Recent Publications

Arab-Israeli Conflict

Disputed Land: A Geopolitical Perspective on the Israel-Palestine Conflict, by Elisha Efrat. Jerusalem: ABC Publisher, 2010.

Efrat's book describes and analyzes the geopolitical situation of the disputed land that Israelis and Palestinians have long fought over. The book provides a variety of figures and maps that help put the dispute into context. In 12 chapters, Efrat provides insight on the occupied territories, the green line, the separation fence, the territory of the Palestinian State, population, settlements, economic potential, spatial patterns, as well as opinions regarding a solution to the conflict. Efrat concludes that permanent peace may be achieved if the right of Israel to exist and live in peace is accepted; there is no forgiveness for killing innocent people by suicide bombers; and Palestinians' right to live in peace and honor is accepted. (HM)

Across the Wall: Narratives of Israeli-Palestinian History, ed. by Ilan Pappe and Jamil Hilal. New York: I.B. Tauris, 2010. $95.

Editors Illan Pappe and Jamil Hilal bring together scholars from various disciplines on Israel and Palestine to develop a shared framework for studying the history of the Arab-Israeli Conflict. They argue for a "bridged narrative" that seeks to accommodate seemingly incompatible meta-narratives into one complete framework. Across the Wall critically examines some of the most contested issues in the Arab-Israeli Conflict — the 1948 and 1967 wars, the Israeli occupation, and the formation of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO). (CK) DOI: 10.3751/65.2.4

Edward Said: A Legacy of Emancipation and Representation, ed. by Adel Iskandar and Hakem Rustom. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 2010. $29.95.

The death of Edward Said, intellectual and advocate for Palestinian rights, led Adel Iskandar and Haken Rustom to compile 31 discussions from various scholars on Said's legacy. The essays and interviews explore emancipation and representation through the subjects of post-colonial theory, literature, music, philosophy, and cultural studies, offering a glimpse into Said's impact on the field. (CK)

Gaza: Beneath the Bombs, by Sharyn Lock and Sarah Irving. New York: Pluto Press, 2010. $20.

The December 2008 Israeli offensive in Gaza, code-named Operation "Cast Lead" was a military operation with little press coverage from the Palestinian perspective. Author Sharyn Lock arrived in Gaza with the Free Gaza movement, defying an international press ban and volunteering her time with Palestinian Ambulances. Her day-to-day account of her involvement offers a grim perspective on Palestinian life in Gaza during this period. (CK)

Egypt

Muhammad Abduh, by Mark Sedgwick. Oxford, UK: Oneworld Publications, 2010. $40.

Part of the "Makers of the Muslim World" series, Muhammad Abduh recounts the life of Egyptian Mufti Muhammad Abduh — jurist, religious scholar, political activist, and freemason. Author Mark Sedgwick examines Abduh's impact on bridging the divide between Islam and the West, and his advocacy for a more modern conception of Islam. Sedgwick also brings to light new sources and research exploring Abduh's lasting effect on Islam — a man both praised as a sage and cast out as a renegade. (CK)

Working Out Egypt: Effendi Masculinity and Subject Formation in Colonial Modernity, 1870-1940, by Wilson Chacko Jacob. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2011. $25.95 paper.

Working Out Egypt provides an analysis of the formation of the Egyptian national subject in the late 19^th and early 20^th century. Jacob explores the effect that colonialism has on subject formation, and in particular, the effendiyya's (Egyptian bourgeois class) struggle to free itself from an ambivalent, performative subjectivity, referred to as "effendi masculinity." Jacob analyzes the different ways in which this effendi masculinity took hold through the years in sports, sex talk, fashion, and intelligence and learning. Jacob concludes that through colonialism, effendi masculinity was local and global, national and international, as well as particular and universal. (HM)

Iraq

The Three Circles of War: Understanding the Dynamics of Conflict in Iraq, ed. by Heather S. Gregg, H.Y.S. Rothstein, and John Arquilla. Washington, DC: Potomac Books, Inc., 2010. $60.

In The Three Circles of War, the authors explore the multifaceted warfare that characterized the conflict...