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        Fiction
        2022

        Where to, O Poem

        by Ali Jaafar Al Allaq

        This autobiographical work centers on literary creativity. Poet Ali Jaafar Alallaq recollects his academic and professional experiences, as well as their diverse ventures into poetic, literary, critical, and academic writing earlier in his life. The book covers the poet’s upbringing in a humble, impoverished village, his family’s subsequent move to Baghdad in the early 1950s, and his journey up until the present day. ///The biography details a plethora of human, cultural, and poetic events that impacted Alallaq’s perspective on events he witnessed, interacted with, or was involved in. These events range in intensity and scope, spanning from his childhood years in the countryside to navigating significant societal changes in Baghdad, and from his early explorations in writing and literary journalism to pursuing doctoral studies in the United Kingdom. He reflects on enduring two destructive wars that displaced Iraq’s people, leading to a life of exile and reliance on divine providence under the night sky. ///Beginning in 1991, Alallaq began a long period abroad that included six years of teaching at Sanaa University, followed by ten years of work at the United Arab Emirates University from 1997 to 2015. He produced a remarkable body of poetry and critical works during his tenure as a university instructor and his active involvement in cultural and poetic affairs in Sanaa and later in the UAE, which continues to this day. ///In this book, Alallaq takes on several roles, including narrator, contemplator, restorer, and descriptor, and expresses himself using elevated literary language. As a result, the work serves as an aesthetic testament to the purity of language as well as a cohesive account of the ups and downs of daily life. Despite living and working in a prosperous and stable environment for many years, he remains emotionally and imaginatively connected to the events and struggles affecting his country and the Arab world. He continues to document his aesthetic and patriotic testimony of current happenings, as clearly evidenced in his present autobiography.

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        January 1993

        Metallgefäße im Iraq I

        (Von den Anfängen bis in die Akkad-Zeit). Mit naturwissenschaftlichen Beiträgen von Emmerich Pászthory und Ernst Pernicka

        by Müller-Karpe, Michael / Beiträge von Pászthory, Emmerich; Beiträge von Pernicka, Ernst

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        MICHEL EZRA SAFRA & SONS

        by Amnon Shamosh

        Michel Ezra Safra & Sons is a family saga by a well-known Israeli writer, Amnon Shamosh. The story is semibiographical and takes place partly in Aleppo, Syria, the birthplace of the author. The book describes the life, struggles, and dispersion of a well-to-do Syrian Jewish family during the course of three generations, beginning in the mid-1930’s. The story of the Ezra Safra family is the tale of a Middle Eastern Jewish society and its basic traditional values, which are constantly challenged by other norms, both circumstantial and universal. Shaken by local and global upheavals, the family, headed by Michel and his pretty wife Linda, is driven from their hometown of Aleppo during riots in the aftermath of the United Nations resolution in late 1947 on the establishment of a Jewish state in Palestine. Michel, a practical figure, continues to rule his worldwide business empire. His grip on his children seems to loosen, however, though he still enjoys their respect and love. Rachmo, the eldest son and heir apparent, runs the Paris branch of the family business, but his conduct as a family man does not live up to his parents’ standards. Albert, his younger brother, abhors business and shuns the course he is expected to take. He finds an outlet in Zionist underground activity, including “smuggling” Jews into Palestine. Five other Safra sons and daughters emigrate to Europe, America, and Israel. What concerns Michel most, disturbing and haunting him, is not the state of his financial empire, but a grave “sin” that he has committed. When the old synagogue of Aleppo was set on fire, Michel rescued the “Aram Zova” Torah scroll and managed to keep it from burning. He removed a piece from this priceless, sacred scroll and secreted it in a safe in Nice, France. Although this treasure is protected, Michel construes the tragedies that befall the family as divine punishment. Throughout the novel, the reader follows Michel on his worldwide travels, settling family and business affairs, burdened by poor health and by his conscience. The life of his son Albert, now an influential member of a collective settlement in Israel, is completely alien to him. The saga of the Ezra Safra family draws to a finale when Michel dies heartbroken a few days after his grandson is killed during the 1967 Six-Day War. Later, Rachmo, who was made party to his father’s secret, dies of a heart attack upon learning that the scroll in Nice has been stolen. Linda agrees to join her children in Israel, but refuses to live with them. She chooses to live a solitary life, surrounded by photos and memories of the past. Michel Ezra Safra and Sons was made into a highly successful mini-series for  the Israeli television.   French and Spanish translations of the entire novel are available! 348 pages, 14.5X21 cm

