"American foreign policy has become a liability to Americans," said political scientist Walid Kazziha of the American University in Cairo. "It has come out of its den and wreaks havoc all over the world, then Americans sit back and say, "My God, Why don't people like us?'"
--Root of hate in the Arab world, by Larry Kaplow and Jeff Nesmith. Seattle Post Intelligencer, Sept. 13, 2001, A4.
This question was asked over and over, phrased in many ways. Some factors that immediately sprang into the news were: Islam, Middle Eastern culture v.s. U.S. culture, Arabs, and good versus evil. Sept. 11 was particularly shocking to many Americans, in that the United States has generally been represented in the U.S. media as the apex of democracy, freedom, a high standard of living, and a willingness to share with other countries. No web page can fully explicate the factors leading up to Sept. 11. It is certainly not possibly to provide solutions.
In a speech on September 25, 2001, (http://www.house.gov/paul/congrec/congrec2001/cr092501.htm)U.S. Congressman Ron Paul stated,
"In studying history, I, as many others, have come to the
conclusion that war is most often fought for economic reasons. But economic wars are driven by moral and emotional overtones."
The following sites will set out some major experiences that might cause other parts of the world to build up strong emotional and moral reactions. This does not excuse terrorism nor have most individuals turned to terrorism. It will also list some Middle Eastern and European Muslim newspapers that give more in-depth coverage to Middle Eastern conditions than some international newspapers can afford to.
IRAQ
Putting aside the moral values of the invasion of Kuwait, the defeat of Iraq, and Saddam Hussein's weapons and weapons testing policies, Iraq's populace is living with the results of sanctions. The effects of personal tragedies on most of the population and of resulting media coverage throughout other Arab and Muslim countries have a strong emotional effect.
Website
International Action Center
http://www.iacenter.org Information on the effects of sanctions against Iraq on the Iraqi populace. The organization was founded by Ramsey Clark, Former U.S. Attorney General.
PALESTINE AND ISRAEL
Both the Palestinians and the Israelis have valid problems. Whichever side one takes, and both sides can be argued, experiences as stressful as the September 11 terrorist attack have been a common experience for the local populace. These events have been regularly reported in the Middle Eastern media and throughout the Muslim world since 1948.
Books
To Find Location of a Book, Please Check the Catalog
Bickerton, Ian J
A concise history of the Arab-Israeli conflict / Ian J. Bickerton, Carla L. Klausner. 2nd ed. Englewood Cliffs, N.J. : Prentice Hall, 1995.
CALL #=DS119.7 .B49 1995
Cattan, Henry
The Palestine question / Henry Cattan. London : Saqi Books, 2000.
CALL #=DS119.7 .C379 2000
Flapan, Simha
The birth of Israel : myths and realities / Simha Flapan. 1st ed. New York : Pantheon Books, c1987.
CALL #=DS126.4 .F57 1987
Hadawi, Sami.
Bitter harvest : a modern history of Palestine / Sami Hadawi ; foreword by John H. Davis. New York : Olive Branch Press, 1979.
CALL #=DS119.7 .H3 1979. This work has been republished several times.
Hiro, Dilip
Sharing the promised land : an interwoven tale of Israelis and Palestinians / Dilip Hiro. London : Hodder & Stoughton, 1996.
CALL #=DS119.7 .H52 1996
John, Robert, 1921-
The Palestine diary, by Robert John [and] Sami Hadawi. With a foreword by Arnold J. Toynbee. New York, New World Press [1970- 2 v.
CALL #=DS126 .J55 1971; v.1-2
Karsh, Efraim
Fabricating Israeli history : the 'new historians' / Efraim Karsh. London ; Portland, OR : Cass, 1997.
CALL #=DS126.5 .K35 1997
Kass, Ilana
The deadly embrace : the impact of Israeli and Palestinian rejectionism on the peace process / Ilana Kass, Bard O'Neill. Fairfax, Va. : National Institute for Public Policy ; Lanham : University Press of America, c1997.
CALL #=DS119.7 .K2996 1997
Lesch, Ann Mosely
Origins and development of the Arab-Israeli conflict / Ann M. Lesch and Dan Tschirgi. Westport, Conn. : Greenwood Press, 1998.
CALL #=DS119.7 .L4665 1998
CALL #=DS119.7 .L4665 1998
CALL #=DS119.7 .L4665 1998
A License to kill : Israeli operations against "wanted" and masked Palestinians. New York : Human Rights Watch, c1993.
CALL #=JC599.I75 L53 1993
Masalha, Nur, 1957-
Expulsion of the Palestinians : the concept of "transfer" in Zionist political thought, 1882-1948 / Nur Masalha. Washington, D.C. : Institute for Palestine Studies, c1992.
