"Inside Fallujah: The Unembedded Story" by Ahmed Mansour, al-Jazeera reporter

"Inside Fallujah: The Unembedded Story" by Ahmed Mansour, al-Jazeera reporter
Live Branch Press, Interlink Publishing, www.Interlinkbooks.com
Softcover, 2009, 369 pages


For all the reasons that Americans rushed to war with Iraq, years following the al-Qaeda terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, and for all the brutality of the insurgents and terrorists who migrated to Iraq to fight the March 19, 2003 invasion, none of that compares to the brutality of war crimes inflicted by the American forces in Iraq. And no single city or sequence of Iraq battles has come to symbolize more clearly the war crimes of the Bush administration that the events in Fallujah in 2004.


Ahmed Mansour, a journalist of impeccable credentials working for al-Jazeera Satellite Television -- which has been demonized in the pro-Iraq war propaganda fed to naive Americans stung by the devastation of the 9/11 terrorism and loss of nearly 3,000 American lives -- provides a firsthand account of the American war crimes committed not against terrorists, insurgents or even al-Qaeda disciples, but rather war crimes committed against the very civilian population the Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, Iraq "Civil Governor" J. Paul Bremer, and others leading two military assaults against the civilian Iraqi city of Fallujah. Fallujah sits 35 miles west of Baghdad along the Euphrates River.


The United States military was transformed into a lynch mob vigilante organization sent in to punish the 300,000 citizens of Fallujah in early 2004 when four paid mercenaries employed by Blackwater, since described as a terrorist organization whose members that routinely murdered civilians and plundered Iraqi resources. The four killers arrogantly drove through the city one morning only to been targeted by the growing anger of Fallujah residents who had witnessed war crime after war crime in the prior year by American forces.


The four mercenaries of Blackwater -- which has since changed its name to shake-off its terrorist past -- were, once killed, mutilated and dragged through the city's streets in expression of citizen anger that had mounted for more than one year. The citizens of Fallujah, like many other Iraqi cities, despised the former dictator Saddam Hussein who also brutalized their country. But to have foreign soldiers come in and commit worse crimes from the theft of Iraq's resources to the outright murder of men, women and children -- and the rape of many women -- provoked some Fallujans to vent against the dead mercenaries.


The image of the mercenaries being dragged through the streets after being killed on March 31, 2004 prompted the United States military and Bush administration to inflict an assault driven by vengeance. But the actions of the citizens of Fallujah i desecrating the killed mercenaries was a direct to the war crimes committed by Blackwater mercenaries and US Marines in Fallujah and throughout Iraq over the prior year. In fact, most of the atrocities committed against Iraqis were either swept under a bureaucratic occupation rug, denigrated as untrue without investigation, or, when soldiers were identified after months and even years of foot-dragging investigation, the punishment was usually a slap in the hand with the killers championed and cheered in the American media.


But there never was any consideration for the feelings or rights of the people of Iraq and especially for the citizens of Fallujah.


Ahmed Mansour was in Fallujah when American forces surrounded the city, began their military sweep of the city firing on anyone on the street from adults to children, killing hundreds. But the Fallujans fought back and handed the American soldiers a devastating and embarrassing military defeat.


American forces returned months later with a determination to kill anyone who remotely looked like a terrorist threat, quoting one American military officer: "If I see someone who looks like a martyr driving at high speed toward my unit, I will send him to Allah before he gets close," explained Lt. Col. Mike Ramos as he prepared to lead his soldiers into the punitive revenge assault to reclaim American "honor" and control over the city. The outrageous language and disrespect for Islam reflected in Ramos' incendiary comments only fueled the civilians who fought to defend themselves against American war crimes.


Ahmed Mansour, who was singled out for invective by Rumsfeld and the Bush administration for his detailed and factual reporting that exposed the lie of the American "salvation of Iraq," details not only the two battles, but puts the war in a context that is more complete that the pro-military propaganda narrative advanced by many in the embedded and obsequious mainstream American media; many American journalists turned their cameras and professional journalism away from American military war crimes to protect the military invasion/occupation or maybe their own integrity.


In the months before and years after, Mansour has documented countless cases of war crimes, looting, and violations of the International Rule of Law that were skirted to allow the anger of American soldiers to drive them to achieve any goal in the phony war against "al-Qaeda." Al-Qaeda eventually did come to iraq but only at the invitation of the Bush Administration.


