Middle+East

Introduction:
The Middle East includes parts of northern Africa, southwestern Asia, and southeastern Europe. Although there is some disagreement about which countries make up the region, it consists of Bahrain, Cyprus, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, and Yeman. Sumner and Egypt, the world's first great civilizations, developed after 3500 B.C. in this region. Judaism, Christianity and Islam, three major religions, originated in the Middle East. Although most of the people in this area today are Muslim Arabs, other religious and ethnic groups include black Africans, Armenians, Copts, Greeks, Iranians, Jews, Kurds, and Turks. Because the Middle East is a major oil-producing region, it is important economically. It is also a place of political unrest.

Our collection encompasses a wide variety of topics relating to the Middle East, including art and music, biographies, food, geography, history, languages, literature, politics, and religion. We also have books in Hebrew and Urdu.

How do religious practices in the region differ? Why did some oil-producing countries form OPEC? When did the PLO become important? What is the chief language in the Middle East? How do the United States and Great Britian influence the Middle East? Why is there political unrest? Who are some of the most influential leaders of the region? How does Middle Eastern music (art, food) differ from other types of music (art, food)?
 * Questions for Inquiry:**

Keywords:
Middle East, Middle East conflicts, Middle East history, Middle East maps, Middle East politics, Israel, Zionism, Palestine, Israeli-Palestinian conflict, political leaders, terrorism, terrorist groups, Hamas, Abu Nidal, Al Qaeda, Iraq, Syria, Libya, Saddam Hussein, Iraq, Iraqi, Baghdad, Kuwait, Iraq War, Iraq conflict, West Bank, Middle East conflict, Afghan War, Syria, Lebanon, Hesbollah, Gaza, Islam, Muslim, Jewish, Christian

Arab countries; Arab-Israeli conflict; Ancient Egypt; Old Testament Times; Gaza Strip; Anwar Sadat; Ben-Gurion (specific people);Israel; Palestinians; Middle East; Middle East--History; Middle East--Politics and Government; Middle East--Social Life and Customs; Middle East--Maps
 * Subject Headings:**

Dewey Decimal Classification(s):
Ancient Egypt 398 Arab folktales 398 Art 709 Atlas of Bible Land 220.91, 912 Conflicts 956 Cooking 641 Egyptian mythology 299.31 Islam 909, 222, 297 Israel 956.9 Kuwait 953.67 Poetry 811 Political leaders 920 Shi'a Muslims 297.8 Women in the Arab World 305.4, 956

Reference:
Bahat, Dan and Shalom Sabar. __Jerusalem: Stone and Spirit__. New York: Rizzoli, 1997. -Relates art, artifacts, architecture and history of Jerulsalem to the three monotheistic religions.

Breuilly, Elizabeth, Joanne O'Brien and Martin Palmer. __Religions of the World: The Illustrtaed Guide to Origins, Beliefs, Traditions__ __and Festivals__. New York: Facts on File, 1997. (CCD REF 291 BRE) -Explains and explores the principle tenets of contemporary religions including an overview of their earliest roots; higly illustrated

Bunson, Margaret R. __Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt__. New York: Facts on File. 2002. (CCD REF 932.003 BUN) -Coverage includes the period from Egypt's predynastic era to the suicide of Cleopatra and Mark Antony in the face of the Roman conquest in 30 B.C.E. Also includes archaeological discoveries, recent DNA studies of existing mummies and social, religious and political developments.

Freeman, Charles. __The Legacy of Ancient Egypt__. New York: Facts on File, 1997. (CCD REF 932 FRE) -Well-illustrated comprehensive account of the land of kings and queens, officials and craftsmen, archaeologists and tomb-robbers, Greek and Roman influences.

Heine, Peter. __Food Culture in the Near East, Middle East and North Africa__. Westport: Greenwood Press, 2004. (CCD REF 394.12 HEI) Hastings, Adrian, ed. __A World History of Christianity__. Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1999. (CCD REF 270 WOR) -Shows how religious strictures on food and drink continue to play an important role in the eating habits of Muslims, Jews, and Christians.

