Above picture: You ever heard of "the rock where Moses stood," from which he viewed the Promised Land? Supposedly this is that literal rock. Mount Nebo, just outside Madaba, Jordan.
Some links to external content that I find interesting/relevant to my learning these days. If you have reading/listening/watching recommendations for me, please let me know!
ARTICLES www.jadaliyya.com I highly recommend you go to Jadaliyya for news and critical commentary on Middle Eastern affairs. You can hop on their newsletter for an email digest, too.
"Reinventing the Veil" by Leila Ahmed Really cool piece by a renowned Egyptian philosopher & feminist, my first suggestion when people ask me about clothing and feminism in the Arab world.
"How to Make a Life From Scratch" by Elizabeth Alexander In the American context; a beautiful meditation on refugees and " the beauty of diaspora, of culture crossing, of not knowing what is around the corner, of making life anew and something new after disruption."
"Feminize Your Canon: Isabelle Eberhardt" by Emma Garman A brief biography of the writer and nomad Isabelle Eberhardt, a cross-dressing Swiss woman from the turn of the century who was fluent in Arabic and lived much of her life in French-occupied North Africa. A reminder of the strange human histories of border-crossing.
The Home That Was Our Country: A Memoir of Syria by Alia Malek A lot of people ask me about Syrian politics, and I do think it's important that Americans have a better sense of the before, during, and (potential) after of the conflict there. This is a beautiful intergenerational family history narrated by a Syrian-American lawyer-turned-journalist. Some of the book focuses on the revolution, but a lot of it is about her family (if you've read Middlesex, remember the casual beauty of the multi-generational story slowly unfolding?). Would recommend this for everyone.
Kingdom of Olives and Ash: Writers Confront the Occupation, ed. by Michael Chabon and Ayelet Waldman Wish you were a little more well-versed on what's going on in Israel/Palestine? This is a brilliant collection of incisive essays on the subject. They do a chilling job of capturing the day-to-day experience of apartheid while also keeping the complexity and nuance of the geopolitical backdrop in sight.
MOVIES Oriented A documentary. Queer late-20-something artists figuring out how to orient their lives in Palestine. Charming yet also eye-opening.
Where Do We Go Now? Some dark themes, but definitely a comedy. A Lebanese movie about women in a divided community taking matters into their own hands (what else is new?).
الميدان The Square A documentary; if you're curious to learn more about the Arab Spring, this might be a good place to start.
LANGUAGE LEARNING Curious to pick up a little Arabic yourself? Aljazeera has a free learning portal!