Light on a Dark Subject

Light on a Dark Subject Dynamite in the Middle East, by Khalil Totah. 240 pp. New York: Philosophical Library. $3.75 This book is more restrained than its title might imply, in sharp contrast to most other writing on the subject. Its author (who died while it was in press) was an Arab Christian who was born near Jerusalem, attended school in the U. S., and resided here for many years. He spent most of his life, however, in Palestine; and his book is mainly a first-hand report on the impact of Israel upon Lebanon, Egypt, Iraq, Syria antl Jordan. Thus he presents a much-needed “other side” of a situation which is as com- plex as it is explosive. Though no Arab apologist, Dr. Tot.ah does write sympathetically about certain problems of the Arab nations: their poverty, for example, and the incidence of disease and cor- ruption. He states that “Glubb Pasha is Britain’s ruler in Jordan,” that the Iraq government is pro-British, and that, unlike the other Arab states,

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Wilbur Burton

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Light on a Dark Subject Dynamite in the Middle East, by Khalil Totah. 240 pp. New York: Philosophical Library. $3.75 This book is more restrained than its title might imply, in sharp contrast to most other writing on the subject. Its author (who died while it was in press) was an Arab Christian who was born near Jerusalem, attended school in the U. S., and resided here for many years. He spent most of his life, however, in Palestine; and his book is mainly a first-hand report on the impact of Israel upon Lebanon, Egypt, Iraq, Syria antl Jordan. Thus he presents a much-needed “other side” of a situation which is as com- plex as it is explosive. Though no Arab apologist, Dr. Tot.ah does write sympathetically about certain problems of the Arab nations: their poverty, for example, and the incidence of disease and cor- ruption. He states that “Glubb Pasha is Britain’s ruler in Jordan,” that the Iraq government is pro-British, and that, unlike the other Arab states,

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