Two Women

I thought this movie was an amazing portrayal of the entrapment faced by many women in the Middle East and the movie did an excellent job depicting the "taboo" subject of spousal abuse in the Middle East. It was really interesting to see the relationship of Roya and Fereshteh develop and how the two women coped with different aspects of their culture. The series of flashbacks added depth to the video. We notice from the beginning the movie the differences between Roya and Fereshteh. Roya is well off and Feresteh is smart and beautiful. Feresteh is adored by many suitors and situations become threatening when one in particular who stalks her with a knife and acid. Due to the problematic situations that occurred while Feresteh was at the University, she was forced to go back home and was also forced into a marriage that she was a fan of. Fereshteh's marriage was anything but a fairytale. Her husband was controlling and manipulative. Feresteh lost all respect for herself and found herself stuck at home with no means of communication. Her only hidden pleasure was her books that she had to keep from her husband. The couple could not hold a conversation without fighting and matters became so bad that her husband ran them off the road in a heat argument while they had their new baby in the car with them. While her husband was away, Feresteh would encourage her boys to read, however once her husband found out, he was outraged. He wanted to have complete control of Feresteh which meant not letting her further her education by any means. Feresteh could not stand the confinements under which she was held and was forced to flee. Little did she know that her old stalker was waiting for his revenge. It an effort to protect his wife, Feresteh's husband ran to her defense only to be left in critical condition which ultimately led to his death. Feresteh did not know what or how to react to the situation. You could sense her relief yet she was terrified for her children's future. However not once did she show remorse to her dead husband. She questioned whether or not she really loved him but she did not feel sorrow for him. She felt more sorrow for herself that she was going to have to manage on her own. The movie ended with Feresteh contemplating different scenarios for her life. But how was she going to manage? How was she going to live for herself and for her children after being confined for so long? The movie left you wondering and that's what a truly liked about it.

Guest Speakers

Gulnar’s visit to our class was very informative. It was amazing to see how much see knew about the Quran and women’s roles in it. One part of Gulnar’s presentation that really stuck out in my mind was when she took the words “Rahman” and “Raheem” and related them to the word “womb”. It put in perspective how the Islamic culture cannot be anti female. Pre-Islamic social culture did include the mistreating of women and women faced intense discrimination, but however now women are viewed as equal. Now women have many right’s including educational rights, economic rights, marital rights, social rights and political rights. Gulnar also gave examples of the notable Muslim women in the Middle East. I never realized that the Hijab (head scarf) that are worn my women in the Middle East is never mentioned in the Quran, therefore it is not necessarily a part of their religion but more a part of their culture. The concept of the Hijab is really interesting to me. To Gulnar, it represented modesty, morality, and respect. I was really interested in the story about her daughter just up and wearing the Hijab one day. It shows the importance of the Higab to other people. When Dr. Webb’s other guest came in, it was really cool to see the other side of some things. She had a different perspective about the Hijab and that was refreshing. Both women stressed how times have changed and with time, so have their home lands. Both women were very proud in their culture and it was a nice to see their perspectives.

Dr. Mirzeler's visit

It was amazing having Dr. Mirzeler come to our class. Not only did he shed light on the novel, Memed, My Hawk, but he gave us an amazing picture of his home land. The most interesting thing that I gained from Dr. Mirzeler’s visit to our class was his story on honor killing and how it affected his family. When he was younger, he was almost forced to kill his older sister because she dishonored her family. Luckily Dr. Mirzeler is still able to keep in touch with her and the rest of his family. I was surprised that he was so open to talk about the situation with us. Like he mentioned, family honor is one of the most important aspects of his culture and when that honor is disgraced, methods must be taken. I have to wonder what Dr. Mirzeler’s sister thinks about the situation now and how it has affected her. Dr. Mirzeler mentioned that his family was able to “marry away” his sister before they had to take measures. How did she feel about that decision? Did she know the man? Is she happy now? I wish Dr. Mirzeler was able to stay longer because I know out class could have had an amazing discussion with him. Dr. Mirzeler’s visit was really insightful and a wonderful treat.