Werblowsky, R. J. Zwi and Geoffrey Wigoder. __The Oxford Dictionary of the Jewish Religion__. New york: Oxford University Press, 1997. (CCD REF 296 OXF) -Complete one-volume resource with short definitions to lengthy essays on the concepts, beliefs, and practices of historical and contemporary Jewish religions and practices.

Non-fiction:
Daniel, Elton and Ali Mahdi. __Culture and Customs of Iran__. Westport: Greenwood Publishing Group, 2007. (CCD 956 MID) -Culture and Customs of the Middle East

Evans, Martin. __Afghanistan__. New York: Harper Collins Publishers, 2002. (CCD 958.1 EWA) -Afghanistan’s prospects and the immense task of total political and economic reconstruction.

Farsoun, Samih. __Culture and Customs of the Palestinians__. Westport: Greenwood Publishing Group, 2004. (CCD 306 FAR) -Culture and Customs of the Middle East; Historical overview of Palestine.

Flacco, Anthony. __Tiny Dancer: The Incredible True Story of a Young Burn Victim's Journey from Afghanistan__. New York: St. Martin's Press, 2005. (CCD 362.197 FLA) -Story of a nine-year old girl from the remote deserts of Afghanistan who accidentally falls into a kerosine fire while heating water for a bath, survives horrific disfiguring burns but is given a second chance.

Gerges, Fawaz A. __Journey of the Jihadist: Inside Muslim Militancy__. Orlando: Harcourt & Co., 2006. (CCD 322.4 GER) -Reveals who the jihadists are and what they are saying to each other and the world based on interviews with them.

Gheissari, Ali and Vali Nasr. __Democracy in Iran__. New York: Oxford University Press, 2006. (CCD (955.05 GHE) -A history and the quest for liberty in Iran. Call for individual rights and civil liberties.

Goldschmidt, Arthur. __A Concise History of the Middle East__. Colorado: Westview Press, 2006. (CCD 956 GOL) -The latest scholarship and most recent events in the Middle East; An introduction to the history of this turbulent region.

Halkin, Hillel. __Across the Sabbath River: In Search of a Lost Tribe of Israel__. New York: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2002. (CCD 909 HAL) -A modern-day inquiry into the ancient mystery of the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel interweaving biblical and historical accounts.

Leeming, David. __Jealous Gods Chosen People: The Mythology of The Middle East__. New York: Oxford University Press, 2004. (CCD 201 LEE) -Begins with a brief history of the Middle East, an indepth discussion of the mythology of the region and an exploration of mythology of the three monotheistic religions: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.

Long, David. __Culture and Customs of Saudi Arabia__. Westport: Greenwood Publishing Group, 2005. (CCD 306 LON) -Culture and Customs of the Middle East.

Mahdi, Ali Akbar, ed. __Teen Life in the Middle East__. Westport: Greenwood Press, 2003. (CCD 305.23 TEE) -Covers an overview of the countries, a typical day, family life, traditional and nontraditional food dishes, schooling, social life life including fashion, recreation, environment, religious practices and cultural ceremonies as well as resources and pen-pal information.

Nafisi, Azar. __Reading Lolita in Tehran: A Memoir in Books__. New York: Random House, 2003. (CCD 820.9 NAF) -A memoir about teaching Western literature in revolutionary Iran and a view of women's lives there.

Nashat, Guity and Judith E. Tucker. __Women in the Middle East and North Africa__. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1999. (CCD 305.4 NAS) -A history of the role of women in the Middle East and North Africa including a chronology, a glossary and maps.

Spinner, Jackie. __Tell Them I Didn’t Cry__. New York: Scribner, 2006. (CCD 956.704 SPI) -A young journalist’s story of joy, loss, and survival in Iraq; the people of a country in chaos.

Torstrich, Rebecca. __Culture and Customs of Israel__. Westport: Greenwood Publishing Group, 2004. (CCD 306 TOR) -Culture and Customs of the Middle East.

Wakin, Edward. __Contemporary Political Leaders of the Middle East__. New York: Facts on File, 1996. (CCD 920 WAK) -Includes information on Hussein of Jordan, Saddam Hussein, Hafez al-Assad, Hosni Mubarak, Muammar Qaddafi, Yasir Arafat, Yitzhak Rabin and Shimon Peres.

