New Books at Daley: Arab American Heritage Month

This concise reference covers the diverse roots of Arabs in America, tracing the changing face of this community from the 19th century until today. From the restrictive immigration laws that the United States Congress passed against Arabs in the early 20th century to the backlash against this community following September 11, Arab Americans have faced both successes and challenges in their quest to become part of American culture.

The book examines the war of images between France and Algeria. Discussing the role of the United States during the war, it covers topics such the presence of American reporters in Algeria, John F. Kennedy's support for Algerian independence while a senator, the broadcasting of documentaries on the Algerian war on public television, and reporting in the press.

Uninterrupted Fugue features a selection of critical essays about the art of Palestinian artist Kamal Boullata. Written by leading scholars and appearing for the first time in a single volume, this range of analytical perspectives on art and exile, modernity and tradition offers rare insights to readers interested in contemporary art beyond the Western canon.

A compelling history of the ancient schism that continues to divide the Islamic world When Muhammad died in 632 without a male heir, Sunnis contended that the choice of a successor should fall to his closest companions, but Shi'a believed that God had inspired the Prophet to appoint his cousin and son-in-law, Ali, as leader. So began a schism that is nearly as old as Islam itself. Laurence Louër tells the story of this ancient rivalry, taking readers from the last days of Muhammad to the political and doctrinal clashes of Sunnis and Shi'a today.

Salafism is a fundamentalist Sunni vision of Islam that is growing in popularity in many countries. In this book, Mohamed-Ali Adraoui focuses on quietist Salafism, which he calls a study in contradictions. Strongly opposed to political action, terrorism, and the overthrow of establishedregimes, quietist Salafism insists on restructuring Islamic norms with the fervor of a revivalist and fundamentalist ethic.

In recent years, an internal debate has arisen in Saudi Arabia on the legitimacy of Saudi religion and the foundations of Islam. Sparked by concerns such as the absence of divine intervention in the Syrian civil war, the question of the Muslim monopoly on heaven, and politically subversive differentiations between "Saudi religion" and Islam, the challenge within Saudi Arabia to religious orthodoxy has never been greater. Tweeted Heresies explores the emergence of these patterns of non-belief and the responses to them from the Salafi-Wahhabi religious institutions.

On a ravaged street overlooking a cemetery in Beirut's Christian enclave, we meet an eccentric young man named Pavlov, the son of a local undertaker. When his father meets a sudden and untimely death, Pavlov is approached by a colorful member of the mysterious Hellfire Society--an anti-religious sect that, among many rebellious and often salacious activities, arranges secret burial for outcasts who have been denied last rites because of their religion or sexuality.Pavlov agrees to take on his father's work for the society, and over the course of the novel he becomes a survivor-chronicler of his embattled and fading community at the heart of Lebanon's civil war.

Ussama Makdisi's Age of Coexistence shows how a region rich with ethnic and religious diversity created a modern culture of coexistence amid Ottoman reformation, European colonialism, and the emergence of nationalism.

The end of the eighteenth century was a transformational period for the Muslim communities of the Russian Empire and their relationship with the tsarist state. Though they had been under Russian rule since the sixteenth century, it was at this time that they were incorporated into the imperial bureaucracy, most significantly through the founding of an official hierarchy for the Islamic religious scholars in 1788. The introduction of a state-backed structure for Muslim religious institutions altered Islamic religious authority and, in turn, religious discourse. One of the major figures to emerge from this new context was Abu Nasr Qursawi (1776-1812). A controversial figure who was condemned for heresy in Bukhara in 1808, Qursawi put forward a sweeping reform of the Islamic scholarly tradition.

Strange things are afoot in Bad City. The Iranian ghost town, home to prostitutes, junkies, pimps, and other sordid souls, is a place that reeks of death and hopelessness, where a lonely vampire is stalking the towns most unsavory inhabitants.

This upbeat documentary depicts the social space of a kosher Middle Eastern grocery store in the traditionally Sephardic section of Brooklyn. Serving the local Syrian Jewish clientele, it has now also become a kind of social headquarters for expatriate Israelis as well as other Middle Eastern customers. Impromptu interviews with customers reveal their nostalgia for other places and times, as well as their ambivalence about life in America. The vividly polyglot customers – Hebrew, English, Syrian and Egyptian Arabic as well as snippets of other languages are heard – paint a portrait of the complexities of multicultural life in a diaspora setting and the compromises necessary to forging a new identity in a new place.

This engaging and innovative documentary explores the common misperceptions and stereotypes of one another shared by young people in the Middle East and the United States. Images of subjugated Middle Eastern women and violent men permeate the American media and similarly, images of superficial and promiscuous American women pervade the worldwide media. A World Without Strangers connects five college-age women from the United States with five from the Middle East in a media-based dialogue that illuminates and challenges cross-cultural misconceptions.

The authors present three modules on Arab American demographics and other diversity, Arab American culture, and sociopolitical background. Actual therapist interviews then examine common mental health issues, typical treatment goals, appropriate interventions, and helpful cultural knowledge. Implications for practice and resource modules complete the program. This video provides both background information and practical perspectives essential to success in working with Arab American client.

An introspective look at Middle-Eastern cultures in the U.S. as they appear in the media and are perceived by the American society.

Valentino's ghost takes viewers on a chronological journey through more than a century of images of Muslims, Arabs and Islam in the U.S. media, from the early 20th-century fantasies of romantic sheiks to today's damaging stereotypes as evil fanatics. Through interviews with Robert Fisk, Niall Ferguson, and John Mearsheimer amongst others, the film shows the way in which the changing image of Arabs and Muslims has mirrored America's political agenda in the Middle East.

This film puts a human face on the global refugee crisis by providing an intimate portrait of four Syrian refugee families arriving in the US and struggling to find their footing.

The story of eight Arab widows, uneducated and lacking vocational training, who have never had a job, and one day suddenly decided to jointly open a plant for the production of high quality pickles.