Women's Rights

Why is it acceptable for a Christian to wear a scarf but not acceptable for a Muslim woman to wear a head scarf? 99 percent of the Turkish population is Muslim, yet it is against the law for head scarves to be worn. However if women wear their scarves has a grandma would wear it then it’s perfectly fine. Is it fair that women are not allowed to graduate id they wear their scarf? Is it fair that they can even be imprisoned? To many women, the head scarf is considered part of their culture. In the movie, we saw how the effects of the law can take on one’s entire life. An intelligent woman left Turkey to escape the torment she received for wearing her head scarf, yet when she reached the United States, matters didn’t get much better. This woman graduated from an outstanding university and was even elected into office, however once she took the stand, she was booed to leave. How dehumanize can some people be? She was also stripped of her Turkish citizenship. Women’s rights have been an ongoing battle in societies all over the world. The head scarf was banned to increase equality for women. Isn’t it hypocritical then to tell a woman not to wear something she is proud of wearing? Watching this movie and the one concerning honor killing helped emphasize the hardships that are faced by women in Turkey.

Women on the Front Line: Turkey

I know we've talked a lot about honor killing in this class, but it wasn't until watching this movie that I realized how crazy and encourage it really is. When we first read Aunt Safiyya and the Monastery, we related the Bey's anger towards Harbi to honor killing, however when watching this movie, I was say it has nothing to do with that. The basis of honor killing is when the men of the family kill women in their family due to an act that was performed by the woman that dishonored the man. Let me emphasize how THE MEN KILL THE WOMEN! Never the other way around when in regards to honor killing. One story from the movie that really shocked me was how a father killed his one and a half month pregnant daughter and said it was because she had dishonored the family. 40 percent of men in Turkey still support this idea. It's not a myth or folklore; it's a major tragedy that is still occurring to this day. Now men who kill for honor are sentenced to life in jail, however men use to get away with these murders. Yet now the older members of the family will have the boys of the family perform the murders so the punishments will be lighter. Honor suicides are taking place now in replace of honor murders. The rise of suicides doubled from 2006 to 2007. However, disguising the murders as suicides defeat the purpose of honor killings. One thing that the movie mentioned that always surprised me was so they considered the men committing the murders and victims too. The men are under pressure from their society to main the honor of the family, and by killing the women who dishonored them, they are upholding the family name. If the men were not to kill the women, they could ultimately be raped by other members of the village or the men would be shunned. When the women are buried, they don’t receive a proper burial, and cinder blocks are used in replace of head stones. This whole concept blows my mind. Laws has been set in place to minimize these killings, however being that it is a part of the culture, will they ever terminate?

Short Stories

When comparing the two short stories, I personally liked The Lawsuit better. The younger wife seemed to resemble someone like a step mother and I thought it was interesting to see how she brought the lawsuit upon her own family. The situation in the story really reminded me of step families within our own county. One problem that I did have with the story was how dramatic it seemed. However it was a short story so I guess a lot had to be included in it to make it complete. I also would have liked to see what the verdict would have been in the case.
The second story, A Long-Term Plan, was filled with irony. A man in his 70’s was so use to using other people for their wealth, especially his mother’s, becomes an overnight millionaire and after making plans for what he is going to do with his money, he slips into a food coma. He had lived his whole life doing absolutely nothing to benefit others. Karma? Both stories by Naguib Mahfouz were interesting.