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        On the Silk Road

        by Amnon Shamosh

        Amnon Shamosh, who made his name as an author with the well-known family saga “Michel Ezra Safra & Sons” as well as with the dozens of enthralling short stories that appeared in the collections entitled “My Sister the Bride” and “Wheels of the World,” surprises us once again with a novel that is modern, brilliant, and profound. The story revolves around age-old traditions and historical facts that complement one another, mingling in Shamosh’s imagination and impassioning the reader. In the year 1400, the great conqueror Timur Lang arrives in the Syrian city of Haleb (Aram Zoba) and from it sends ten Jewish families of silk dyers into exile, banishing them to Samarkand, capital of Timur’s empire, on the Silk Road. Timur Lang also kidnaps Jewish virgins, sequestering them in his harems. One of the virgins captures the heart of Timur’s son, a man of intellect and creation, who ruled under him. King Elias, “son of the Jewess,” who was raised in the Islamic faith, embarks on a quest to Spain in an effort to get to know and understand the Christian world as well as the Jewish one, which was flourishing in Spain at the time. Elias, seeking an identity and also a bride, finds them in Haleb, city of his maternal forefathers. His young wife came from the Dayan family, with ties to the dynasty of the House of David. The novel moves through three story lines. One is situated in the fifteenth century and centers mainly on the royal family and on the harem in Samarkand. The second occurs at the beginning of the twentieth century, in Jerusalem’s Bokharan Quarter, where immigrants from Bokhara and Haleb are crowded together, and the leaders of the new Jewish immigrant society visit the neighborhood. Story line number three concerns the last decade of the century, with the massive immigration of Soviet Jewry; the story here focuses mainly on the Bokharan immigrants. The spotlight is on Oshi Shauloff Ben-Shaul, born in the Bokharan Quarter, whose mother, of Halev origin, is a descendant of the above-mentioned House of Dayan and has roots in one of the families that were exiled from Haleb to Samarkand. This novel, excitingly erotic yet refined and restrained, has a style that is at once powerful and inspiring – as we have been led to expect from the works of Amnon Shamosh.   Born in Syria in 1929, Amnon Shamosh immigrated to Tel Aviv as a child and later became one of the founding members of Kibbutz Ma'ayan Baruch, where he resides today. A graduate of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, author of both poetry and prose for children and adults, his work has been translated into English, Spanish, and French. Amnon Shamosh is a recipient of the Agnon Prize, named after the celebrated Israeli Nobel Laureate in Literature, the Prime Minister's Prize for Creativity, the President of Israel's Award for Literature, and numerous other literary awards. 288 pages, 14.5X21 cm

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        March 2004

        Mission Irak

        Wahrheit und Lügen. Der Chef der UN-Waffenkontrolleure zieht Bilanz

        by Blix, Hans

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        Humanities & Social Sciences
        March 2006

        Germany, pacifism and peace enforcement

        by Anja Dalgaard-Nielsen, Emil Kirchner, Thomas Christiansen

        Germany, pacifism and peace enforcement is about the transformation of Germany's security and defence policy in the time between the 1991 Gulf War and the 2003 war against Iraq. The book traces and explains the reaction of Europe's biggest and potentially most powerful country to the ethnic wars of the 1990s, the emergence of large-scale terrorism, and the new US emphasis on pre-emptive strikes. Based on an analysis of Germany's strategic culture it portrays Germany as a security actor and indicates the conditions and limits of the new German willingness to participate in international military crisis management that developed over the 1990s. It debates the implications of Germany's transformation for Germany's partners and neighbours and explains why Germany said 'yes' to the war in Afghanistan, but 'no' to the Iraq War. ;

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        February 2003

        Irak - Chronik eines gewollten Krieges

        Wie die Weltöffentlichkeit manipuliert und das Völkerrecht gebrochen wird

        by Sponeck, Hans Graf von; Zumach, Andreas

      • Trusted Partner
        2002

        Krieg gegen den Irak

        Was die Bush-Regierung verschweigt

        by Rivers Pitt, William; Ritter, Scott

      • Trusted Partner
        September 2010

        Der Irak in Israel

        Vom zionistischen Staat zur transkulturellen Gesellschaft

        by Siebers, Stefan

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        Humanities & Social Sciences
        January 2022

