what I’ve read, the U.S. and Britain both have a much greater violent history of imperialism and colonization. The problem is that the “Western” history of bloodshed is repeatedly whitewashed while the violence and brutality in the Middle East is repeatedly emphasized by the media as it is used to justify Western imposition, intervention, and global hegemony; all of which usually aims to control natural resources, energy being one of the most prominent issues.
Furthermore, the “Middle East” isn’t one monotonous area, the different countries all have their own complex and lond winding histories. So I’m afraid you’d have to read about each one separately and read quite a lot to be well versed in the entire region XP
If we’re going to speak (very) broadly, there are many key reasons to look into that have factored greatly in the shaping of the Middle East. Firstly, the British made a great mess of things pretty much worldwide before finally leaving countries alone in a scattered mess. And Western intervention in Middle Eastern affairs didn’t just disappear after that (see Iran, where the US and UK instigated a coup to overthrow the democratically elected government and replace it with an authoritarian one). Then there are of course religious conflicts, for example the Sunni-Shia dynamic has a great role due to the large number of Muslims in the area. There’s been widespread corruption, with dictators who’ve generally been backed and propped up by the U.S. since they’ll sacrifice the good of their own people for Western interests as long as they themselves get to keep money and power. But again, this is extremely generally speaking because each country is very different from the next.
Okay now I’ve rambled on for long enough I should probably get to your question about book suggestions (sorry!).
For starters, I’ve made a list of book suggestions regarding Palestine here.
I’d also recommend Good Muslim, Bad Muslim: America, the Cold War, and the Roots of Terror by Mahmood Mamdani as it provides a lot of insight regarding “cold war-era American complicity in the turbulence of the Muslim world through the waging of proxy wars […] Those familiar with Noam Chomsky’s recent work will likely find some of Mamdani’s arguments familiar, particularly his discussion of imperialistic political violence, racism, and the modern state. Where Mamdani is unique and particularly compelling, however, is in drawing on his African-studies background to back up his assertions about violence, terrorism and Islam.” It’s not focused explicitly on the Middle East but the ideas he discusses go a long way towards helping understand the violence in the Middle East that you mentioned.
I would also suggest checking out books personally recommended by Noam Chomsky on the Middle East. Just scroll down the list to the Middle East section (it’s alphabetical, the Terrorism and US Foreign Policy sections are also relevant). I don’t think you can ever go wrong with Chomsky ;)
And I still cannot stress how limiting it is to try to group the Middle East together- Saudi Arabia has a different history, Iran has a different history, Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, etc. etc. Sure they intermingle here and there but you have to keep in mind that these countries have different cultures, traditions, histories, religious and ethnic dynamics- the prevailing view of the “Middle East” or the “Arab World” as one entity is extremely oversimplified and an obstacle when it comes to true understanding of the region. I honestly think you’re better off trying to read about individual countries and asking for books specifically on those. If you tell me about one of particular interest, I’ll do my best to help (without rambling next time, I promise!) or I’ll point you to one of many other great bloggers on here with better knowledge on whatever subject you’re interested in :)
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Shaker Aamer has been detained in Guantanamo for the past ten years without committing a single offence. “Fears are growing for the welfare of Mr Aamer, from south London, who is now 45 and has a wife and four children. He has never met his youngest son. His lawyers are particularly concerned by the deterioration of his mental and physical state, which Mr Aamer describes vividly in his letters. He has lost 40 per cent of his body weight and is suffering from health problems, aggravated by long periods in solitary confinement.” In one of his letters, Shaker writes to his loved one:
You are the soul of my life. You are the best of my heart. You are the light of my eyes. You are the oxygen in my lungs, you are the sun on my back, the sweetest taste of my mouth you are everything you are everything I need to live, to love, to be… Do you know how much you are important for my life. If you break I will break, if you become weak I will become weak and if you go I will go. You are my soul twin. I need you to be strong.
