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.