EGYPT: Sex and a feminist novelist

The apartment door bears no man's name, which is unusual in Cairo, but it's a fitting snub at convention for feminist author Sahar El-Mougy, who lives and writes outside society's strictures. Her independent lifestyle -- women here are whispered about and prayed for if they live alone -- defies the patriarchal order beyond her flat and inspires emancipation on the pages of her novels and short stories.

El-Moguy, 45, is a rising Arab feminist voice, articulating  the conflict between western liberal values and Middle East gender identities. Her two novels and two short-story collections have gained wide acclaim, especially since the recent publication of "Noon," a story that explores the challenges and paradoxes facing independent Egyptian women navigating a nation rooted in traditional customs and a growing strand of conservative Islam.

"These women don't have enough space in society; however, they seem very influential," said El-Mougy, who works as assistant professor of English poetry at Cairo University.  "Their mere presence sets a model for my girls in their 20s who live in a society that suffers from a frightening spread of salafi [Islam]. These women lecture, write and deal with other sectors in the society."

The protagonist in "Noon" is Sarah, a divorced woman in her late 30s who lives alone, hangs out with men and women alike, derives fulfillment from academic research, fights male dominance over her intellect, and more controversially, enjoys extramarital sex. For El-Mougy, Sarah represents a widening class of women struggling to carve out a space for themselves.

EGYPT: Is there a life after Mubarak?

An inflammatory new book has raised the question on the minds of many Egyptians: What will happen when aging President Hosni Mubarak is no longer in power? "The Last Days," by activist Abdel Halim Qandil, is far from an impartial analytical study. It is a scathing dissident's attack on Mubarak's 26-year rule.

"How will the end be? Destiny and time are in a race, and the countdown of Mubarak's regime started long ago. The regime has died clinically and we should be only waiting for its funeral," wrote Qandil. The author does not mince his words or images, criticizing Mubarak as a dictator and using the book's cover to depict the 80-year-old president as a cartoonish figure with a flabby, wrinkled face.

Meanwhile, the book examines the scenarios that await Egypt after the disappearance of the former air force officer who became the lackluster figurehead for the ruling National Democratic Party. "Would the army take over? Or the Muslim Brotherhood? Or Mubarak's son, Gamal? Is a peaceful transfer of power possible?" wonders the author.

ISRAEL: Seeing a threat in U.S. academic

When is a 55-year-old lifelong academic and son of Holocaust survivors a threat to the national security of Israel? When that academic is Norman Finkelstein, a former DePaul University professor and prominent critic of Israeli policy.

Israel's Shin Bet internal security service detained Finkelstein at the airport Friday when he arrived from a recent European speaking tour. After a night of detention and interrogation, Finkelstein was declared a security threat and sent back to Europe. According to his lawyer, Finkelstein is banned from the country for 10 years.

Shin Bet officials told the Israeli newspaper Haaretz that Finkelstein was deported because  of "suspicions involving hostile elements in Lebanon" -- a reference to Finkelstein meeting recently with leaders of Hezbollah and expressing solidarity with the Lebanese militant group.

EGYPT: Female blogger elicits criticism

The “wanna-b-a-bride” blog has recently elicited a storm of controversy on Babylon and beyond for its unconventional content that mocks Egyptian patriarchal norms.

Since a piece was posted about the blog last month, more than 40 comments carrying divergent views have been sent to the author Ghada Abdel Aal. Some hailed the blog as a daring exposure of an unjust reality while many dismissed it as a sham.

“Ghada  u r really a wonderfull gilr, go ahead allah with u and always remember every sucessfull person has many difficulties & critics and please belive in your  opinion, it's yours :),” Wafaa wrote on Babylon and Beyond

Yet, Abdel Aal’s detractors had a different say on her blog which was turned earlier this year into a book. “To the worst example of unmarried girls. To the person  who only represents herself and sick people, enough dissoluteness. Where are decency and purity?” wondered a respondent. 