Ten agonizing, brutal years without justice conveniently labelled as “interrogation” and “safety measures” by the government of USA. I’m speechless. (via mehreenkasana)
So this is what I do in math class.
The idea that randomly wormed its way into my head is basically this; that if we didn’t believe in an afterlife, or second or third lives, we would never let injustice go as far as we do now. We would take to the streets and fight tooth and nail because this is all we we’ll ever have and this life right here is what we have to make the most of. The idea of an afterlife keeps people sedated, just put up with whatever’s thrown your way in this life because after all there’s a “perfect”, eternal life waiting for you. Grit your teeth and try to stay comfortable as possible where you are, there’s no point in bringing on even more hardship on yourself trying to “fight the system” when it’s temporary anyway.
Yeah the injustice is horrible but the people perpetrating the injustice will be punished “in the end” after all. I think the idea of divine justice carried out at the end of time by an almighty God (Allah, Jehova, whatever you call Him) plays a huge role in the amount of tolerance of injustice people have. It is human nature to want fairness, have you noticed how kids will make a fuss about the tiniest imbalance of scales but as we grow older we’re told more and more to “let it go”? We suppress our rage, we suppress the restlessness that is a result of oppression, and we suppress it because God’s gonna make up for everything later. Just stay put now. And if we don’t directly suffer ourselves, we feel as if though our “duty” against injustice to others in humanity is lifted off our shoulders because, again, God’s going to put them in Paradise for their suffering and those who made them suffer shall go to Hell.
Can you imagine, just for a second, if everyone suddenly stopped believing in religion? I don’t think anyone would be able to “tolerate” unfairness anymore, or just settle for “comfortable as possible” throughout this life. No one would yield to the the tyrants because why the fuck would you let them take the only thing you’ll ever have? And I think people’s need for justice would propel them to go after the few making life for the majority hell and make sure they suffer. It wouldn’t be pretty.
Now I’m not saying religion itself teaches us to be docile in the face of oppression, in fact many teach the opposite. Many religions preach the importance of justice and fairness and the right to fight for what is yours. But as the reality of the world is that many injustices go unanswered for and there is suffering caused by nature not just man, religion promises us compensation for these and I think that that has the negative side-effect of people becoming complacent. And I don’t just think that it’s the “idea” of an afterlife and divine justice that keep people down but also the fact that religious leaders teach you prayer > action. Worship the dogma, forget the principles. Pray to God that your injustices will be forgiven and those that are unjust to you will be punished. Instead of trying to eradicate wrong in this life, let’s let it be answered for in the next. Which, I think, is all completely bullshit, if religion preaches against injustice, and you truly believe in that religion, then should you not be trying your damn hardest to be true to the principles of your religion and fight against the oppression? I think the reason religious authority always conveniently leaves that part out is because then you might become a threat to their very own authority. It is the people in power, religious as well as political, that need to subjugate to keep their higher standing. If people were to realize that perhaps we need religious education and principle more than religious authority and dogma then maybe we’d overthrow those who garner power and wealth hypocritically under the banner of God.
Finally I understand that there are other things that keep people complacent; entertainment, materialism, hopelessness etc. etc. but I honestly think this underlying belief of something better later is a huge factor that keeps people in inaction. This was just me rambling about it from one viewpoint, what are your thoughts?
MORE BOOKS from Pakistan :D
LOL according to this site Reform Judaism and Sikhism are pretty much the exact same thing…?
At first I was confused as to why Islam wasn’t on the list and I had a feeling it had to do with interpretation on issues like abortion (since I mentioned I was pro-choice) so I went and checked their description of Islam and I was right (bottom picture) -_-” Way to twist faith with the cultural beliefs of the majority of followers. “Gender roles are prescribed” Bahh.
On a different note; Daisy teach me about Judaism!
Here’s to hoping I can actually find all of these. *still wishing I could get the one on Jinnah from Amazon but it’s freaking $500*
