The Middle East Studies Association Bulletin is a biannual publication of the Middle East Studies Association of North America, Inc., issued in Winter and Summer. Views expressed in the Bulletin are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of the Association. Copyright, 1999 by the Middle East Studies Association of North America, Inc. Printed in the United States of America. Distributed by the Cambridge University Press ISSN 0026-3184

Middle East Studies Association Bulletin
Volume 33 Number 2 Winter 1999

Table of Contents

Editorial 153
The Roots of Zionist Culture Baruch Kimmerling 154
Suspicion and Fear of Dominance: Possible Outcomes of the Arab-Israeli Peace Process Ahmad S. Moussalli 160
The Changing Face of Medieval Near Eastern Studies: Challenges and Strategies Josef W. Meri 164

BOOK REVIEWS

Language and Literature

Abdul Wahab al-Bayati, Love, Death & Exile (Clarissa Burt) 169
S.  A. Bonebakker & Michael Fishbein, eds., A Reader of Classical Arabic Literature (Roger Allen) 170
Mahmoud Darwish, Memory for Forgetfulness: August, Beirut, 1982 (Clarissa Burt) 171
Terri DeYoung, Placing the Poet: Badr Shakir al-Sayyab and Post colonial Iraq (Ferial J. Ghazoul) 172
Ferial Ghazoul & John Verlenden, Quartet of Joy: Poems by Muhammed Afifi Matar (Yahya Frederickson) 174
Mai Ghoussoub, Leaving Beirut: Women and the Wars Within (Miriam Cooke) 175
Nawal El Saadawi, The Nawal El Saadawi Reader (Mary Johnson Osirim) 176
Persis M. Karim & Mohammad Mehdi Khorrami, A World Between: Poems, Short Stories and Essays by Iranian Americans (Dick Davis) 178
Ahmad Karimi-Hakkak, Recasting Persian Poetry: Scenarios of Poetic Modernity in Iran (Zjaleh Hajibashi) 179
Matti Moosa, The Origins of Modern Arabic Fiction (Samah Selim) 180
Karin C. Ryding, ed., Early Medieval Arabic: Studies on al-Khalîl ibn Ahmad (Hilary Kilpatrick) 182

Religion, Philosophy & Law

Imad-Ad-Dean Ahmed & Ahmed Yousef, eds., Islam and the West: A Dialog (Abdullah Al-Faqih) 183
Suliman Bashear, Arabs and Others in Early Islam (Paula Sanders) 184
Sebastian P. Brock & Susan Ashbrook Harvey, trans., Holy Women of the Syrian Orient (Marlis J. Saleh) 185
Arthur F. Buehler, Sufi Heirs of the Prophet: The Indian Naqshbandiyya and the Rise of the Mediating Sufi Shaykh (Dina Le Gall) 186
Abraham Halkin, trans., Epistles of Maimonides: Crisis and Leadership (Josef W. Meri) 187
Fereydoun Hoveyda, The Broken Crescent: The "Threat" of Militant Islamic Fundamentalism (Farhang Rouhani) 189
Charles Kurzman, ed., Liberal Islam: A Sourcebook (Robert D. Lee) 190
Ella Landau-Tasseron, trans., The History of al-Tabarî: Biographies of the Prophet’s Companions and Their Successors (Asma Afsaruddin) 191

Archaeology and the Classic World

David Graf, Rome and the Arabian Frontier: From the Nabataeans to the Saracens (Robert E. Schick) 192
T. G. H. James, A Short History of Ancient Egypt from Predynastic to Roman Times (Victoria Erhart) 194

Pre-Modern History

Dionisius A. Agiius & Ian Richard Netton, eds., Across the Mediterranean Frontiers: Trade, Politics and Religion, 650-1450 (Deborah Allison Kaye)  196
Shlomo Deshen & Walter P. Zenner, Jews Among Muslims: Communities in the Precolonial Middle East (Deborah Wheeler) 197
Miriam Hoexter, Endowments, Rulers, and Community: Waqf al-Haramayn in Ottoman Algiers (Mine Ener) 198
Hugh Kennedy, Muslim Spain and Portugal: A Political History of al-Andalus (Jane Arons) 200
Jonathan N. Lipman, Familiar Strangers: A History of Muslims in Northwest China (Kathryn Libal) 201
Thomas Philipp & Ulrich Haarmann, eds.  The Mamluks in Egyptian Politics and Society (Leonor Fernandes) 202
Ayman Fuad Sayyid, La capitale de l’Égypte jusqu’à l’époque fatimide, al-Qahira et al-Fustat.  Essai de réconstitution topographique (Gladys Frantz-Murphy) 204
Desmond Stewart, Great Cairo: Mother of the World (Ethel Sara Wolper) 205
Daniel Martin Varisco, Medieval Folk Astronomy and Agriculture in Arabia and the Yemen (William F. Tucker) 206