IRAN: Book fair bars sex, of any sort

No sex allowed. Not even consensual sex between a wife and husband.

That was the message this year before today's start of the Tehran International Book Fair.

The fair first sounded like a book lover's dream: 200,000 titles  on an enticing variety of topics put on display for those with a voracious appetite for reading.

But fans of steamy romance novels were sorely disappointed.

Here's what Saffar Harandi, Iran's Mnister of Islamic Guidance and Culture, told reporters a few days ago:

IRAQ: An intellectual center and source of spells reduced to ashes

Before it was attacked, I used to spend many Friday afternoons at the used-book market in Mutanabi Street (right).

After the war, different book titles that were forbidden during Saddam Hussein's time flourished there. These include religious books and ones which we call spiritual books, dealing with sorcery and other kinds of white magic. Photocopies of these books were expensive before the war, but an original copy could start at 1 million Iraqi dinars ($840) and reach up to 7 million ($5,900) Iraqi dinars or more.

One vendor told me that he used to sell these books secretly, because Hussein's "regime was afraid that the stuff inside these books could be used against him and his thugs."

The market vanished when a curfew was imposed between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. on Fridays to protect the people walking to mosque from car bombers. But because of security improvements, the curfew was lifted, which gave me hope that the market would come back.

LEBANON: 'Persepolis' kept from theaters

Can the  memories of an Iranian child in her turbulent country really exacerbate tensions in today's edgy Lebanon?

Lebanese censors apparently believe so. Authorities are considering imposing a ban on "Persepolis," the Oscar-nominated animated feature based on co-director Marjane Satrapi's graphic novels.

IRAQ: Lawrence of Arabia and Anbar

The first book that Marine Col. Robert F. Castellvi turned to when he was assigned as a senior advisor to the Iraqi Army's 1st Division was T. E. Lawrence's "Seven Pillars of Wisdom," first published in 1922.

He also asked the Marines in his 45-man team to read it. The book, an autobiographical account of war experiences by "Lawrence of Arabia," is a perennial on the Marine Corps' official reading list.

Castellvi's team is assigned to help the Iraqi army in western Anbar province get ready to continue the fight against insurgents after the U.S. leaves. It's a slow process that can be undermined by impatience.

One of Lawrence's rules that Castellvi abides by is: "Better the Arabs do it tolerably than that you do it perfectly. It is their war and you are to help them, not to win it for them."

— Tony Perry in Habbaniya

Art: Portrait of T.E. Lawrence. Credit: James McBey

IRAN: Bureaucratic realism in Tehran

Iranian authorities have banned a Persian-language translation of Gabriel Garcia-Marquez's novel, "Memories of My Melancholy Whores," but pirated copies continue to sell briskly in Tehran. In fact, sales appear to have increased since the ban went into effect.

On the sidewalks outside Tehran University, vendors sold copies of the book, which is titled "Memories of my Melancholy Sweethearts," in the Persian version. On Sunday, the booksellers busily bound copies of the Colombian novelist's book to sell for about $3 each. At least one website put the whole book online, and without mistranslating the title.

IRAN: Every book tells a tale

The books are for sale in a crumbling three-story building doomed to be demolished to make way for a new western wing of Tehran University. A man in his mid-30s asks a salesman about selling his used English-language books in bulk. He built up the collection painstakingly over the years, evading censors and sanctions. But they’re now a burden for him as he plans his immigration to North America, Australia or Europe.

The official figures say that up to 180,000 educated Iranians leavethe country every year in search of a better life abroad. The desire to leave the country is evident, simply take a look at the lines outside the Canadian or French embassies in Tehran, or at the growing number of lucrative private language schools. Or visit the used book stores.

I have mixed feelings when I buy such books. I'm happy to own some books by Edgar Allan Poe and William James but I feel sad for the man selling his beloved books. He seems like a father giving away his motherless children to be adopted by a rich family.