 | Price Comparisons: Rental | | Sorry, the textbook you were looking for is not available as Rental, at any of the stores we searched. | Summaries and Customer Reviews are supplied by Amazon.com | Defying foreign government orders and interviewing terrorists face to face, a young American tours hostile lands to learn about Middle Eastern youth— and uncovers a subculture that defies every stereotype.
In 2004, Jared Cohen embarked on the first of a series of incredible journeys to the Middle East in an effort to understand the spread of radical Islamist violence among Muslim youth. The result is Children of Jihad, a portrait of paradox that probes much deeper than any journalist or pundit ever could.
Chosen as one of Kirkus Review’s Best Books of 2007, Cohen’s account begins in Lebanon, where he interviews Hezbollah members at, of all places, a McDonald’s. In Iran, he defies government threats and sneaks into underground parties, where bootleg liquor, Western music, and the Internet are all easy to access. His risky itinerary also takes him to a Palestinian refugee camp in southern Lebanon, borderlands in Syria, the insurgency hotbed of Mosul, and other front-line locales. At each turn, he observes a culture at an uncanny crossroads. Gripping and daring, Children of Jihad shows us the future through the eyes of those who are shaping it. |
Average Customer Rating:   Someones Got Common Sense At first my intial reaction to this book was, "Here they go again".; at least thats when I spotted the book and its title. I thought the book, from looking at the title, would more Arab bashing, Islamaphobic rhetoric, but on the contrary the books author takes the reader through a labyrith of uncut stories and dialogues he had with Middle Easteners. I highly recommed this book as it unravels the true ME culture and the people. I know this, I lived in the Middle East half my life!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Nothing really new if you know anything about the region If you believe that Muslims and Arabs hate democracy and freedom and that is the reason they want to kill us, then pick up this book. It should enlighten you.
If you believe the reason for the east-west discord is much more nuanced and complicated, then Cohen doesn't provide anything insightful. It's not a new discovery to learn that most people want jobs, dignity and live in peace. That most children in the middle east grow up with a healthy diet of Oprah, Hanna Montana and McDonalds.
Again, if you've ever travelled to or studied in the region in anyway, this book (with the exception of party scenes in Beirut) is dull. Children of Jihad Book Review Good easy read. Very refreshing to get a perception that you have either herd of in passing conversation, or thought existed but never got any exposure to. This book explores the true journey of young American Jew in the Middle East with other youth. At some points you will get the feeling that things are not exactly as have been written, ( just a little to unbelievable at some points), and after a while it starts to get redundant, but over all a great read thats definitely worth picking up!!!! What a shame. Are you looking for useful insight into the minds of Middle Easterners? You won't find it here, but you will find a good amount of ego and misconception. The book has some interesting accounts from the youth in Iran and Kurdistan, but the merits of this book are completely outweighed by an irritating narrative of an American constantly projecting his Orientalist fantasies while trying to confirm pre-formulated views about the Arab-Israeli conflict.
Right away he looses all credibility with his exaggeration. He fondly describes how risky it was to sneak into an African Civil War on a truck of bananas. Is this necessary? Lines like "I was flirting with the idea of crossing from Iran into Basra." But he didn't, so why would he write this? To stroke his ego of how adventurous he is to ignorant people back in America who will never travel over here. The whole part leading up to entering Kurdistan and how he was going into a war zone is fabricated. He obviously knew this wasn't the case beforehand if he was a guest of the KRG, so why the long drawn out blabber about how he might die. People travel freely in Kurdistan and it is hardly dangerous, and he knew this going in. Much of the Middle East is very safe for travel, so why the constant reminders that he might die at any second? He is concerned with painting a picture of himself as a risk taker, regardless of the actual circumstances. This holds true in much of his writing about Arabs. He has a picture he wants to paint regardless of the actual situation.
The section that Cohen writes about Hezbollah is absurd. I am an American student at AUB, and what he says about hundreds of Hezbollah "operatives" "infiltrating" the university is ridiculous. Yes of course there are Hezbollah supporters at the school, since Hezbollah is a huge political party and the de facto government for half of the country! He can't get past the American "terrorist" designation to actually learn about these people. To someone that lives in Lebanon this book is infuriatingly naive. He does not make any effort to understand the people from the South, just has a few conversations and describes the "shivers sent down his spine" as an American Jew.
Now let's try to understand how these people view Israel, not as American Jews, but as the ones who have suffered under Israeli occupation and war. In the end Cohen describes how Hezbollah bursts back onto the scene with a "blast of rocket fire" to attack Israel and he describes the 2006 summer war as one sided attack against poor Israel. Look at the facts. It was started by the capture by Hezbollah of two Israeli soldiers, and the retaliation was the largest aerial bombardment in the history of the Middle East. Bigger even than the Yom Kippur war. The targets were largely civilian, the Israeli strategy being depopulation of civilians in the hope that they would put blame for their problems on Hezbollah. In the last 48 hours of the war, right up to the cease-fire, Israel dropped 4 million cluster bombs in civilian areas all over the south. And they won't release the maps of the cluster attacks for clean-up, because if the international community saw the targets they would absolutely condemn this attack as a war crime. Children and farmers continue to lose limbs and be crippled by these mines while trying to rebuild their villages, and Israel keeps the maps to themselves for political reasons. This example is very typical of Israeli action.
So yes of course they are going to view Israel as the enemy. The conflict is very lopsided, and Cohen does not even attempt to look at the other side, blindly assuming that the Israeli government is always in the right. Why doesn't he travel to Israel for this book? Or to the West Bank or Gaza where humans are treated like animals? Not one mention of the events that forced the Palestinians from their home and into the camp he visits in Lebanon. He brands them as extremists and quickly moves on. Anything he says about the Arab-Israeli conflict was decided before his travels.
This book only serves to confirm ignorant American perceptions of the Middle East, while working towards its main purpose which is ego-building. To anyone who lives here this book is infuriating. This book was written to impress people back home, not to write justly about the people living in the Middle East. How this book got the praise of Vali Nasr is beyond me. Enjoy your job in the State Department Mr. Cohen.
Insightful, riveting and optimistic Children of Jihad is an enlightening book that gives us hope for America's relationship with the Middle East. The author shows infinite possibilities to bridge the gap between the youths of both America and the Middle East. Similarities between two are as shocking. Moreover, the guts the author demonstrates during his adventure are impressive! This book presents realistic opportunities both groups can take advantage of to shift the views of one another.
I highly recommend this book! It's a page turner!
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