CALL #=DS119.7 .M3139 1992
Masalha, Nur, 1957-
Imperial Israel and the Palestinians : the politics of expansion / Nur Masalha. London ; Sterling, Va. : Pluto Press, 2000.
CALL #=DS119.7 .M31395 2000
Morris, Benny, 1948-
The birth of the Palestinian refugee problem, 1947-1949 / Benny Morris. First paperback ed. Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 1989.
CALL #=HV640.5.A6 M67 1989
Morris, Benny, 1948-
Righteous victims : a history of the Zionist-Arab conflict, 1881-1999 / Benny Morris. 1st ed. New York : Knopf, 1999.
CALL #=DS119.7 .M657 1999
Pappe, Ilan
The making of the Arab-Israeli conflict, 1947-1951 / Ilan Pappe. London ; New York : Tauris, 1992.
CALL #=DS126.92 .P36 1992
Prior, Michael (Michael P.)
Zionism and the state of Israel : a moral inquiry / Michael Prior. London ; New York : Routledge, 1999.
CALL #=DS149 .P74 1999
Rejwan, Nissim
Israel's place in the Middle East : a pluralist perspective / Nissim Rejwan. Gainesville : University Press of Florida, c1998.
CALL #=DS119.7 .R374 1998
Rouyer, Alwyn R. (Alwyn Rudolf)
Turning water into politics : the water issue in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict / Alwyn R. Rouyer. New York : St. Martin's Press, 2000.
CALL #=HD1698.J58 R68 2000
Segev, Tom, 1945-
1949, the first Israelis / Tom Segev ; Arlen Neal Weinstein, English language editor. 1st Owl books ed. New York : Henry Holt, 1998.
CALL #=DS126.5 .S41513 1998
CALL #=DS126.5 .S39413 1986 (currently on reserve)
Sherman, Martin, 1947-
The politics of water in the Middle East : an Israeli perspective on the hydro-political aspects of the conflict / Martin Sherman. Houndmills, Basingstoke : Macmillan Press ; New York : St. Martin's Press, 1999.
CALL #=HD1698.I75 S53 1999
Weissbrod, Lilly, 1929-
Arab relations with Jewish immigrants and Israel, 1891-1991 : the hundred year's conflict / Lilly Weissbrod. Lewiston : E. Mellen Press, c1992.
CALL #=DS119.7 .W456 1992
CALL #=DS119.7 .W456 1992
Listserves
Try subscribing to Israel Line and one of the Palestinian listserves. Messages from both services about the same events will be sent to subscribers within hours of each other. A clear picture of the difference in viewpoints and the two sides' respective methods of appealing to the international community soon become clear. The emotional impact of current events on individuals also stands out.
Israel Line
Sign up or read the web version at:
Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs
http://www.israel.org/mfa/home.asp
Palestine Net Listserve
Subscribe at: palestine-net-subscribe@eGroups.com Palestine Net distributes reports from Law, the Palestinian Society for Human Rights the Environment; from NGOs; from Christian Human Rights organizations, etc., plus responses from members of the academic community.
Palestinian Development InfoNet and Palestinian Refugee ResearchNet
Both services can be reached at:
http://www.arts.mcgill.ca/MEPP/meppsearch.html#listserv
Palestinian Development InfoNet
http://www.arts.mcgill.ca/MEPP/PDIN/pdfront.html
Permanent Observer Mission of Palestine to the United Nations
http://www.Palestine-UN.org
Refugees, especially those who still reside in the Middle East, although not necessarily in their country of origin, often remain in refugee camps for many, many years. The longer they are in their camps, the less is reported in international media about them. These individuals' lives have been permanently disrupted. Often with little to hope for, the refugees have little way to voice their emotions and frustrations. Their plight is common knowledge throughout the Middle East. Below are some sites that indicate the size of the problem.
BADIL, Resource Center for Palestinian Residency & Refugee Rights
http://www.badil.org/e-index.html Focused statistics on Palestinian refugees since 1948 to the present.
Worldwide Refugee Information
http://www.refugees.org/world/worldmain.htm
NEWS FROM THE MIDDLE EAST/MUSLIM COUNTRIES VS OFFICIAL U.S. NEWS RELEASES
Below is a list of newsources from a Muslim point of view along with a few U.S. newsources. Try comparing the opinions found in the two viewpoints.
Arabia.com
http://www.arabia.com/english/ See the "Country" links in the lower left hand column.
