Is There An Islamic Problem - Essays on Islamicate Societies, the US & Israel.

The author has aptly dedicated his work to the victims of Empire, who die and are maimed by the thousands every day of the year including September Eleven. 

Contents:

Part One: Islamicate Societies & the West

• Is There an Islamic Problem?
• How Different are Islamicate Societies?
• A Clash of Civilizations? Nonsense
• Bernard Lewis: Scholarship or Sophistry?
• Is Eurocentrism Unique?

Part Two: Arabs & The United States

• A History of September 11
• Race & Visibility
• A Clash or Blowback?
• A Day that Changed America?
• Why 9-11 And Why Now?
• Iraq is Free
• Dialectics of Terror
• Semantics of Empire
• A Comic Apology

Part Three: Palestine & Israel

• A Colonizing Project Built on Lies
• Academic Boycott of Israel
• Crossing the Line
• Israelization of the United States
• Illuminating Thomas Friedman
• Lerner, Said and the Palestinians

Index of Names
Index of Subjects
---------------------------------

Reviews:

"M. Shahid Alam's enterprise of forcing "the legacies of history" into "the daylight of consciousness" in the West is informed by deep understanding of the cultural and economic history of Islamic and European societies, and of influential contemporary scholarship and debate. The analysis is careful and serious, and will be of considerable value to anyone concerned with the crucial and timely issues that Alam addresses, whether they come to agree with his conclusions or not."

- Noam Chomsky, Professor of Linguistics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA

"So far, Muslim thought has evaded the problem of power by limiting its vision to the issues of authority. For the sake of an ideal regime, it has willingly renounced the world of history and politics. After 9-11, however, the stark reality of power, and the death of the universalistic discourse of Enlightenment, can no longer be ignored. In this original work, Shahid Alam confronts the problem of power with exceptional candor and courage. His is an eminently sane voice that is moral without being squeamish, pragmatic without being defeatist, and Islamic without relinquishing the reins of history. A highly cogent, enlightening and liberating vision of contemporary politics and morality!"

- S. Parvez Manzoor, eminent Muslim critic, Sweden

"In the face of race-baiting, bigotry and official hysteria, M. Shahid Alam offers reason, analysis and genuine compassion for those who have been steamrolled by the imperial machine as it rampages across the globe. This urgent collection of essays proves that clear and courageous writing can still be a powerful force for change."

- Jeffrey St. Clair, coeditor CounterPunch, and coauthor, Imperial Crusades (2004)


"M. Shahid Alam is a truth-teller and powerful writer. Without fear, and in defiance of all attempts to censor him, he explains to us the origins of our present dangerously deteriorating situation. Read these essays and you will come away with a level of awareness that you cannot get from the world's corporate media. The essays may disturb you and they may anger you, but hopefully they will also lead you to ask what you can do to act against the stereotypes, prejudices, and lies that now dominate the policies of the world's sole superpower."

- Lawrence Davidson, Professor of Middle East History at West Chester University, Pennsylvania, and author, Islamic Fundamentalism (2003)