Roanoke Times Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc. DATE: SATURDAY, February 9, 1991 TAG: 9102090084 SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: E-1 EDITION: METRO SOURCE: Joe Kennedy DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
Is Jerusalem and Bethlehem where they want to live? Where did they used to live, and why do they hate Israel, and vice-versa?
I feel so ignorant about these questions, and when I ask friends, they don't know the answers, either. M.L., Dublin.
Could you recommend any books about the Middle East? I think one of the problems is we don't understand the Middle East. I'd like to know more about it, from a more balanced perspective. K.P., Troutville.
"Up until this crisis, most people didn't really have much interest in the Middle East and didn't think it was very important," said William Ochsenwald, a specialist in the history of the region at Virginia Tech.
"It's only when there's a major upswing in violence . . . that there's a temporary revival."
You don't have to go far to find proof. After the war began, Altie Mayo, head of circulation at Roanoke's main library, twice put out a display of books on the region.
Both times, every book was checked out within a few days.
"The day after war broke out, virtually every book we had in the store that had anything to do with the Middle East was gone," said Lolly Rosemond of Ram's Head Book Shop in Roanoke. "We've just gotten some back in stock."
Maps also have been big sellers, and at times they, too, have been hard to find.
This news may be rewarding to those who have dedicated their lives to study of the region, but it's also frustrating, says R.K. Ramazani, a professor of government and foreign affairs at the University of Virginia.
"The sad thing to me has been that interest about the Middle East usually has been inspired by wars and crises rather than by the need to know about other cultures, peoples and societies so we would have a better informed public," he said. "In a democracy, that's essential to having better policies."
Now, people are clamoring for information.
"Frankly, my job has become very difficult," Ramazani said. "I have incessant telephone calls from the media. Two nights ago, at 12:30, I was on `Nightline' with Ted Koppel because of the Iraqi fighter planes going into Iran. There were all kinds of conspiracy theories.
"I have, in about 20 minutes, somebody else coming here to my house for an interview."
One need not be acutely perceptive to see the irony in all this. Ramazani certainly does.
"I've been spending my life on teaching about the area at a distinguished university," he said. "I've published 10 books on the Middle East and scores and scores of articles over the past 36 years.
"It is the first time that I have seen that the gulf situation really is hitting home. It was always distant from us, and that is regrettable."
Our lack of interest has led us to some serious misconceptions, Ochsenwald said.
"The worst is that all Arabs are Muslims and all Muslims are Arabs. There are lots of Christian Arabs, and I'm sure there are some atheist Arabs," he said. "A majority of the Arabs of the world are Muslim, but not all.
"And not all Muslims are Arabs." The majority of Muslims live outside the Arab world, in such places as Indonesia, Pakistan, India and Africa.
Nor, he added, do all Arabs hate the United States. For example, this country and Saudi Arabia have been friends for years.
Ochsenwald teaches a course called "The History of the Arab-Israeli Dispute." It looks in-depth at what he calls "a very complicated, long-lasting, difficult problem."
Such questions as those from our Dublin reader can't be addressed meaningfully in a newspaper column. True understanding will require effort and some reading.
As Lolly Rosemond said, "There is a real overload of information, and really the trick is to be informed but not to be obsessed."
Here are some recommended reading lists from a variety of sources.
> From William Ochsenwald
\ "The Middle East, A History," by Sydney Fisher and William Ochsenwald. A trade paperback general history from the seventh century to 1989.
\ "The Modern History of Iraq" by Phoebe Marr.
\ "The Government and Politics of the Middle East and North Africa" by David Long and Bernard Reich.
"Saddam Hussein and the Crisis in the Gulf" by Judith Miller and Laurie Mylroie.
From R.K. Ramazani\ "Revolutionary Iran: Challenge and Response in the Middle East" by R.K. Ramazani. Discusses Iran-Iraq war, dynamics of social and political upheavals in Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and other countries.
\ "One Land, Two Peoples" by Deborah Gerner. Looks at Arab-Israeli conflict.
\ "The Arab-Israeli Conflict: Perspectives," edited by Alvin Z. Rubinstein.
From other sources\ "The Question of Palestine" by Edward W. Said.
"Republic of Fear: The Inside Story of Saddam's Iraq" by Samir al Khalil.
"Kuwait" by Ismael Jaquiline.
"Arab Politics" by Michael C. Hudson.
"The Arabs" by Peter Mansfield.
"Islam: The Straight Path" by John Esposito.
"Israel and the Arabs" by Maxim Rodinson.
"The PLO" by Helena Cobben.
One scholar also recommended\ Middle East International magazine. For subscription information, call (202) 232-8350.
Best sellers
While what's selling isn't always a guarantee of quality, here's what's hot at area bookstores:
\ "The Prize: The Epic Quest for Oil, Money and Power" by Daniel Yergin. It's on the New York Times best-seller list.
\ "The Rape of Kuwait" by Jean P. Sasson.
"Sacred Rage: The Wrath of Militant Islam" by Robin Wright.
"Israel's Fateful Hour" by Yehoshafat Harkabi.
"About Face" by Col. David Hackworth, an autobiography from one of the country's most decorated soldiers.
\ "Armageddon, Oil and the Middle East" by John Walvoord.
"The Arab Mind" by Raphael Pati.
In addition there are several topical paperbacks whose titles include "Saddam Hussein," "If War Comes," "Operation Desert Shield," and "Weapons of Desert Storm."
Magazines such as Time and Newsweek have given extensive coverage to the war in recent weeks. Ochsenwald said Newsweek's Jan. 28 issue has an excellent discussion of how the current crisis developed, and the Feb. 4 issue had excellent maps of the war zone. The current issue of National Geographic also includes a detailed map.
Whether all this attention will result in lasting understanding of the region is very much in doubt. Ochsenwald expects the interest in learning about the Middle East to last only as long as the crisis does.
"I wrote an article right after the cease-fire in the Iran-Iraq war," Ramazani said. "I warned there has to be serious thinking about the future stability and security in this region. Otherwise it would have a gulf war that would make the Iran-Iraq war look like child's play.
"Now they say I was prescient. But it wasn't really difficult to see when deep-rooted, festering problems were not being resolved.
"This time, this war has brought the whole situation closer to home. But I was thinking this morning, did we, after Vietnam, learn about those societies? I'm not at all sure."
Questions about the war or the countries of the Persian Gulf? Call the Mideast Hot Line at 981-3313 and leave a recorded message.\ SPECIAL HOT LINE FOR KIDS: Feb. 15, children can call their questions about the war or the gulf region to\ 981-3178. answer as many as we can in NewsFun on Feb. 19.
by CNB