Month: March 2016

Osamah Sami Tackles the Refugee Experience with Homour and Gusto – Book Review

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Good Muslim Boy | Osamah Sami | Hardie Grant

Good Muslim Boy by Osamah Sami is a well-written and entertaining memoir of one man’s journey from a persecuted young Iraqi living in Iran to a refugee immigrating to Australia in the mid-1990s with his cleric father and family. The memoir follows Sami’s trials and tribulations as he and his family settle down in Australia.

Sami’s keen insight into Australian and Muslim life, in particular, and the cultural expectations and differences that can create conflict are captured in an open and honest way – his comedic eye finding the humour in most things, even if this is often directed at himself.

Sami’s anecdotes of being detained by Homeland Security in the USA and fleeing Iran during the Iran-Iraq war are a testament to his engaging writing style and his keen observational skills.

Though he was born in Iran, Sami was looked down upon as an Arab and outsider in his local community, struggling to fit in with the Iranian children, whose cruel taunts and actions reminded him of his status as an outsider in the close-knit Iranian community. As a child, he also struggled to fit in with the cultural expectations of his own family; this discrepancy increased dramatically as Sami grew into a young man caught between his Iraqi identity and his new home in Australia.

Difference is a recurring theme in the book and Sami tackles it with gusto. From condemnation of the Australian Iraqi community about his appearance in a gay movie on the internet to their outrage at him playing a Lebanese man engaged to a lesbian as well as Saddam Hussein in Saddam: The Musical, the conflict between secular Australia and Sami’s cultural and religious background is readily explored.

The result is a book that not only provides honest insight into the cultural appropriation of Muslims in Australian society, but an elucidating journey into Sami’s own family’s issues as they too struggle with the idea of maintaining strong links to socio-cultural and religious practices.

Good Muslim Boy is an entertaining book that provides a light-hearted read on what is essentially a serious and confronting account of what comes with seeking a better life in Australia. The ability to straddle multiple identities in a bid for acceptance in, not only your country of birth, but your adopted country is difficult, but Sami expertly navigates such terrain with wit and candour.

Good Muslim Boy is now available from Hardie Grant.

Originally published at Right now Osamah Sami Tackles the Refugee Experience with Humour and Gusto

A Framework for Understanding Resurgence of Anti-Semitism, Book Review

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Anti-Semitism | Frederic Raphael | Biteback Publishing

Anti-Semitism by Frederic Raphael is part of a new series of works called ‘The Provocations Collection’ from Biteback Publishing. This collection is a sequence of short opinion pieces, or polemics, that delves into a controversial topic. At a time when there is a resurgence of extremism and anti-Semitism in Europe and elsewhere, conversations about anti-Semitism in the human rights context need to be increased to counter the increasingly violent right-wing and extremist movement.

Esteemed novelist and prolific writer Raphael explores the rise of anti-Semitism through commentary around key historical events that have contributed towards a narrative around Jewish history that could be referred to as anti-Semitic.

Interspersed with references to modern events such as the rise of the Islamic State and the attacks on Charlie Hebdo, the book positions itself as a contemporary musing on anti-Semitism that illustrates how Judaism and the Jewish people have survived various attacks on nationhood and identity throughout the centuries.

Moving from a discussion about the New Testament and Catholic dogma that saw a silence surrounding the rise of the Third Reich and analysis of global media’s reporting on the State of Israel to quiet reflection of his own understanding of Jewish identity and anti-Semitism, Raphael is strong in his views about what constitutes anti-Semitism. The book explores issues such as self-identity, historical revisionism and religiopolitical homogenisation in an easy and elucidating manner.

Raphael employs a conversational method of writing – part academic, wholly opinionated and easily accessible. Interspersed with references to modern events such as the rise of the Islamic State and the attacks on Charlie Hebdo, the book positions itself as a contemporary musing on anti-Semitism that illustrates how Judaism and the Jewish people have survived various attacks on nationhood and identity throughout the centuries.

The book presents a solid argument for the need to maintain human rights values and frameworks that protect religious freedoms and provide safeguards against crimes against humanity, which can occur when such frameworks are eroded or ignored.

Dealing with a highly controversial topic, Anti-Semitism is an interesting read on the history of anti-Semitism and provides the historical context behind the worrying rise in extremist and anti-Semitic behaviour in Europe and elsewhere.

Anti-Semitism is now available from NewSouth Books.

Originally published at Right now A Framework for Understanding Resurgence of  Anti-Semitism