To Boycott or Not to Boycott: The Politics of Culture at Paris, Turin Book Fairs,  by Elie Chalala.
The polemical issue of boycott is a longstanding one in Arab political, economic and cultural discourse. The debate involves three groups. The first promotes all-out opposition toward any contact with Israel, cultural or political. The second opposes the boycott and believes that the Arabs and Palestinians should not fear a cultural confrontation with the Zionists because the latter has no moral superiority. The third separates the cultural from the political, considering the Book Fair a political rather than cultural, thus its boycott was justified.
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Multiple Factors Spur Resignations from Al Jazeera English, by Elie Chalala

As the most visible American anchor of the channel, David Marash,became disillusioned with the assignment of stories, the “anti-American sensibility” which made its way to news coverage, and the reluctance to offer in-depth stories. But the Arabic-language press have reported quite a different story. They point at smear campaign at Al Jazeera English and accuse News and Programming Director Steve Clark of a “condescending and colonial” attitude. But the recent turmoil at Al Jazeera English goes beyond this. It involves distribution difficulties, failure to attract a large audience in the West, among others. Others theorize that the failure to attract viewers can be attributed to the moderate and somewhat toned-down approach by Al Jazeera English.
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Burning Questions – Review Debunks Honor-Crime Memoir, by Therese Taylor. Honor killing in the Middle East is a fact of life. But passing off a fictitious work as the account of an actual event does injustice to the real victims of honor killings and raises ethical questions for the publishing industry. Historian Therese Taylor studied and reviewed the evidence of a best-selling memoir, “Burned Alive,” written by “Souad” about her escape from a putative honor killing in the Middle East. Taylor reveals the contradictory accounts and embellished retellings given by the author since the book’s publication in 2003. The reviewer concludes the once-acclaimed account “is an example of fantasy, tale-telling, and stage-acting.”

Disrepair and Neglect Mar Gibran Memorial, by Stan Shabaz. The essay is an ironic commentary about an official celebration (by Bush senior and Norman Schwarzkopf) of Gibran as an advocate of peace while wars are being waged. But the dissonance between the glorification of Gibran as a man of peace, and the orchestration of war by these same officials, is not the only contradiction Stan Shabaz notes. His visit to the Gibran Memorial Garden was hardly reassuring; “To my dismay, I found the memorial garden to be in a state of disrepair, much like the current state of U.S.-Near Eastern relations. The bronze sculpture of Gibran overlooks a fountain of brackish green, still water. Above the fountain, a sign warns: ‘Water unsafe for drinking.’”

Reality Checks on American-Orientalist Film, a review of Tim Jon Semmerling’s “‘Evil’ Arabs in American Popular Film: Orientalist Fear,” by Pamela Nice. Tim Jon Semmerling’s “‘Evil’ Arabs in American Popular Film” examines American films since 1973 and concludes that “the portrayal of Arabs in American cinema…reveals more about Americans and their orientalist fears than about actual Arabs.” Reviewer Pamela Nice provides a critical analysis of Semmerling’s claim. While supporting the author’s theory and selection of films, Nice questions Semmerling’s tendency to over-scrutinize, stating “Semmerling is more convincing in his broader strokes and his overall urging that viewers explore films as revelations of an unstable American psyche confronted with challenges to its dominant myths.”

Mideast Political Paradoxes Put to Words and Music--Bahraini Democracy Threatened by Majnun Laila’s Musical, by Kelly O’Brien. Those who championed democracy inside and outside the Middle East are surprised by how democratization, namely electoral majoritarian democracy, has been limiting intellectual and artistic expression from Gaza to Bahrain. The latest incident of infringement on artistic expression was the freely elected Bahraini parliament's condemnation of the recent musical “Majnun Laila” – showcased at a government-sponsored event last spring – as obscene and against Sharia law. This act sparked outrage among Arab intellectuals and artists who have demanded protection of artistic freedom of expression.  In this feature, Kelly O’Brien covers the controversy, provides a brief historical background of the centuries-old Arab tale of “Majnun Laila,” and highlights the criticisms not only of how democracy is misunderstood but also how it is used to introduce undemocratic policies.

Among the Jasmine Trees: Music and Modernity in Contemporary Syria, by Jonathan Shannon. Reviewed by Sami Asmar. Asmar offers a glance at ethnomusicologist Jonathan Shannon’s book “Among the Jasmine Trees.”  He elaborates on interesting findings from Shannon’s analysis of the cultural obsession with authenticity in Arab music for Syrians. “Despite the frequent negative reaction to ‘inauthentic,’ or non-traditional, art,” Asmar claims,  “the irony of Shannon’s fascinating study is the conclusion that modern music is far more widely consumed in the Arab world, and that classical Arab music (tarab), despite being associated with classical Arabic language and the legendary composers of the last century, has more limited popular appeal.”