Modern History

Michael J. Cohen & Martin Kolinsky, eds., Demise of the British Empire in the Middle East: Britain’s Response to Nationalist Movements (Paul Kingston) 207
Selim Deringil, The Well-Protected Domains: Ideology and the Legitimation of Power in the Ottoman Empire, 1878-1909 (Mahmoud Haddad) 208
Ivor Lucas, A Road to Damascus: Mainly Diplomatic Memoirs from the Middle East (Ralph H. Magnus) 210
Martin Stone, The Agony of Algeria (Azzedine Layachi) 211
Stephen Ely Tabachnik, T. E. Lawrence Revised (Timothy Warren) 212
Mohamed Tozy, Monarchie et Islam politique au Maroc (John P. Entelis) 213
Fred Wehling, Irresolute Princes: Kremlin Decision Making in Middle East Crises, 1967-1973 (Bill Miller) 215

Modern Politics

Latif Abdul-Husn, The Lebanese Conflict: Looking Inward (Gerges Corm) 216
Musa S. Braizat, The Jordanian-Palestinian Relationship: The Bankruptcy of the Confederal Idea (Marc Lynch) 217
Andrew Davison, Secularism and Revivalism in Turkey: A Hermeneutic (Dane Kusiæ) 219
Jama Mohamed Ghalib, The Cost of Dictatorship: The Somali Experience (Lee Cassanelli) 220
Steven Greffenius, The Logic of Conflict: Making War and Peace in the Middle East (Stuart Gottlieb) 221
Mohamed Elhachmi Hamdi, The Politicisation of Islam: A Case Study of Tunisia (Stephen J. King) 223
Ole Hoiris & Sefa Martin Yurukel, eds., Contrasts and Solutions in the Middle East (Alev Çýnar) 224
Efraim Inbar & Shmuel Sandler, eds., Middle Eastern Security: Prospects for an Arms Control Regime (Houchang Hassan-Yari) 225
Jamil E. Jreisat, Politics Without Process: Administering Development in the Arab World (Bruce Stanley) 226
David W. Lesch, ed., The Middle East and the United States: A Political Reassessment (Michael Barnett) 228
David Menashri, ed., Central Asia Meets the Middle East (Kyle T. Evered) 229
Peter Adwok Nyaba, The Politics of Liberation in South Sudan: An Insider’s View (Ann M. Lesch) 230
Nazih Richani, Dilemmas of Democracy and Political Parties in Sectarian Societies: The Case of the PSP in Lebanon (Clovis Maksoud) 231
Libby Rittenberg, ed., The Political Economy of Turkey in the Post-Soviet Era: Going West and Looking East?  (Bülent Uyar) 233
Jamal S. al-Suwaidi, Iran and the Gulf: A Search for Stability (Talal S. Hattar) 234
A. Reza Sheikholeslami, The Structure of Central Authority in Qajar Iran, 1871-1896 (Mohamad Tavakoli-Targhi) 236
David Wurmer, Tyranny’s Ally (Daniel Byman) 237

Israel & the Arab World

Michael T. Benson, Harry S. Truman and the Founding of Israel (David Waldner) 238
John Bunzl, Between Vienna and Jerusalem: Reflections and Polemics on Austria, Israel, and Palestine (Edwin R. Micewski) 239
Yair Evron, Israel’s Nuclear Dilemma (Rolin G. Mainuddin) 241
Hillel Frisch, Countdown to Statehood: Palestinian State Formation in the West Bank and Gaza (Glenn E. Robinson) 242
Yaacov Iram & Mirjam Schmida, The Educational System of Israel: Contributions to the Study of Education (Maureen Ann Hogan) 243
Victor Israelyan, Inside the Kremlin During the Yom Kippur War (Oles M. Smolansky) 245
Efraim Karsh, ed., Between War and Peace: Dilemmas of Israeli Security (Abdelwahab Hechiche) 246
Zach Levey, Israel and the Western Powers, 1952-1960 (Richard B. Parker) 247
Yoram Meital, Egypt’s Struggle for Peace: Continuity and Change, 1967-1977 (Joel Gordon) 249
Susan Slyomovics, The Object of Memory: Arab and Jew Narrate the Palestinian Village (Shira Robinson) 250