Gold Dust

At the heart of Gold Dust is the relationship between Ukhayyad, son of a tribal chieftain, and his beloved piebald thoroughbred Mahri camel. The relationship is both a physical interdependency and a spiritual communion. At times the camel seems to be a projection of Ukhayyad.
A tribal sheikh tells Ukhayyad:
"We always say that the Mahri is the mirror of his rider. If you want to stare into the rider and see what lies hidden within, look to his mount, his thoroughbred . . . Whoever owns a Mahri like this piebald will never complain for want of noble values."
Ukhayyad would do anything for his camel and we witness this when he almost dies himself when trying to cure the camel’s mange: "Flesh met flesh, blood mixed with blood. In the past they had been merely friends. Today, they had been joined by a much stronger tie."
Ukhayyad has an innocence about him. He does not understand all the rules of the desert culture and tends to be blind to the deviousness of others. His father had wanted him to marry his first cousin so that Ukhayyad rather than one of his father's nephews would inherit leadership of the tribe. But Ukhayaad married instead the beautiful songstress Ayur, a refugee from the drought-stricken south. His father's curse "Marry her and be damned!" lies like a shadow over him. Ukhayyad also sees himself to be cursed because he failed to keep his promise to sacrifice a fat camel at the desert shrine of the ancients where he had prayed for his camel's recovery from mange.
The novel is set at a time when life for the desert dwellers is precarious. In the north there is fighting with the Italians while in the south there is severe famine (at one point a starving Ukayyad cooks and eats his leather sandal). Ukhayyad's alienation from his tribe may seem like freedom, but it leaves him vulnerable to exploitation.
When Ayur's rich trader relative Dudu arrives from the south, Ukhayyad is manipulated into pawning his camel to him. Dudu then makes the return of the skinny and deteriorating camel to Ukhayyad conditional on his divorcing Ayur who, Ukhayyad learns, Dudu had wanted to marry himself.
Matters escalate and Ukhayyad is virtually forced by the shame of his circumstances into becoming a vengeful murderer.
The group in Tuesday’s class did an excellent job getting us to really take a deep look inside the details of this book. I hadn’t really thought much of the book until the group had us answer specific questions to the plot. In general I thought the book was interesting. Not one of my favorites but a pretty good read.

Children Literature

Reading a children’s book now that I’m not a child has made me realize the underlying meanings of the story and how they are “secretly” portraying messages to the youth. It reminds me of when we discussed Aladdin in class and how someone can interpret so much from a work that was meant for a child. One thing I notice about the first book we read was that it played on the notion of sounds a lot. For example, the sound of the child’s own name became a sort of music. Color was obviously also used a lot but I feel that’s apparent in almost every children’s work.

The chores that the child did throughout the story, such as lugging around eight gallon barrels of oil, seemed like chores that should have been completed by someone of a much older age, however the age of the child is never specified so I just I can’t accurately make that assumption.

The idea of the secret throughout the story kept the reader’s attention. What could this secret be? Once you found out the secret it was sort of unsatisfying until you put yourself in the child’s shoes. Writing his own name seemed like the biggest accomplishment he has ever performed. We learn to write our names in pre-school/kindergarten; however for the child in the story, it was so out of his routine.

The publisher and the author of both books are Americans. When looking at the pictures in the story, you have to wonder if the pictures are accurate to life in modern day Cairo or if the view we received was a tourist edition. I might be jumping out of the box by saying this, but is this a depiction of Arab Land?

The books had two very separate realities depicted. The second story was a observation of a war torn society and the views of the little boy. In class a good comparison was made between the little boy’s sand castle and what was once his home.

I thought it was a good idea for the group to introduce Middle Eastern children’s literature to the class. It helps us look at the society as a whole, children included.

War in the Land of Egypt

I want to start off by saying that I really enjoyed the different perspectives of the characters in the novel. Each character was of different importance to the story yet they all seemed to be interrelated. I sympathized mostly with Masri even though he didn’t get his own chapter in the book. He was burden with the pain of his family and the corruption of the government. Although we didn’t hear directly from him, I found he held a majority of my attention. I believe that Masri not getting his own chapter is very symbolic. Masri didn’t receive a choice for a majority of the things that have happened to him in life.

As Ashley’s teacher pointed out, the novel was talking about how corrupt Egypt is and the small wars that are fought there every day by the people of Egypt against the government, higher officials, or mayors; not directly about the war. Speaking of Ashley’s professor, hearing about his stories straight from someone who experienced stuff that we have been reading about makes what is happening in the Middle East all the more real. The novels we have read have all been phenomenal and have gave us a new perspective of the Middle East but hearing it from Dr. Mughazy made the events we have learned that more realistic. It’s weird to think that although real people have experienced what the characters in A War in the Land of Egypt have experience, we still few their accounts as just stories.

Kalamazoo Islamic Center

Being truthfully honest, I never would have taken a trip to the Kalamazoo Islamic Center by myself so I was extremely happy that we went as a class. I was amazed at how the Imam seemed as if he could talk for days about his religion and what the KIC represents. It was really neat to hear a little about him as well. I was surprised to learn that in order to become an Imam, one of the tasks he had to complete was the memorization of the Koran. Not just reading it, but MEMORIZING it!

