The Abu Dhabi Bar Mitzvah: Fear and Love in the Modern Middle East

The Abu Dhabi Bar Mitzvah: Fear and Love in the Modern Middle East PDF Author: Adam Valen Levinson
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
ISBN: 0393608379
Category : Travel
Languages : en
Pages : 402

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Book Description
Chronically questioning, funny, and bold, a young American explores the majority-Muslim lands that scare him most. Armed only with college Arabic and restless curiosity, Adam Valen Levinson sets out to “learn about the world 9/11 made us fear.” From a base in globalized and sterilized Abu Dhabi, he sets out to lunch in Taliban territory in Afghanistan, travels under the watchful eye of Syria’s secret police, risks shipwreck en route to Somalia, investigates Yazidi beliefs in a sacred cave, cliff dives in Oman, celebrates New Year’s Eve in Tahrir Square, and, at every turn, discovers a place that matches not at all with its reputation. Valen Levinson crosses borders with wisecracking humor, erudition, and humanity, seeking common ground with “bros” everywhere, and finding that people who pray differently often laugh the same. And as a young man bar mitzvahed eight years late, he slowly learns how childish it is to live by decisions and distinctions born of fear.

The Abu Dhabi Bar Mitzvah: Fear and Love in the Modern Middle East

The Abu Dhabi Bar Mitzvah: Fear and Love in the Modern Middle East PDF Author: Adam Valen Levinson
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
ISBN: 0393608379
Category : Travel
Languages : en
Pages : 402

Get Book Here

Book Description
Chronically questioning, funny, and bold, a young American explores the majority-Muslim lands that scare him most. Armed only with college Arabic and restless curiosity, Adam Valen Levinson sets out to “learn about the world 9/11 made us fear.” From a base in globalized and sterilized Abu Dhabi, he sets out to lunch in Taliban territory in Afghanistan, travels under the watchful eye of Syria’s secret police, risks shipwreck en route to Somalia, investigates Yazidi beliefs in a sacred cave, cliff dives in Oman, celebrates New Year’s Eve in Tahrir Square, and, at every turn, discovers a place that matches not at all with its reputation. Valen Levinson crosses borders with wisecracking humor, erudition, and humanity, seeking common ground with “bros” everywhere, and finding that people who pray differently often laugh the same. And as a young man bar mitzvahed eight years late, he slowly learns how childish it is to live by decisions and distinctions born of fear.

Heirs to Forgotten Kingdoms

Heirs to Forgotten Kingdoms PDF Author: Gerard Russell
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1471114724
Category : Travel
Languages : en
Pages : 470

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Book Description
Despite its reputation for religious intolerance, the Middle East has long sheltered many distinctive and strange faiths: one regards the Greek prophets as incarnations of God, another reveres Lucifer in the form of a peacock, and yet another believes that their followers are reincarnated beings who have existed in various forms for thousands of years. These religions represent the last vestiges of the magnificent civilizations in ancient history: Persia, Babylon, Egypt in the time of the Pharaohs. Their followers have learned how to survive foreign attacks and the perils of assimilation. But today, with the Middle East in turmoil, they face greater challenges than ever before. In Heirs to Forgotten Kingdoms, former diplomat Gerard Russell ventures to the distant, nearly impassable regions where these mysterious religions still cling to survival. He lives alongside the Mandaeans and Ezidis of Iraq, the Zoroastrians of Iran, the Copts of Egypt, and others. He learns their histories, participates in their rituals, and comes to understand the threats to their communities. Historically a tolerant faith, Islam has, since the early 20th century, witnessed the rise of militant, extremist sects. This development, along with the rippling effects of Western invasion, now pose existential threats to these minority faiths. And as more and more of their youth flee to the West in search of greater freedoms and job prospects, these religions face the dire possibility of extinction. Drawing on his extensive travels and archival research, Russell provides an essential record of the past, present, and perilous future of these remarkable religions.