Anthropology, Sociology & Women’s Studies

 
Nasrine Abou-Bakre Gross, Qassarikh-e Malalay or Khaterat-e Awaleen Leessa-ye Dokhtaran-e Afghanistan (Khatera Habibzai) 251
Elizabeth Warnock Fernea, In Search of Islamic Feminism: One Woman’s Global Journey (Cecelia Hitte) 252
Yvonne Hazbek Haddad & John L. Esposito, Islam, Gender and Social Change (Elizabeth W. Fernea) 253
Homa Hoodfar, Between Marriage and the Market: Intimate Politics and Survival in Cairo (Dina M. Siddiqi) 255
Haifaa A. Jawad, The Rights of Women in Islam: An Authentic Approach (Ann Elizabeth Mayer) 256
Valentine M. Moghadam, Women, Work, and Economic Reform in the Middle East and North Africa (Nahid Aslanbeigui) 257
Elizabeth Özdalga, The Veiling Issue, Official Secularism and Popular Islam in Modern Turkey (Zehra Gülbahar) 259
Ghada Hashem Talhami, The Mobilization of Muslim Women in Egypt (Marilyn Booth) 260
Judith Tucker, ed., Arab Women: Old Boundaries, New Frontiers (Shiva Balaghi) 261
Coping with Dynamics of Culture and Change: Sudanese Refugees in East Africa and Internally Displaced Persons in Southern Sudan (Ann M. Lesch) 263
Islam & Equality: Debating the Future of Women’s and Minority Rights in the Middle East and North Africa (Ann Elizabeth Mayer) 264
   

Art, Culture & Society

 

Fouad Ajami, The Dream Palace of the Arabs: A Generation’s Odyssey (Denis J. Sullivan)

265
miriam cooke, Women and the War Story (Susan Slyomovics) 266
Ali Gheissari, Iranian Intellectuals in the 20th Century (Negin Nabavi) 268
Martin Kramer, ed., Middle East Lectures II (Robert Looney) 269
Thomas E. Mathews & Roger S. Wieck, eds., Treasures in Heaven: Armenian Art, Religion, and Society (Stephen H. Rapp, Jr.) 270
Nissim Rejwan, Arabs Face the Modern World (Nada Saab) 271
Gregory Starrett, Putting Islam to Work: Education, Politics, and Religious Transformation in Egypt (Lisa Pollard) 272
Linda S. Walbridge, Without Forgetting the Imam: Lebanese Shicism in an American Community (Rula Abisaab) 274
   

Water & the Environment

 
Jeff Albert, Magnus Bernhardsson, & Roger Kenna, eds, Transformations of Middle Eastern Natural Environments: Legacies and Lessons (John Kolars) 276
J. A. Allan & Chibli Mallat, eds., Water in the Middle East: Legal, Political, and Commercial Implications (Alwyn R. Rouyer) 277
Sharif S. Elmusa, Water Conflict: Economics, Politics, Law and the Palestinian-Israeli Water Resources (Miriam R. Lowi) 278
Susan H. Lees, The Political Ecology of the Water Crisis in Israel (Sarah P. Voll) 279
Miriam R. Lowi, Water and Power: The Politics of a Scarce Resource in the Jordan Basin (Sharif S. Elmusa) 281
Greg Shapland, Rivers of Discord: International Water Disputes in the Middle East (Hilal Elver) 282
   

Resources

 
Dilip Hiro, Dictionary of the Middle East (Malek Abisaab) 283
Eden Naby & Michael E. Hopper, eds., The Assyrian Experience: Sources for the Study of the 19th and 20th Centuries from the Holdings of the Harvard University Libraries (Bruce Masters) 284
Ronald Bruce St.  John, Historical Dictionary of Libya, Third Edition (Dirk Vandewalle) 285
   

Audiovisuals

 
Celebrating the Prophet in the Remembrance of God: Sufi Dhikr in Egypt (Christopher S. Taylor) 287
Mahmud Darwich: As the Land is the Language (Miriam Cooke) 288
Makolet (Grocery Store) (Dianne Lynn Chidester) 289
Water for Arid Regions: Caring for Our Vital Resources (Ellen-Fairbanks Bodman) 290
Mahmud Darwich: As the Land is the Language (Louisa Moffit) 291
   

In Memoriam

293
Eqbal Ahmad (Ahmad Dallal)
Ulrich Haarmann (Bruce D. Craig)
 

Financial Report

296

                                Cover: Fountain in a public garden in Abu Dhabi, June 1994 (Photo by A. M. Lesch)