It's really cool to see that they're expanding the KIC too! They're adding in so many classrooms and a whole new social area which looks beautiful. The Mosque was way bigger than I expected. I also didn’t know that the Mosques owned many of the buildings around it. I was surprised to learn about the separate women and men entrances and how they pray in separate rooms. It made sense once the Imam put it into perspective.

The Imam made many connections between Christianity and Islam. He didn’t try and push his religion onto us. He just made us aware of what others believed in. I was surprised to see the religious tolerance the Imam possessed.

Going to the KIC was an amazing experience and I suggest that EVERYONE should go.

Info about Mosques

I’m excited to go to the Mosque tomorrow for class so I just wanted to do a little research on Mosques in America.
-A mosque is defined for the purpose of this Study to be an organization that holds Jum`ah Prayers (Friday Prayers) and other Islamic activities.
-Mosques are relatively young: 30% of all mosques were established in the 1990s and 32% were started in the 1980s.
-4/5 of mosques are located in a metropolitan (urban or suburban) area, most often a city neighborhood.
-At the average mosque, 33% of members are South Asian, 30% are African American, and a quarter 25% are Arab. More than 20% of mosques have full-time schools.
- Almost 70% of mosques provide some type of assistance for the needy.
-Mosques are not staffed well.
-The majority (55%) of mosques have no paid full-time staff. Only 10% have more than two paid staff.
In conclusion, Mosques are welcoming and generous. Their services are voluntary and they are non-judgmental.

An imam (Arabic: إمام plural ائمة A'immah‎, Persian: امام) is an Islamic leadership position, often the leader of a mosque and the community. Similar to spiritual leaders, the imam is the one who leads the prayer during Islamic gatherings. More often, the community turns to the mosque imam if they have an Islamic question. In smaller communities an imam could be the community leader based on the community setting.

I hope that this gives a little more insight as to what a Mosque is!

I got my info from a document called :
The Mosque in America: A National PortraitA Report from the Mosque Study Project
and:
Wikipedia

The Road to Love...

The main objective of this film is to portray the identity issues that are not only faced my Middle Easterners, but by everyone. We clearly see that the main character, Karim is unsure as to sexuality. He begins a documentary/study that he claims is to just broaden his views in sociology, but we realize that his unconscious is leading the study. Karim is interested in knowing more about the aspects of homosexuality. He’s curious as to the background of it and its role in his culture. Karim doesn’t intend to leave his “girlfriend” for his lover, Farid. He doesn’t start the study as an excuse to “come out”. His unconscious mind reveals his underlying identity. The fact that the main language spoken was French alludes to sexuality discovery as a universal thing. This movie was an amazing choice by the Arab group. It shows that problems faced by many Americans are also faced by Middle Easterners. This movie is a great way to show the similarity between the American and Arabic society. Even issues such as sex before marriage were addressed in the film. Although I was a huge fan of the film, I did have a few points of dislike. One thing that I wasn’t a fan of was the impression of “associating with homosexuals makes you become homosexual”. I do not believe that fact what so ever and I’m not saying whatsoever that the movie was alluding to this; however it might be taken out of context and interpreted this way. I never realized how far back homosexuality in the Middle East was dated. Another thing that surprised me was the fact that sex between men was permitted before marriage in the past while sex with women before marriage was frowned upon. Without viewing this movie, things pertaining to homosexuality in the Middle East would have never crossed my mind. Again, great job and courage to Andrew and the rest of the Arab group for presenting a touchy yet informing subject.