It is a painful book to read as Mansour spares no detail in putting the significance of Fallajuh in proper historical context. It may be one of the most significant battles fought in the Iraq War and it played a significant role in denying victory to American forces which have been mired there now for more than 6 years with little to show for their efforts except a continually growing casualty count in terms of deaths, disabilities and costs.


Americans who might want to know the truth about Fallajuh should read this book. Although the stories are powerful and shameful -- as an American who served in the U.S. military during the Vietnam War -- but Mansour was careful to balance the stories and put them in proper context. There was evil on all sides, but in many instances, actions took place that were the result of human failing. Not everything was on par with the war crimes committed by al-Qaeda or the Bush administration in Iraq.


Truth is the only foundation that guarantees a nation's security. You cannot have security based on a lie. The threat of terrorism will always remain against the United States as long as the American public refuses to acknowledge the truth of Iraq -- President Bush lying about the Weapons of Mass Destruction, the Nuclear Arms and threats from Saddam Hussein, and cloaking the war crimes of some members of the U.S. Marines and the Blackwater terrorist mercenary organization. 


Behind the smiles and pride they exude, deep down many American soldiers know the shame of this war. But of all the battles, the 2004 assault on the civilians of Fallujah stands as the symbol of the immorality of the American invasion of Iraq. And yet, the actions of the civilians of Fallujah also stand as an icon to resistance against tyranny, demagoguery, and war crimes, the worst the world has seen in this new millennium since Sept. 11, 2001.


The real threat that Bush and many defenders of the war crimes in Iraq fear is the truth that Ahmed Mansour and al-Jazeera present to the world that may one day reach the shores of the United States population and free the American mind from its own self-imposed imprisonment.


If nothing else, Mansours book should be entered in as the first batch of evidence in a war crimes tribunal that should, under the rule of international law, be convened to prosecute Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Bremer and others who engaged in this outrage called the War in Iraq.


Ahmed Mansour represents the absolute finest in Middle East and Arab Journalism.


-- Ray Hanania
www.RadioChicagoland.com

New Book: What's Wrong with the One State Agenda? by Hussein Ibish

ATFP presents a new Task Force book publication:

What’s Wrong with the One-State Agenda?

Why Ending the Occupation and Peace with Israel is Still the Palestinian National Goal
by ATFP Senior Fellow Hussein Ibish

In this new book, Dr. Ibish examines the arguments generally put forward by Palestinian and other Arab American proponents of abandoning the goal of ending the occupation and establishing a Palestinian state and instead seeking to promote a single, democratic state in all of Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories. The book also looks at differences between the deployment of the one-state idea by some Palestinian figures in the occupied territories as a diplomatic "threat" intended to spur greater Israeli seriousness about a negotiated agreement and the diasporic discourse that drives most one-state rhetoric. Finally, Dr. Ibish explains in some detail why ending the occupation and peace with Israel, while difficult to achieve and thus far elusive, are the only plausible and practicable Palestinian national strategy.

The book also includes a preface by ATFP President Ziad J. Asali.

For more information visit www.AmericanTaskForce.org

Zeitoun: a fascinating look at an Arab American experience during Hurricane Katrina

During the coverage of Hurricane Katrina, I recall writing about the Muslims living in New Orleans who were among those devasted by the conflict. No one really wrote about them. The only time anyone writes about Arabs and Muslims is when there is some negative controversy and we are being attacked and criticized.

Recently, I picked up a copy of the book by Dave Eggers called "Zeitoun," the story of one American Arab from Syria married to an American wife and their experience during Hurricane Katrina. I am working through it -- it's a bit labored in the bigeninning but the writing is starting to loosen up with the story.

The most disturbing part fot he book is not Egger's fault, but a fault of American society and the media that covers American Arabs. The mainstream news media does not "see" American Arabs any more as a community. Rather, we have been morphed into the larger community of Muslims. All Arabs are Muslims. Christian Arabs don't exist or create a blimp on the radar screen. Although Eggers approaches it from the narrative of a writer documenting the life of a family, the Muslim character of the story's protagonists seem to trump the Arab side of the experience.

Despite some issues I have with the way we in America approach stories about American Arabs -- wanting to cast them as Muslims in a religious conflict between Islam and the West rather than as a more natural relationship between Americans, the West and the Arab World -- this is a must read book. Well written. And one of the only efforts to document an aspect of Hurricane Katrina that impacted many American Arabs that was ignored by most of the media.

