Middle World

The Future of Palestine: How Discrimination Hinders Change was inspired by the shocking "honor killing" of the author's classmate and friend, Israa Ghrayeb. Her alleged crime? The simple act of going out, in broad daylight, with her fiancé and his sister - an act Ghrayeb's cousin maintained was unacceptable in a conservative society. While Ghrayeb's killers may be free, their manner of thinking is anything but. Tamar Haddad seeks to open minds to diverse perspectives and to give voice to those who are commonly marginalized in conservative Palestinian society.

America's middle class, the driver of so much of our economic success and political stability, is rapidly disappearing, forcing us to confront the fear that we are slipping as a nation - that our children and grandchildren will enjoy fewer opportunities and face a lower standard of living than we did. It's the dark flipside of the American Dream - an American Nightmare of our own making.

Afraid her sister (and maybe even herself) could lose sight of their Vietnamese identity, twelve-year-old Bom writes a poetic memoir to help them both remember—a love letter in verse to sisterhood and the places we leave behind. Bom can't believe that her sister doesn't see herself as Vietnamese, only American. She says she doesn't remember Vietnam or their lives there, their family there, their house and friends. How could her sister forget the terrible journey through Saigon and the airplanes and . . . everything?

Was macht man, wenn man auf einer Recherchereise im iranischen Gebirge nicht tanken kann, weil das Benzin aufgrund westlicher Sanktionen knapp ist? Oder wenn man eine vermeintlich zu kurze Hose trägt und die Strafe darauf lautet, in ein Fass mit schwarzer Farbe steigen zu müssen? Und warum reiste Amiri trotz aller Warnungen immer wieder in den Iran?

As it prepared to ward off an invasion by five well-equipped neighboring armies in 1948, newborn Israel lacked the weapons to defend itself. Enter Al Schwimmer, an American World War II veteran who feared a repeat of the Holocaust. He created factitious airlines, bought decommissioned airplanes from the US War Asset Administration, fixed them in California and New Jersey, and sent his pilots - Jewish and non-Jewish WWII aviators - to pick up rifles, bullets, and fighter planes from the only country willing to break the international arms embargo: communist Czechoslovakia.

A spirited artist with a can-do attitude, Yvonne Wakefield leaves behind a secure life in the lush Pacific Northwest to teach art in the desert state of Kuwait. Over the course of six years, she will instruct university-aged Muslim women, earn her students' trust, and learn the consequences of freedom of expression, taken for granted in one culture but not granted in another. Despite obstacles set by her detractors, she persists, and her students and life in Kuwait flourish.

Using previously unpublished documents, Gold, the former Israeli ambassador to the United Nations, exposes how the deeply ingrained hatred that has provoked the new terrorism has its roots in Saudi Arabia's dominant religious creed, a radical Islamic offshoot known as Wahhabism.

The Road to Fatima Gate is a first-person narrative account of revolution, terrorism, and war during history's violent return to Lebanon after 15 years of quiet. Michael J. Totten's version of events in one of the most volatile countries in the world's most volatile region is one part war correspondence, one part memoir, and one part road movie.

Given how quickly its operations have achieved global impact, it may seem that the Islamic State materialized suddenly. In fact, al-Qaeda's operations chief, Sayf al-Adl, devised a seven-stage plan for jihadis to conquer the world by 2020 that included reestablishing the Caliphate in Syria between 2013 and 2016. Despite a massive schism between the Islamic State and al-Qaeda, al-Adl's plan has proved remarkably prescient. In summer 2014, ISIS declared itself the Caliphate after capturing Mosul, Iraq - part of stage five in al-Adl's plan.

For centuries travelers have been drawn to the stunning and mysterious Dead Sea and Jordan River, a region that is unlike any other on earth in its religious and historical significance. In this exceptionally engaging book, Barbara Kreiger chronicles the natural and human history of these storied bodies of water, drawing on accounts by travelers, pilgrims, and explorers from ancient times to the present.

Der brodelnde Konflikt im Iran - präzise analysiert von Nahost-Experte Michael Lüders. Der Orient kommt nicht zur Ruhe. Während die Kämpfe vor allem in Syrien andauern, zeichnet sich bereits der nächste Konflikt ab: Präsident Trump und seine Verbündeten nehmen den Iran ins Visier. Unter Obama wurde 2015 das Atomabkommen mit dem Iran geschlossen. Doch obwohl Teheran sich erwiesenermaßen an alle Verpflichtungen hält, bricht der Konflikt jetzt erneut auf. Warum ist das so? Ist der Iran wirklich ein "Schurkenstaat"?

Most violent jihadi movements in the 20th century focused on removing corrupt, repressive secular regimes throughout the Muslim world. But following the 1979 Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, a new form of jihadism emerged - global jihad - turning to the international arena as the primary locus of ideology and action. With this book, Glenn E. Robinson develops a compelling and provocative argument about this violent political movement's evolution.

This action-packed sequel finds middle school band geeks Dev, Isaiah, Tessa, Maeve, and Lewis trapped in a parallel version of Earth as they fight to save their families—and the entire rest of the multiverse—from the villainous Empyrean One. Far from home and running out of options, it will take everything they have to get back to Earth and preserve humanity once and for all. The startling revelation that they are their own worst enemies forces a painful decision: Will they forsake the lives they once knew for an uncertain future?