Religion and Contemporary Politics [2 volumes]

Religion and Contemporary Politics [2 volumes] PDF Author: Timothy J. Demy
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA
ISBN:
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 595

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Book Description
With respect to the countries of the world, this work addresses two basic questions: "How does religion affect politics in this country?" and "How does politics affect religion in this country?" Although there are many books on the topics of religion and politics, reference works that consider the two together are few, with those that do exist primarily addressing theory rather than trends. The present work does the latter, contextualizing them within regional and national boundaries. In so doing, it recognizes the power of political and religious ideas and movements on individuals, communities, and nations, making the work a valuable resource for several disciplines, among them political science, international relations, religion, and sociology. The work focuses on the interplay of religion and politics in countries around the world with an emphasis on the post-2000s. It is organized by global geographic regions including Africa, Central and South America, and the Middle East and presents countries alphabetically within those sections. Each region has a brief overview of the political-religious dynamics of the area so readers can compare and contrast the dynamics between and among countries in a region. The work also includes an introduction, sidebars, and a bibliography.

The Oxford Handbook of the Abrahamic Religions

The Oxford Handbook of the Abrahamic Religions PDF Author: Adam J. Silverstein
Publisher:
ISBN: 0199697760
Category : Abrahamic religions
Languages : en
Pages : 636

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Book Description
The Oxford Handbook of the Abrahamic Religions includes authoritative yet accessible studies on a wide variety of topics dealing comparatively with Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, as well as with the interactions between the adherents of these religions throughout history. The comparativestudy of the Abrahamic Religions has been undertaken for many centuries. More often than not, these studies reflected a polemical rather than an ecumenical approach to the topic. Since the nineteenth century, the comparative study of the Abrahamic Religions has not been pursued either intensively orsystematically, and it is only recently that the comparative study of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam has received more serious attention. This volume contributes to the emergence and development of the comparative study of the Abrahamic religions, a discipline which is now in its formative stages.This Handbook includes both critical and supportive perspectives on the very concept of the Abrahamic religions and discussions on the role of the figure of Abraham in these religions. It features 32 essays, by the foremost scholars in the field, on the historical interactions between Abrahamiccommunities; on Holy Scriptures and their interpretation; on conceptions of religious history; on various topics and strands of religious thought, such as monotheism and mysticism; on rituals of prayer, purity, and sainthood, on love in the three religions and on fundamentalism. The volume concludeswith three epilogues written by three influential figures in the Christian, Jewish, and Muslim communities, to provide a broader perspective on the comparative study of the Abrahamic religions. This ground-breaking work introduces readers to the challenges and rewards of studying these threereligions together.

Six Months in a Syrian Monastery

Six Months in a Syrian Monastery PDF Author: Oswald Hutton Parry
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Syria
Languages : en
Pages : 452

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Book Description


Stolen

Stolen PDF Author: Katariina PhD Rosenblatt
Publisher: Revell
ISBN: 1441246142
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 211

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Book Description
Sex trafficking is currently a hot news topic, but it is not a new problem or just a problem in "other" countries. Every year, an estimated 300,000 American children are at risk of being lured into the sex trade, some as young as eight years old. It is thought that up to 90 percent of victims are never rescued. Stolen is the true story of one survivor who escaped--more than once. First recruited while staying with her family at a hotel in Miami Beach, Katariina Rosenblatt was already a lonely and abused young girl who was yearning to be loved. She fell into the hands of a confident young woman who pretended friendship but slowly lured her into a child prostitution ring. For years afterward, a cycle of false friendship, threats, drugs, and violence kept her trapped. As Kat shares her harrowing experiences, readers will quickly realize the frightening truth that these terrible things could have happened to any child--a neighbor, a niece, a friend, a sister, a daughter. But beyond that, they will see that there is real hope for the victims of sex trafficking. Stolen is more than a warning. It is a celebration of survival that will inspire.