I urge you to buy it and read it. I am finishing it now.

Here is an interview with the author published in the Pittsvurgh Post Gazette on why he wrote the book and some background. Click to read the full interview.

Excerpt from interview:

"Zeitoun" is the story of Abdulrahman Zeitoun, a Syrian-American Muslim
living in New Orleans who was incarcerated with no due process in the aftermath
of Hurricane Katrina. But the majority of folks affected by Katrina were
African-American. Why did you choose this story?

A: Before Katrina, there were 10,000 Muslims in New Orleans, so it's not so
rare. Coverage of Katrina has rightfully focused on the effect of negligence and
inaction and the latent effects of systemic neglect and racism that gave rise to
what happened to the largely black population of New Orleans, (but) I hope that
there are dozens more (books) that represent the city and its mosaic.

-- Ray Hanania
www.RadioChicagoland.com

Inside Fallujah: The Unembedded Story, by Ahmed Mansour

Newly released from InterLink Publishing: Inside Fallujah: The Unembedded Story by journalist Ahmed Mansour

Fallujah first entered America’s public consciousness on March 31, 2004, following the murder of four Blackwater USA security guards. During the subsequent April siege of the city by US troops, all roads entering Fallujah were blocked, but one courageous journalist, Ahmed Mansour of al-Jazeera, was able to slip through with his crew.

The images they broadcast during the six-day siege shocked the world, showing the excessive use of force by US troops, the heartless destruction of a city that had previously resisted the US occupation, and the unedited brutality of the Iraq war as seen by unembedded media. Inside Fallujah: The Unembedded Story, by Ahmed Mansour, tells the terrifying story of what it was like to be inside Fallujah during Operation Vigilant Resolve.

The second half of the book deals with the political fall-out from Mansour’s coverage of the siege. Journalism during the Iraq war had already been the subject of criticism, both for the practice of embedding journalists and the incredibly high number of journalists killed, wounded, or kidnapped in the conflict. Following his dispatches from inside Fallujah, Mansour, a respected veteran journalist who covered the Soviet–Afghan war and the Bosnian war, became a target of the Bush administration; several al-Jazeera bureaus were bombed by the US; and five months after the siege, the Baghdad bureau was closed under orders from the occupation-friendly interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi.

Blending his personal account of the first battle of Fallujah with the politics of the Iraq war, the Bush administration’s determination to remove Mansour from the city, the repression of freedom of the press in Iraq, and the harrowing, heartbreaking stories of Fallujah’s residents, Mansour’s Inside Fallujah is a gripping account of one of the most controversial battles of the Iraq war.

Best of Mahmoud Darwish published in "Almond Blossoms ad Beyond"

Interlink Publishing Group, Inc.
46 Crosby Street • Northampton MA 01060-1804
Tel: (413) 582 7054 • Fax: (413) 582 7057
Publicity Contact: Moira Megargee, extension 202
mmegargee@interlinkbooks.com • www.interlinkbooks.com

Almond Blossoms and Beyond
by Mahmoud Darwish
translated by Mohammad Shaheen

“A brilliant poet—certainly the most gifted of his generation in the Arab world.”
—Edward Said

Almond Blossoms and Beyond is one of the last collections of poetry that the internationally acclaimed Palestinian exile poet Mahmoud Darwish left to the world. Composed of brief lyric poems and the magnificent sustained Exile cycle, Almond Blossoms and Beyond holds an important place in Darwish’s unparalleled oeuvre. It distills his late style, in which, though the specter of death looms and weddings turn to funerals, he threads the pulses and fragilities and beauties of life into the lines of his poems. Their liveliness is his own response to the collection’s final call to bid “Farewell / Farewell, to the poetry of pain.”

Mahmoud Darwish, (1941–2008) born in the village of al-Birweh, Palestine, authored over two dozen volumes of poetry and prose. When he died last summer, he was mourned throughout the world as the voice of the Palestinian people and the author of their official declaration of independence, and most importantly, a poet of the highest invention and beauty.

Mohammad Shaheen holds a PhD in English literature from Cambridge University. He is a professor of English at the University of Jordan where he teaches literary criticism, 20th-Century English, and Comparative Literature. He is the author of many articles and books, including E.M. Forster and the Politics of Imperialism and The Modern Arabic Short Story: Shahrazad Returns.