"Don't be loyal to Oil"

The United States is completely dependent on the Middle East for petroleum. The Centcom (Central command center of the Middle East) mission is to protect the 711 billion barrels of oil (2/3 of world oil reserves) found in the main 5 oil producing countries in the Middle East. “The oil resources [of the Middle East] constitute a stupendous source of strategic power, and one of the greatest material prizes in world history” (U.S State Department memo August 1945). The U.S is in short supply of their oil reserves. Primarily this is because the U.S used 1/3 of its oil reserves during World War II. Power is related to oil. We know that the Middle East has such power and it’s intimidating. Our alliance with Saudi Arabia is a necessity. Many of our previous presidents have signed and establish doctrines which have been made to ensure our petroleum protection. The Bush administration even introduced weapons of mass destruction into the “petroleum power” scene. It's as if history is almost repeating it's self. Many elements behind the “petroleum power” surge are kept from the American public. When the Democracy is doing things in secrecy, how do we know if they’re doing the will of the people? This documentary is biased to all extent. It describes Americans as greedy and harsh. But is it creditable? Although he makes valid points, what is he leaving out? There are many extreme points and he backs them up with extreme visual images, but are these images relative? The author of this documentary is describing a fallacy. However is it really that crazy that we're fighting a war for oil? For power? Oil is everything in America. In conclusion: I'm more than confused and sorry this blog is somewhat random.

Promises are Always Broken

I was completely shocked to read how different this novel was from Aunt Safiyya and the Monastery. The setting was the main reason for this.
Jassim and Salwa own a beautiful house in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Jassim drives a Mercedes, and Salwa makes enough money to send large sums to help her Palestinian family in Jordan. To all outside appearances, Jassim and Salwa seem to have captured the American dream. In spite of all the outward success, they find an emptiness at the heart of their relationship. Jassim seeks “balance” through his routine of swimming at the Olympic-sized swimming pool at the Fitness Bar. Salwa goes to the mall to add to her overabundant collection of expensive lingerie. Unfulfilled in spite of the comforts and luxuries of their American life, they lie to each other and so worsen their alienation from one another.
The September 11th attacks only make matters worse in terms of Jassim’s and Salwa’s relationship. Their Arab, Muslim background seems to automatically render them suspect in the eyes of people around them. As they i become the objects of distrust and fear, the couple is forced to confront the breakdown of their material status.
Ironically, it is the very breakdown of their dreams that compels the two to seek more from their lives. Only when they move beyond the false protectiveness of their manicured homes and professional jobs do they find connections with other Americans for whom the promise of a happy ending seems equally unattainable.
Pain, loss and sorrow, Halaby suggests, are the links that bind humanity together, bridging differences across class, culture and religion. At the same time, however, she also hints that those bridges are fragile and that for some, like her protagonists, healing can only come after a return home from the seductions and false allure of the promised land. In Halaby’s novel, “wishes don’t come true for Arabs in America” (p. 184), at least not after 9/11.
In some ways, Halaby offers a bleak picture of being Arab in America in the aftermath of September 11th. Her characters seem to stagger toward their destruction, seemingly without control over lives. At times, they even appear somewhat flat, seeming to serve a functional rather than an intrinsically meaningful purpose in the narrative.

The relationship between the Middle East and the West

Before I examine the average life of a Middle Easterner in the West, I wanted to expand on the relationship between the Middle East and the West. The Middle East and the West have had a troubled history. If you follow the link I provided, it will give you an idea of how long feuds between the two societies have been going on. We are aware of the tension between the East and the West and that is where most of out focus lies. Why can't we focus on the improvements being made on the relationship between the East and West? I found a great website that shows how the conflict between the East and the West can provide us with great insight:

"The impact of 11 September on the relationship between the West and the Middle East has not been all negative. The crisis has focused Western minds on the deeply problematic and stagnated nature of politics in the region. It has encouraged some thinking towards differentiating between interpretations of Islam. It has sown doubt in Western minds about Western policies and how they are received in the non-Western world. On the part of the Middle East too, 11 September intensified debate about what Islam is and who can speak on its behalf. It also led to some debate about who 'the West' is and what its role should be in the Middle East. If these benign outcomes are not marginalised in the longer term, they may provide some light at the end of the tunnel for the relationship between the West and the Middle East, and thereby benefit the future course of world politics." (Katerina Dalacoura:The Middle East and the West: Misunderstandings and Stereotypes).

Think of the diversities Middle Easterners who live in the West are facing. They are constantly being judge; not for their actions, but for what their country represents. More precisely, for what we feel their country represents.