Black Power and Palestine

Black Power and Palestine PDF Author: Michael R Fischbach
Publisher: Stanford University Press
ISBN: 1503607399
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 374

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Book Description
A study of how the Arab-Israeli conflict affected the American civil rights movement. The 1967 Arab–Israeli War rocketed the question of Israel and Palestine onto the front pages of American newspapers. Black Power activists saw Palestinians as a kindred people of color, waging the same struggle for freedom and justice as themselves. Soon concerns over the Arab–Israeli conflict spread across mainstream black politics and into the heart of the civil rights movement itself. Black Power and Palestine uncovers why so many African Americans—notably Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X, and Muhammad Ali, among others—came to support the Palestinians or felt the need to respond to those who did. Americans first heard pro-Palestinian sentiments in public through the black freedom struggle of the 1960s and 1970s. Michael R. Fischbach uncovers this hidden history of the Arab–Israeli conflict’s role in African American activism and the ways that distant struggle shaped the domestic fight for racial equality. Black Power’s transnational connections between African Americans and Palestinians deeply affected US black politics, animating black visions of identity well into the late 1970s. Black Power and Palestine allows those black voices to be heard again today. In chronicling this story, Fischbach reveals much about how American peoples of color create political strategies, a sense of self, and a place within US and global communities. The shadow cast by events of the 1960s and 1970s continues to affect the United States in deep, structural ways. This is the first book to explore how conflict in the Middle East shaped the American civil rights movement. Praise for Black Power and Palestine “An indispensable read on the civil rights and Black Power era, shedding new light on just how deeply the Arab-Israeli conflict has shaped black domestic politics. Anyone interested in why conflict in the Middle East continues to cast its long shadow over U.S. foreign and domestic policy should read this book.” —Cynthia A. Young, The Pennsylvania State University, author of Soul Power: Culture, Radicalism, and the Making of a U.S. Third World Left “Michael R. Fischbach explores one of the most important international ramifications of the political awakening of African Americans in the 20th century: how movements ranging from the Black Muslims and Black Panthers to SNCC and the NAACP related to the Palestinian struggle. Original and timely, Black Power and Palestine offers fascinating insight into a vital issue in the self-definition of the African American community, one that continues to have great relevance today in the growing linkages between the Black Lives Matter movement and Palestinian activism.” —Rashid Khalidi, Columbia University, author of Brokers of Deceit: How the U.S. Has Undermined Peace in the Middle East

The Religions of the Book

The Religions of the Book PDF Author: Matthew Dimmock
Publisher: Palgrave MacMillan
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 240

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Book Description
The Religions of the Book is the first study to explore the relationship between Christianity, Judaism and Islam in the Early Modern period. A series of distinguished contributors debate the complicated terms in which these 'Religions of the Book' interacted in negative and positive ways, revealing predictable hostilities alongside attempts to forge links and explore connections. The collection illuminates a crucial but neglected area of Eruopean culture from the late Middle Ages to the end of the seventeenth century.

The Religion of the Peacock Angel

The Religion of the Peacock Angel PDF Author: Garnik S. Asatrian
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1317544293
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 168

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Book Description
Based in Iraq, Syria and Turkey, the Yezidi people claim their religion - a unique combination of Christian, Islamic, and historical faiths - to be the oldest in the world. Yezidi identity centres on their religion, Sharfadin, which has evolved into a highly complex pantheon of one God with many incarnations, the chief of whom is Melek Taus, the Peacock Angel. The Yezidi faith can be traced to a range of pre-Islamic belief systems, such as Sufism, some extreme Shi'ite sects, Gnosticism and other traditions surviving from the ancient world. This particular formulation has served to unify Yezidi religious identity and ethnicity. Based on extensive fieldwork, 'The Religion of the Peacock Angel' presents the first detailed examination of the Yezidi pantheon. The idea of one God and his chief incarnations is first analysed, then the various 'deity figures,' saints, holy patrons and divinized personalities in the Yezidi belief system are considered in the context of related religious traditions. The study determines the place of all these characters in the system of the Yezidi faith, defining their main functions, features, and genealogies.

For the Love of Husayn (AS)

For the Love of Husayn (AS) PDF Author: Muhammad-Reza Fakhr-Rohani
Publisher: MIU Press
ISBN: 1907905073
Category : Elegiac poetry, English
Languages : en
Pages : 233

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Book Description
This book is a compilation of different poems composed in memory of the Master of Martyrs, Husayn ibn‘Ali (AS) and his loyal companions who were martyred almost 14 centuries ago in Karbala, Iraq. A chorus of poets, from different parts of the world, have sung the praises of the heroes of the greatest act of sacrifice in human history, the Battle of Karbala, and this book reflects only a glimpse of such songs of praise, sorrow and mourning.