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Bitter Medicine for the Arabs
"The Haj" by Leon Uris is an important book (in print or audio form) for understanding the negative aspects of Arab culture and little known aspects of the Arab-Israeli conflict that the great majority of the media won't share with us. Specifically, "The Haj" is historical fiction about a Palestinian-Arab family before and after the 1948 War for Israeli independence (From about 1922 to sometime around the 1960's or 1970's).

Leon Uris wrote this about the book (in the beginning of "The Haj"):

"Many of the events in The Haj are a matter of history and public record. Many of the scenes were created around historical incidents and used as a backdrop for the purpose of fiction. There may be persons alive who took part in events similar to those described in the book. It is possible therefore, that some may be mistaken for characters in the novel. Let me emphasize that all of the characters in the Haj are the complete creation of the author, and entirely fictional. The exceptions, of course, are the recognizable public figures who were associated historically with this period, such as David Ben-Gurion, the Mufti of Jerusalem, Abdullah, Yigal Allon, and others."

There is no question that this book is fiction regarding the details its' story tells, but the story itself is a real one. Arab refugees did stream out of Israel during the 1948 war and Arab leaders telling them to do so (there are taped broadcasts of these calls) was definitely one of the major causes of the plight of the Palestinian-Arab refugees. There was also very definitely a very active terrorist movement among the Arabs in the Middle East, which survives to the present day (witness groups like Al Qaeda, Hamas, Hizbollah, the PLO / Palestinian authority, and others). The Palestinian-Arabs continue to suffer under poor leadership that represses their rights (witness many human rights organizations' reports of extrajudicial killings by the Palestinian Authority, the same autocratic leader, Yassir Arafat, who refuses to transfer the reins of power, and other facts). It is also a well-documented fact that the Mufti of Jerusalem was an ally and guest of Hitler during WWII. These things are facts and are indisputable. "The Haj" tells a story using the device of historical fiction to relay the often-ugly facts of life for the regular "fellah" (sometimes translated as peasant) in the land the British called Palestine and is now known again as Israel.

The book is well written (good grammar, punctuation, style, etc.) and the story flows. I enjoyed reading about the characters of the story, but often wanted to cry for them. Some of the most poignant moments of "The Haj" occur during the flight of the Haj's (the main character is Haj Ibrahim and the book is the story of him and his family) family during the 1948 war and in refugee camps in Jordan. It was very sad to see how members of the same culture (the Arab culture) and most of the time the same religion (Islam) can be so cruel to each other. This is still an endemic problem in the Arab world (witness how the Arab governments squabble among each other and often fight and kill one another). Some of the depictions of the relations between the largely city-dwelling Palestinian-Arabs and the nomadic Bedouin are among the saddest. There is still a strong hatred between these groups to the present day.

Why read "The Haj?"

Read "The Haj" because this is real information presented in a novel format that you can no longer get from most university classes about the Middle East. Read it to learn what AP and Reuters news services constantly gloss over in their writings used by newspapers around the world. Most of all, read "The Haj" to understand that one of the fundamental truths about problems in the Middle East is that the problems have less to do with Israel and Jews than cultural, political, and even religious problems and divisions in the Arab world. Israel is really a side issue at best (and excuse used by the Arab governments to cover their faults). Autocratic tyrannies (or gangster governments like Yassir Arafat's Palestinian Authority) are the true source of unhappiness in the Arab world. It's easy to understand that truth after reading "The Haj."

You can get this same information from a pile full of academic texts (and I do recommend reading more research about the Middle East after reading "The Haj"), but this is the easiest and quickest way to introduce yourself to the bitter realities of politics in the Middle East.

I highly recommend "The Haj."

Review by: Maximillian Ben Hanan ... Read more