Almond Blossoms and Beyond
by Mahmoud Darwish, translated by Mohammad Shaheen
Interlink Books, an imprint of Interlink Publishing Group, Inc.
Poetry • 6” x 9” • 128 pages
ISBN 978-1-56656-755-8 • $25.00 hardback

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A Country Called Amreeka -- adds real depth to the image of the Arabs

I am working my way through an excellent dratf of "A Country Call Amreeka" and I find so much that touches on my own life as an American Arab.

Here's some information on the book from the publishers. I urge you to read it

-- Ray Hanania

www.RadioChicagoland.com

What does American history look and feel like in the eyes and skin of Arab Americans? There are an estimated 3.5 million Arab Americans living in the United States today. Since 9/11, they have become the object of relentless scrutiny and suspicion, yet little is known or understood about them. For example, current statistics show that most Arab Americans (75%) are NOT Muslims, and most Muslims in America (76%) are NOT Arab.

In A COUNTRY CALLED AMREEKA: Arab Roots, American Stories (Free Press; October 6, 2009; $25.00), Syrian-American civil right lawyer Alia Malek weaves the stories of the Arab-American community into the story of America, using lively and moving narratives of real people who have lived history all around the country. “Infectiously readable,” says Her Majesty Queen Noor of Jordan, “the profiles in A COUNTRY CALLED AMREEKA add character and texture to the history of the Arab-American community, challenging every tired stereotype and giving us new insight into what it means to be an Arab American today.”

Organized around a central timeline of events that are important from an Arab-American perspective, each chapter corresponds to one event and one Arab American, allowing readers to live that moment in history in the skin of an individual Arab American. Readers come away understanding the effect of these events not only on their vicarious guides, but also on the shaping of an entire community. From the Birmingham, Alabama church bombing in 1963 to the 2003 US invasion of Iraq, the book introduces an ensemble cast that represents the diversity within Arab America itself. There are Christians and Muslims; naturalized and native-born citizens; Southerners, Midwesterners, East Coasters, West Coasters, and Texans; urban, suburban, and rural residents; Lebanese, Syrians, Jordanians, Palestinians, Egyptians, and Yeminis, women and men; rich and poor; adults and children; lovers and fighters. “The purpose is not to separate them out,” says Malek, “but to fold their experience into the mosaic of American history and deepen our understanding of who we Americans are.”

A civil rights lawyer, Alia Malek has worked both in the U.S. and the Middle East. She also holds a Masters in Journalism from Columbia University. An accomplished speaker and writer on ethnicity and race in America, her work has appeared on Salon.com, in The New York Times, The Columbia Journalism Review, and has been featured on National Public Radio and MSNBC.

For more information on A COUNTRY CALLED AMREEKA, or to arrange an interview with Alia Malek, please contact me at 212-698-1252 or jill.siegel@simonandschuster.com.

Advance Praise for Alia Malek’s

A COUNTRY CALLED AMREEKA

(Free Press; October 6, 2009)

"Alia Malek's impassioned and harrowing set of profiles of Arab-Americans gives vitality and resonance to a cause that is dear to my heart: fostering cross-cultural understanding and respect. Infectiously readable, the profiles in A Country Called Amreeka add character and texture to the history of the Arab-American community, challenging every tired stereotype and giving us new insight into what it means to be an Arab-American today. This book gives us the faces behind the names, and tells the story of a community that both enriches and embraces the American fabric. A Country Called Amreeka, and the Americans who inhabit it, are remarkable."

—Her Majesty Queen Noor of Jordan, author of A Leap of Faith: Memoir of an Unexpected Life

“If you’re not an Arab-American, then it’s really imperative for you to read this fascinating book. You couldn’t ask for a more informative, engaging, and provocative introduction to millions of our fellow citizens. From football star to soldier, from gay activist to union leader, cheerleader, minister, Democrat, Republican, Christian, Muslim – Alia Malek brings the entire spectrum of Arab America to vivid, three-dimensional life.”

—Samuel G. Freedman, author of Letters to a Young Journalist and Jew vs. Jew: The Struggle for the Soul of American Jewry

“In a beautifully rendered work, Alia Malek succeeds in a challenging task: restoring humanity to a community too long buffeted by the vagaries of chauvinism, bias and ignorance. Her book, written with wit, compassion and insight, is at once timeless, in its telling of immigrants in America, and unique, in its exploration of the diversity of the Arab-American community. In the end, A Country Called Amreeka is a stirring story of humor, loss, love and triumph.”