        Reconstructing lives

        Victims of war in the Middle East and Médecins Sans Frontières

        by Vanja Kovacic, Bertrand Taithe

        This book attempts to establish a more holistic approach to the rehabilitation of war-injured civilians, one that adjusts to the patients' long-term needs. Kovacic not only offers an insight into the daily realities of patients during and after rehabilitation, but seeks to develop a new way to perceive, respect and involve them in health care. Based on comprehensive interviews with patients and MSF staff, as well as extended field observations, Reconstructing lives follows Syrian and Iraqi war-injured civilians in their journey to recovery. From their improvised medical treatment in their home countries, to the MSF-run hospital in Amman Jordan, to their return home, Kovacic explores how individuals attempt to pick up the pieces of their previous lives, add new elements from their treatment and travel experiences, and finally establish a new reconstructed reality. The book explores how the interaction between MSF staff and their patients contributes to the immense task of healing that awaits victims of war. The reader visits the intimate medical and domestic spaces that usually remain closed to the outside observer, spaces rich with human contact, perceptions, emotions, conflicts and reconciliations.

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        Humanities & Social Sciences
        January 2022

        Reconstructing lives

        by Vanja Kovacic

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        In the Footsteps of Enayat Al-Zayyat

        by Iman Mersal

        ‘In the Footsteps of Enayat Al-Zayyat’ is a book that traces the life of an unknown Egyptian writer who died in 1963, four years before the release of her only novel. The book does not follow a traditional style to present the biography of Al-Zayyat, or to restore consideration for a writer who was denied her rights. Mersal refuses to present a single story as if it is the truth and refuses to speak on behalf of the heroine or deal with her as a victim, but rather takes us on a journey to search for the individuality that is often marginalised in Arab societies. The book searches for a young woman whose family burned all her personal documents, including the draft of her second novel, and was completely absent in the collective archives.   The narration derives its uniqueness from its ability to combine different literary genres such as fictional narration, academic research, investigation, readings, interviews, fiction, and fragments of the autobiography of the author of the novel. The book deals with the differences between the individuality of Enayat, who was born into an aristocratic family, graduated from a German school and wrote her narration during the domination of the speeches of the Nasserism period, and that of Mersal, a middle-class woman who formed her consciousness in the 1990s and achieved some of what Enayat dreamed of achieving but remained haunted by her tragedy.   The book deals with important political, social and cultural issues, as we read the history of psychiatry in modern Egypt through the pills that Enayat swallowed to end her life on 3 January 1963, while her divorce summarises the continuing suffering of women with the Personal Status Law. We also see how the disappearance of a small square from her neighbourhood reveals the relationship between modernity and bureaucracy, and how the geography of Cairo changes, obliterated as the result of changes in political regimes. In the library of the German Archaeological Institute, where Enayat worked, we find an unwritten history of World War II and, in her unpublished second novel, we see unknown stories of German scientists fleeing Nazism to Cairo. We also see how Enayat’s neglected tomb reveals the life story of her great-grandfather, Ahmed Rashid Pasha, and the disasters buried in the genealogy tree.

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        Children's & YA
        January 2015

        Hatless

        by Lateefa Buti / Illustrated by Doha Al Khteeb

        Kuwaiti children’s book author Lateefa Buti’s well-crafted and beautifully illustrated children’s book, Hatless, encourages children (ages 6-9) to think independently and challenge rigid traditions and fixed rituals with innovation and creativity.   The main character is a young girl named Hatless who lives in the City of Hats. Here, all of the people are born with hats that cover their heads and faces. The world inside of their hats is dark, silent, and odorless.   Hatless feels trapped underneath her own hat. She wants to take off her hat, but she is afraid, until she realizes that whatever frightening things exist in the world around her are there whether or not she takes off her hat to see them.   So Hatless removes her hat.    As Hatless takes in the beauty of her surroundings, she cannot help but talk about what she sees, hears, and smells. The other inhabitants of the city ostracize her because she has become different from them. It is not long before they ask her to leave the City of Hats.   Rather than giving up or getting angry, Hatless feels sad for her friends and neighbors who are afraid to experience the world outside of their hats. She comes up with an ingenious solution: if given another chance, she will wear a hat as long it is one she makes herself. The people of the City of Hats agree, so Hatless weaves a hat that covers her head and face but does not prevent her from seeing the outside world. She offers to loan the hat to the other inhabitants of the city. One by one, they try it on and are enchanted by the beautiful world around them. Since then, no child has been born wearing a hat. The people celebrate by tossing their old hats in the air.   By bravely embracing these values, Hatless improves her own life and the lives of her fellow citizens.     Buti’s language is eloquent and clear. She strikes a skilled narrative balance between revealing Hatless’s inner thoughts and letting the story unfold through her interactions with other characters. Careful descriptions are accompanied by beautiful illustrations that reward multiple readings of the book.

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