Teta, Mother and Me, by Jean Said Makdisi. Reviewed by Pauline Homsi Vinson. Pauline Homsi Vinson takes a close look at Jean Said Makdisi’s “Teta, Mother, and Me.” Like other Arab women authors, including Nawal El Saadawi, Leila Ahmed, and Fatima Mernissi, Makdisi “delineates the intersections between her individual life and the social changes and political upheavals that have been taking place in the Middle East during the past century,” writes Vinson. Similarly, “like other Arab autobiographers, she also traces a matrilineal heritage, linking together her own life with the lives of her mother and maternal grandmother, and directs her work toward a Western, or at least a Western-educated, audience.”

A Father to the Point of Tears, by Faraj Bayrakdar.

Poet Faraj Beirqadar, a former political prisoner in Syria, is a man haunted by the image of his daughter. Although he has been physically absent for most of her life, his father’s love is a powerful and constant presence.  In “A Father to the Point of Tears,” Beirqadar writes from behind bars about his few brief memories of his beloved daughter, and the emotional bond between them that cannot be broken.

Naguib Mahfouz the Pyramid, by Alawiyya Sobh.

Alawiyya Sobh writes an essay of heartfelt praise about Egyptian novelist Naguib Mahfouz. She recounts how Mahfouz influenced her, both as a teenager and a writer, and looks at the importance of Mahfouz’s creation of an “Arab perspective” and narrative memory, and the legacy he left behind for the next generation of writers.

Naguib Mahfouz: Characters Develop Alongside their Creator by Mohammed Dakroub. Mohammed Dakroub looks at the great Egyptian author Naguib Mahfouz and examines his style of writing, both before and after his seminal work “The Trilogy.”  In so doing, Dakroub finds an artist who created characters so powerful, that they in turn changed and re-created their maker.

From Beirut to Oklahoma City, by Judith Gabriel.

In “The Mighty Weight of Love,” Lebanese-American author Hanna Saadah finds that even life in peaceful Oklahoma can be marred by shocking violence. This work of fiction draws on real-life events when Saadah’s main character, a Lebanese-American doctor like himself, witnesses the aftermath of the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995. The devastating images of the rubble unexpectedly force him to deal with memories of the violence and destruction he thought he had left behind in Lebanon. “The Mighty Weight of Love,” concludes the reviewer, “is a book of hope, however, in which the human spirit rises from the ruins, again and again, in Oklahoma, and in Beirut.”   

AL JAZEERA MOTTO:

‘Opinion/Counter Opinion’ or ‘Spin/More Spin’, by Mohammad Ali Atassi. With its immense financial backing, relative political freedom and vast geographic reach, the tremendously successful Al Jazeera should present a new Arab sensibility and serve as a forum for openness and enlightened debate. Instead, in this essay, the author laments a channel distressingly similar to CNN in its war coverage, afraid to upset conservative religious authorities, and pandering to the lowest common denominator in its quest for the sensational. The result is that a potentially powerful revolutionary tool is really nothing more than the pursuit of viewership and ideological propaganda.

‘Degenerate’ Pop: Threat to Arab Music Renaissance or Mere Sign of the Times? by Nancy Linthicum. Arab “pop” music, called shababi “youthful” or habita “low brow,” by its fans and critics, respectively, is under attack. Rising young Lebanese composer and author Ali Nassar and renowned Lebanese composer Marcel Khalife both denounce this style of music and its video clips, calling them “decadent and tasteless.” Linthicum covers both sides of the current debate over the effects of pop music on Arab culture.

Layla Murad Still Unforgettable Artist by Sami Asmar. Sami Asmar remembers late Egyptian actress and singer Layla Murad on the 10th anniversary of her death, commenting on her enduring popularity despite the vicious rumors that surrounded her during her life.

Mahmoud Darwish Indicts Modern Arab Poets by Nancy Linthicum. In August 2005, prominent Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish made controversial comments about the state of modern Arab poetry, criticizing a movement of which he is a part. Nancy Linthicum records his comments and the ensuing criticism and support these comments received in the Arab world. However, “[d]espite the criticisms of Darwish’s statements, his words are likely to do more good than harm for Arab literature,” in light of the weak tradition of literary criticism on the Arab cultural scene.

Hanan al-Shaykh Speaks of Her Newest Novel with Munasa. Munasa talks with prominent Lebanese author Hanan al-Shaykh about her latest book, “My Story is an Extended Commentary,” which is the recorded dictation of al-Shaykh’s mother’s life.

Before Exile: Four Iraqi Narratives, by Lynne Rogers. “The ironies of the friendships formed between the Iraqi Jews, Muslims, and Christians during the establishment of the state of Israel are not lost on Rejwan. After his immigration, he visits a comrade of his now-deceased friend, Jabra Ibrahim Jabra, and is certain the Palestinian must be wondering, ‘How in the world could his friend Jabra, a fugitive from the Jews, have had this Jew for a friend?’