Webster, Matt. __Inside Israeli's Mossad: the Institute for Intelligence and Special Tasks__. New York: The Rosen Publishing Group, Inc., 2003. (CCD 327.175 WEB) -Includes addresses for more information, web sites, a glossay, further reading and a bibliography about Israel and Israeli intelligence.

Fiction:
Abdel-Fattah, Randa. __Does My Head Look Big In This?__ New York: Orchard Books, 2007. (CCD FIC ABD) -Australian-Palestinian girl’s decision to wear the hijab (Muslim head scarf) and being ostracized at school.

Alsanea, Rajaa. __Girls of Riyadh__. New York: The Penguin Press, 2007.

Amirrezvani, Anita. __The Blood of Flowers__. New York: Little Brown and Company, 2007.

Ben Jelloun, Ben. __The Last Friend__. New York: The New Press, 2004. -A coming-of-age story set in Morocco about the complexities and contradictions of a lifelong friendship and a singular threat to its existence.

Gavin, Jamila. __The Blood Stone__. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2003. -For thousands of miles, Filippo embarks on a treacherous journey from Venice to Hindustan to carry a priceless diamond as a ransom for a father he never knew.

Govrin, Michael. __Snapshots__. New York: Penguin, 2007.

Hosseini, Khalid. __The Kite Runner__. New York: Riverhead Books, 2003. -An epic tale of fathers and sons, of friendship and betrayal, that takes the reader from the final days of Afghanistan's monarchy to the atrocities of the present.

Kahf, Mohja. __The Girl in the Tangerine Scarf__. New York: Carrol and Graf Publishers, 2006.

Kaniuk, Yoram. __The Last Jew__. New York: Grove Press, 1982. -A sweeping saga that captures the troubled history and culture of an entire people through the prism of one family.

Khadra, Yasmina. __The Sirens of Baghdad__. New York: Random House, 2006.

Khoury, Elias. __Gate of the Sun__. New York: Archeripelago Books, 2006.

Leshem, Ron. __Beaufuort__. New York: Random House, 2008.

Maalouf, Amin. __Balthasar's Odyssey__. New York: Arcade Publishing, 2000.

Malone, L. K. __Divided Loyalties__. Grand Rapids: Kregel Publications, 2001. -Suspense and intrigue involoving tangled Middle East politics, a terrorist agenda, and secrets that may kill a woman and destroy a nation.

Mandouh, Alia. __Naphtaline: A Novel of Baghdad__. New York: The Feminist Press, 2005.

Parsipur, Shaahvnush. __Tonba and the Meaning of Night__. New York: The Feminist Press, 2000.

Sandell, Lisa. __The Weight of the Sky__. New York: Penguin, 2006. (CCD FIC SAN) -Living in Israel brings new and very real complications.

Serageldin, Samia. __The Cairo House__. New York: Syracuse University Press, 2000.

Sofer, Dalia. __The Septembers of Shiraz__. New York: Harper Collins, 2007.

Biography:
Pazira, Nelofer. __A Bed of Red Flowers__. New York: Free Press, 2000. (CCD B Pazira) -In search of my Afghanistan. Nelofer Pazira’s difficult life in war torn Afghanistan, her family’s sacrifices and escape. The Story of Afghanistan itself.

