Sunday, January 14, 2007

 “Invisible Arabs" by Italian Author and Historian Paola Caridi

The ANNOTICO Report

 

 Paola Caridi attempts to demolish Stereotypical and Homogenous views of the Arab world in her book: "Invisible Arabs - a reasoned catalogue of the Arabs that we do not know."

 

 

BOOKS:ITALIAN AUTHOR HITS OUT AGAINST WESTERN STEREOTYPES OF ARABS

 

Adnkronos International
January 14, 2007

Rome, 12 Jan. (AKI) - Asked how she feels Arab people are perceived in the West, Italian author and historian Paola Caridi draws on a stark analogy from the past: "Like the Romans treated the barbarians. They kept them on the boundaries of their Empire and would only begin a dialogue once they had succeeded in 'Romanising' them," she says. "But let's not forget that the barbarians eventually conquered Rome."

Caridi moved to Cairo in May 2001, just months before the September 11 attacks would give the term "clash of civilisation" resonance that continues to dominate international relations.

"I witnessed the pressure the media placed on the Arab world and I saw the ways in which Arabs reacted to this: On the one hand Cairo had to contend with empty hotels and no tourists visiting the Pyramids and the museums; on the other, Egyptians felt they had been fingered as guilty and tarred by the same brush as the terrorists," she said.

"They felt as if the West so them all as terrorists, as if Bin Laden had been elected their spokesman," she continued.

It's precisely this stereotype of the Arab world that emerged from the rubble of New York's World Trade Centre that Caridi has sought to demolish in her book: "Invisible Arabs - a reasoned catalogue of the Arabs that we do not know."

Caridi acknowledges that Arab culture contains contradictions epitomised by Is l! amist mass movements. But again she says the West has failed to make important distinctions.

"Al-Qaeda is one thing, while the Muslim Brotherhood is another," says Caridi explaining that the latter - a banned but officially tolerated group in Egypt with branches throughout the Arab world - is a sort of Muslim version of the Christian Democrats, a party which dominated Italian politics for decades.

Caridi also argues that the condition of women in Islam societies is not as bad as criticis in the West contend.

"There exists in the Arab world a movement which we would describe as feminist, a movement that includes women that wear the veil but who speak of their rights and who stand up against oppression. These women have a non-sexist interpretation of Islam."

"Of course from our point of view they would appear conservative because they won't remove the veil, but they are not submissive," Caridi says.

'Invisible Arabs - A reasoned catalogue of t h! e Arabs that we do not know' is published by Giangiacomo Feltrinelli and will be available in bookstores on 25 January.

 

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