أَلَا أَبْلِغْ عَلَيْكَ أَبَا دُلَامَهْ فَلَسْتَ مِنَ الكِرَامِ وَلَا كَرَامهْ إِذَا لَبِسَ العِمَامَةَ كَانَ قِرْداً وَخِنْزِيراً إِذَا نَزَعَ العِمَامَهْ جَمَعْتَ دَمَامَةً وَجَمَعْتَ لُؤْماً كَذَاكَ اللُؤْمُ تَتْبَعُهُ الدَّمَامَهْ فَإِنْ تَكُ قَدْ أَصَبْتَ نَعِيمَ دُنْيَا فَلَا تَفْرَحْ فَقَدْ دَنَتِ القِيَامَهْ

إِلَى هِنْدٍ صَبَا قَلْبِي وَهِنْدٌ مِثْلُهَا يُصْبِي وَهِنْدٌ غَادَةٌ غَيْدَا ءُ مِنْ جُرْثُومَةٍ غُلْبِ وَمَا إِنْ وَجَدَ النَّاسُ مِنَ الأَدْوَاءِ كَالحُبِّ لَقَدْ لَجَّ بِهَا الإِعْرَا ضُ وَالهَجْرُ بِلَا ذَنْبِ وَلَمَّا أَقْضِ مِنْ هِنْدٍ وَمِنْ جَارَاتِهَا نَحْبِي

أَبْلِغْ سُلَيْمَى بِأَنَّ البَيْنَ قَدْ أَفِدَا وَانْبِئْ سُلَيْمَى بِأَنَّا رَائِحُونَ غَدَا وَقُلْ لَهَا كَيْفَ أَنْ يَلْقَاكِ خَالِيَةً فَلَيْسَ مَنْ بَانَ لَمْ يَعْهَدْ كَمَا عَهِدَا نَعْهَدْ إِلَيْكِ فَأوْفِينَا بِعَهْدَتِنَا يَا أَصْدَقَ النَّاسِ مَوْعُوداً إِذَا وَعَدَا

إِنْ يَخْدِمِ القَلَمَ السَّيْفُ الَّذِي خَضَعَتْ لَهُ الرِّقَابُ وَدَانَتْ خَوْفَهُ الأُمَمُ فَالمَوْتُ وَالمَوْتُ لَا شَيْءٌ يُغَالِبُهُ مَا زَالَ يَتْبَعُ مَا يَجْرِي بِهِ القَلَمُ كَذَا قَضَى اللهُ لِلْأَقْلَامِ مُذْ بُرِيَتْ أَنَّ السُّيُوفَ لَهَا مُذْ أُرْهِفَتْ خَدَمُ

أَقُولُ لَهَا وَقَدْ طَارَتْ شَعَاعاً مِنَ الأَبْطَالِ وَيْحَكِ لَنْ تُرَاعِي فَإِنَّكِ لَوْ سَأَلْتِ بَقَاءَ يَوْمٍ عَلَى الأَجَلِ الَّذِي لَكِ لَمْ تُطَاعِي فَصَبْراً فِي مَجَالِ المَوْتِ صَبْراً فَمَا نَيْلُ الخُلُودِ بِمُسْتَطَاعِ سَبِيلُ المَوْتَ غَايَةُ كُلِّ حَيٍّ فَدَاعِيهِ لِأَهْلِ الأَرْضِ دَاعِي وَمَنْ لَا يُعْتَبَطْ يَسْأَمْ وَيَهْرَمْ وَتُسْلِمُهُ المَنُونُ إِلَى انْقِطَاعِ وَمَا لِلْمَرْءِ خَيْرٌ فِي حَيَاةٍ إِذَا مَا عُدَّ مِنْ سَقَطِ المَتَاعِ

أَلَسْتِ أَحْسَنَ مَنْ يَمْشِي عَلَى قَدَمٍ يَا أَمْلَحَ النَّاسِ كُلِّ النَّاسِ إِنْسَانَا طَارَ الفُؤَادُ مَعَ الخَوْدِ الَّتِي طَرَقَتْ فِي النَّوْمِ طَيِّبَةَ الأَعْطَافِ مِبْدَانَا إِنَّ العُيُونَ الَّتِي فِي طَرْفِهَا حَوَرٌ قَتَلْنَنَا ثُمَّ لَمْ يُحْيِينَ قَتْلَانَا يَصْرَعْنَ ذَا اللُبِّ حَتَّى لَا حَرَاكَ بِهِ وَهُنَّ أَضْعَفُ خَلْقِ اللهِ أَرْكَانَا لَقَدْ كَتَمْتُ الهَوَى حَتَّى تَهَيَّمَنِي لَا أَسْتَطِيعُ لِهَذَا الحُبِّ كِتْمَانَا

Eleventh century, Northern Spain. Isabella has been a nun in the Christian kingdom of Galicia since she was a child, a gifted herbalist leading a quiet and spiritual life, devoted to God. But on a rare journey outside of the convent, she is taken by Viking raiders and sold to Morocco as a slave. Cruelly treated by her first owner, salvation comes from an unlikely source: Yusuf bin Tashfin, leader of a vast Muslim army intent on conquering all of North Africa. Isabella must struggle not only to survive her new life but to hold true to her faith, which is tested by great dangers...