• Print
Dershowitz, Alan. “Palestinians and the ‘Right of Return’”. __Christian Science Monitor__ 16 April, 2007. Dini, Massimo. "Islam Rising: the Growing Influence of 'God's Fanatics." __World Press Review__ March 1992: 18-20. King, Laura. "A Companion Called Hate Has Torn Their Worlds Apart." __Los Angeles Times__ 1 Aug. 2003, A1+ Lamb, David. "Arab World Sees a Resurgence of Islamic Politics." __Los Angeles Times__ 2 Nov. 2002. Laub, Karin. "AP: Israel Cave Linked to John the Baptist." __Times Argus__ 17 Aug. 2004. Lynch, Marc. “Why US strategy on Iran Crumbling”. __Christian Science Monitor__ 4 January, 2008. Osnos, Evan. "In Kuwait, More Young Arabs Embrace Return to Conservative Islam." __Chicago Tribune__ 19 July 2004. Slackman, Michael. “Who Killed Rafik Hariri? Searching for the Truth in the Middle East”. __New York Times__ 18 December, 2005. Stack, Megan. “In Saudi Arabia, a view from behind the veil”. __Los Angeles__ __Times__ 6 June, 2006 Wolf, Richard. “Bush finds no quick solutions in Middle East”. __USA__ __Today__ 16 January, 2008. ===
 * Online:
 * Databases:***Gale Databases: Opposing Viewpoints, Student Resource Center Gold, History Resource Center
 * Novel: Infotrac., Jr., Custom Newspapers, Gale Virtual Reference Library, Topic Search
 * ProQuest: SIRS Researcher Online, Historical New York Times
 * ProQuest: SIRS Researcher Online, Historical New York Times

Web Sites:
//Arab News// [|http://arabnews.com] 01/01/07 -Published in Saudi Arabia, //Arab News// claims to be the leading English-language daily newspaper in the Middle East. Has Local News, Opinions and Arab View sections, Islam section, as well as regional sports, business, technological developments.

//Encyclopaedia of the Orient: Arab Republic of Syria// http://i-cias.com/e.o/syria.htm -Part of the Encyclopaedia of the Orient explores Syria's political situation, economy, health and education, religion and peoples, and history.

//Fog of War// [|01/01/07|http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/inatl/longterm/fogofwar/fogofwar.htm]01/01/07 -The Washington Post offers an overview of the Perian Gulf War and what it did and did not accomplish.

//Global Connections: the Middle East// http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/globalconnections/mideast/ 01/01/07 -Learn about culture, economy, politics, science and technology, religion and geography. This PBS site has thoughtful essays and an interactive timeline that traces key events from 1900 to the present. Teacher resources are available.

//Historyteacher.net// http://historyteacher.net/GloballStudies/MiddleEast 01/01/07 -compiled by Susan Pojer, a history teacher, this site offers links covering culture, history, current issues, geography, and politics.

//Jewish Virtual Library// [|http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org] 01/01/07 -Topics include the basic concepts of Judaism, Jewish history, practiceand rituals, prayers, religious movements, information about Israel.

//University of Texas Libraries: Middle East Maps// http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/middleeast.html 01/01/07 -Houses one of the most comprehensive map collections in the world including current political maps and historical maps of the middle East.

Videos/DVDs:
//Globe Trekker: Middle East//. Pilot Productions, 2004. //Mysteries of Egypt//. C.A.V. Distribution, 1999. //Image Crisis: How is the U.S. Viewed in the Middle East?// ABC News Nightline. Films for the Humanities & Sciences, 2004. //The Middle East: Land of Contrast//. Discovery School, 2004. //Music of the Middle East//. Educational Video Network, 2006. //Mystery of the Holyland//: //The Secrets of the Pyramids//. Prod. David Goldstein. DOKO Communications, 1986. //In the Mix: Voices from Iraq//. CastleWorks, Inc., 1996. //United States History: The Middle East.// Schlessinger Media, 2001.
 * //The Fall of Great Empires: The Egyptian Empire//. Schlessinger Media, 2004.

Community Resources:
American Sephardic Federation 212 294-8350 //Sephardic Voices in Israeli Cinema (February)// Center for Jewish History 212 294-8301 15 West 16th St. New York, NY 10011

Brooklyn Museum 718 638-5000 200 Eastern Parkway Large Egyptian exhibit - ongoing Brooklyn, NY 11238-6052 //Magic in Ancient Egypt: Image, World, Reality// (12/22/06-08/12/07)

Metropolitan Museum of Art 212 535-7710 1000 Fifth Ave at 82nd St Over 551 works of art and artifacts from the Middle East New York, NY 10028-0198

Curriculum Standards Related to This Topic:
New York State Learning Standards: Language Arts http://www.emsc.nysed.gov/nysatl/engstand.html