To get a better understanding of the Middle East in the West, I'm reading Once in a Promised Land. It's a story about a young couple, Jassim and Salwa, who leave their home in Palestine and move to Arizona. Off to a slow start but I will definitely keep you guys updated.

OUT with the Old...IN with the New

The reader sees not only the agony of the traditional revenge cycle that threatens the community, but the tensions between the monastery and the village, between the village and the “modern world” of Luxor where tourists swarm to see the ancient monuments, as well as the tensions between the old ways and the new. At the beginning of the story transportation is by horse drawn vehicle; at the end by motor car. At the beginning, both the monks and the villagers love and tolerate Bishai who’s not quite normal, but at the end he’s driven off to a mental hospital instead of being allowed to end his days in his hut on the monastery grounds, driven off at least in some dignity in the old horse drawn carriage. The monks are also no longer local men and are more serious scholars who ignore the village. Other old versus new tensions involve that between the current changing society and the ancient one that makes the area so attractive to tourists from all over the world as well as the tension between Egypt and its Arab neighbors when the Sinai is given back by Israeli as a result of a treaty negotiated by the US. There’s even the tension resulting from increasing crime.

RESPECT

While reading Aunt Safiyya and the Monastery, you begin to realize that the customs of the Middle East are greatly valued and respected by the villagers. Everyone has a purpose in the village and everyone works together to achieve harmony. Their religion and their beliefs are their motivators. Everything they do is done with respect for their fellow neighbors and relatives. They treat each other like they would treat a close family member. It seems as if everyone is born into a class, however since everyone is related in some form or another, there seems to be no vendettas or aggression amongst the classes. That is until the murder of the Bey. Yet even then Harbi is still loved and respected by most. It’s evident that pride is what holds together the village. This is how the structure is maintained. Harbi’s and the Bey’s actions took a toll of every member of the village. Fear for what would happen to the unity of the village grew apparent. Protection never seemed like an issue in the village until Faris entered the village with his men. Harbi would not enter his own town without the assistance of Faris and the guard, although he was one of the most respected men of the village. Harbi changed after his time in prison. He was not the same man that he had been when the Bey was alive. A piece of Harbi left the earth when the Bey did. But none the less, Harbi still respected his village.

Sara made a good point in class: This setting is stereotypical. Everything that has happened thus far has been expected and is what the reader is use to experience when learning about the Middle East. The women do the house work, a girl getting a full education is frowned upon, and villages are very close, and so on. Although these stereotypes aren’t negative, I haven’t really learned anything new about the Middle Eastern culture while reading this.

Islamaphobia?

Its ironic how many Americans are naive and uneducated about the Middle East however it’s Hollywood that portrays Middle Easterners as the incompetent ones. Hollywood is constantly depicting Arabs as the "villain". To many Americans, they're either invisible or terrorists. The main reason that these images are imprinted on us is due to the media's persuasion through film. However we can't blame the media completely because "Hollywood and Washington stem from the same DNA" like mentioned in the short film, Reel Bad Arabs. There are too many Americans that know absolutely nothing about the Middle East. I was never truly educated on their culture, even after 9/11. To expand of this thought, let’s focus on the women of the Middle East. When I picture an Arabian woman, I imagine either a belly dancer or a woman covered head to toe in cloth. From a young age this image has been imprinted on me. Take the movie Aladdin for instance. When Jasmine is in the comfort of her palace, she is dressed is a short top that some could say is a bra and loose pants. Her stomach is completely exposed. However what she ventures to the village, she is draped in cloth with only her face exposed. And to find all of this in a children’s movie! It seems as if Hollywood finds Middle Eastern women to be locked in the past when in reality, they are advancing. I found it interesting that the film Reel Bad Arabs showed multiple clips of Middle Eastern women as “the bad guys”. Is that how Hollywood thinks women of the Middle East are advancing? Where do we get these images from? It was mentioned in the film that we inherited these images from Europeans. But how can you inherit an image? More importantly, how can you believe something to such an intense extent when you haven’t seen it first hand? I know very little about the Middle East yet from what I have seen, I have been able to create an elaborate image of what I imagine it to be like. Maybe it’s only a matter of time until change. Yet maybe this cycle is too advanced for change.