—Anthony Shadid, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Night Draws Near: Iraq’s People in the Shadow of

America’s War

“Alia Malek's A Country Called Amreeka is a unique, engaging portrayal of Arab American lives. Malek deftly combines the genres of biography, history, memoir, and commentary to produce a story of Arab Americans that is nearly impossible to put down. Malek takes the reader on multiple journeys, from the Arab World to the American heartland, all the while introducing us to lovable, quirky, diverse characters who all have in common a desire to find comfortable spaces in A Country Called Amreeka. Malek does not romanticize or vilify Arab Americans. She presents them in all their complex lifeways and worldviews. The result is a book of great imagination and unusual depth.”

—Steven Salaita, author of Anti-Arab Racism in the USA: Where it Comes From and What it Means for Politics and The Uncultured Wars: Arabs, Muslims and the Poverty of Liberal Thought

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Sheik Zayed Book Awards nominations end Sept. 15

Sheikh Zayed Book Award’ fourth year witnesses record number of nominations to date

Abu Dhabi, July 29, 2009 – The Sheikh Zayed Book Award, one of the world's most prestigious and well-funded prizes, has received a record number of nominations to date for its fourth session of 2009/2010. The Award has received a major 230 nominations that met the initial conditions, according to Mr. Rashed Al Oraimi, The Secretary General of Sheikh Zayed Book Award.

Mr. Al Oraimi elaborated that the nominations were distributed among all of the Award’s nine categories. The category of “Best Contribution to the Development of the Country” came first with 26.3% of the total nominations received to date, while the categories of “Literature” and “The Young Author” followed closely with 25.4% and 22.5% of total respectively. The Award also received varying number of nominations in the rest of its categories, including Children’s Literature, Translation, Literature, Fine Arts, Best Technology in the Field of Culture, Best Publishing and Distribution House, and Cultural Personality of the Year.

Commenting on the results, Mr. Al Oraimi said: “ We hope that this massive flow of nominations continue until the closing date - September 15^th,2009- and we are definite that such contributions will heat up the race towards winning the Sheikh Zayed Book Awards 2010.”

A total of 20 countries contributed to this year’s session of Award so far, of which are 17 Arab countries, including UAE, KSA, Kuwait, Bahrain, Yemen, Jordan, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Palestine, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Sudan and Somalia. In addition, the Award received nominations from the United States of America, Germany and Turkey.

-End-

Notes to the Editor

About the Award

The Sheikh Zayed Book Award is an independent cultural award established under the patronage and support of the Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture and Heritage. The award was established in memory of Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan, who served as the ruler of Abu Dhabi and president of the UAE for more than 30 years. The award comprises a total monetary prize value of seven million UAE dirhams. Each prize consists of a gold medal bearing the Sheikh Zayed Book Award logo, a certificate of merit and a cash reward.

The award recognizes cultural achievement across one of the broadest and most diverse areas of any cultural awards internationally, including:

1. Contribution to the Development of the Country Award

Open to works in the fields of economics, sociology, management, politics, law and theology that contribute to the country’s advancement

2. Children’s Literature Award

Open to literary and cultural works addressing various children’s groups.

3. Young Author Award

Open to scientific, literary or cultural works produced by authors younger than 40 years

4. Translation Award

Open to translated works, either to or from Arabic

5. Literature Award

Open to works across various categories of literature including poetry, stories, novels and plays, research addressing literary theories, creative writings or works of criticism

6. Fine Arts Award

Open to books about various forms of art such as music, cinema, architecture, plastic art, calligraphy, painting, sculpture, photography and digital arts

7. Best Technology in the Field of Culture Award

Recognizes written or digital works and researches which promote the Arabic language.

8. Publishing and Distribution Award

Open to publishers, distributors, agents and research institutions which produce a diverse range of texts printed to the highest standard in the Arabic language.

9. Cultural Personality of the Year Award

Honors a prominent Arab or international figure who has contributed to the advancement of the Arabic culture, embodies through his/her work tolerance and promotes peaceful coexistence

For further information please contact:

Karin Aghadjanian

Communication and press

Mobile +971 508343823

Email: Karin.a@zayedaward.com

OR Karin_aghadjanian@hotmail.com

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