Center for Research and Documentation of Palestinian Society
http://www.birzeit.edu/crdps/index.html
The Muslim News
http://www.muslimnews.co.uk/index.php A British newspaper for Muslims presenting a Muslim point of view from a European setting
Palestine Net News Links
http://www.palestine-net.com/news/ These newspapers provide the Palestinian viewpoint on recent world events and terrorism, as well a Palestinian issues.
United States Information Agency
http://usinfo.state.gov/ The official information distributed by the United States government.
ISLAM AND POLITICS
Esposito, John L
Islam and politics / John L. Esposito. 3rd ed. Syracuse, N.Y. : Syracuse University Press, c1991. CALL #=BP63.A4 M533 1991; CALL #=BP63.A4 M533 1991
Gerges, Fawaz A., 1958-
America and political Islam : clash of cultures or clash of interests? / Fawaz A. Gerges. Cambridge, UK ; New York, NY : Cambridge University Press, 1999.
CALL #=DS63.74 .G46 1999
UNITED STATES FOREIGN POLICY IN THE MIDDLE EAST
There are claims that U.S. foreign policy contributes to friction between the U.S. and the Middle East. The following books provide some background to this aspect of current problems.
Advancing common purposes in the broad Middle East : brief essays prepared for the Trilateral Commission, 1998 Annual Meeting / authors, Robert H. Pelletreau ... [et al.] New York : Trilaterial Commission, 1998.
CALL #=DS63.1 .A26 1998
Aburish, Said K., 1935-
A brutal friendship : the West and the Arab elite / Said K. Aburish. London : Victor Gollancz, 1997.
CALL #=JC328.2 .A385 1997
Hemmer, Christopher M. (Christopher Michael), 1969-
Which lessons matter? : American foreign policy decision making in the Middle East, 1979-1987 / Christopher Hemmer. Albany : State University of New York Press, c2000.
CALL #=DS63.2.U5 H46 2000
Neff, Donald, 1930-
Fallen pillars : U.S. policy towards Palestine and Israel since 1945 / Donald Neff. Washington, D.C. : Institute for Palestine Studies, c1995.
CALL #=E183.8.P19 N43 1995
Pannikar, K. M. (Kavalam Madhusudan), 1923-
For a few barrels of oil : politics and diplomacy in the Gulf / K.M. Pannikar. New Delhi : Patriot Publishers, c1991.
CALL #=DS63.1 .P36 1991
Sandstorm : Middle East conflicts & America / edited by Daniel Pipes. Lanham [Md.] : University Press of America ; [Philadelphia] : Foreign Policy Research Institute, c1993.
CALL #=DS63.1 .S3 1993
Shifting sands : balancing U.S. interests in the Middle East : teacher's resource book : public policy debate in the classroom / Choices for the 21st Century Education Project, a program of the Thomas J. Watson Jr. Institute for International Studies, Brown University. Providence, RI : Brown University, 1997.
CALL #=DS63.2.U5 S52 1997 v.1-2
Teicher, Howard
Twin pillars to Desert Storm : America's flawed vision in the Middle East from Nixon to Bush / Howard Teicher and Gayle Radley Teicher. New York : William Morrow and Co., 1993.
CALL #=DS63.2.U5 T45 1993
TERRORISM IN THE MIDDLE EAST
Chasdi, Richard J., 1958-
Serenade of suffering : a portrait of Middle East terrorism, 1968-1993 / Richard J. Chasdi. Lanham, Md. : Lexington Books, c1999.
CALL #=HV6433.M5 C53 199
Mishal, Shaul, 1945-
The Palestinian Hamas : vision, violence, and coexistence / Shaul Mishal and Avraham Sela. New York : Columbia University Press, c2000.
CALL #=DS119.76 .M57 2000
Nasr, Kameel B., 1949-
Arab and Israeli terrorism : the causes and effects of political violence, 1936-1993 / Kameel B. Nasr. Jefferson, N.C. : McFarland & Co., c1997.
CALL #=DS119.7 .N346 1997
O'Ballance, Edgar
Islamic fundamentalist terrorism, 1979-95 : the Iranian connection / Edgar O'Balance. Washington Square, N.Y. : New York University Press, 1997.
CALL #=DS318.825 .O23 1997
O'Ballance, Edgar
The Palestinian Intifada / Edgar O'Balance. New York : St. Martin's Press, 1998.
CALL #=DS119.75 .O22 1998
Political violence against Americans / United States Department of State, Bureau of Diplomatic Security. [Washington, D.C.?] : The Bureau, 1999-
CALL #=S 1.138/2:
http://purl.access.gpo.gov/GPO/LPS1492
Taheri, Amir
Holy terror : inside the world of Islamic terrorism / Amir Taheri. 1st U.S. ed. Bethesda, Md. : Adler & Adler, 1987.
CALL #=BP60 .T34 1987a