"Habibi"

I’d like to start off by saying that I did enjoy this book. However, I don’t feel as though I am informed enough to determine whether or not this is a good representation of Arab culture or relations between Arabs and Jewish people. I loved the characters and their growth and I think that if not to represent Arab culture this would be a great book to discuss when discussing themes of societal clash and acceptance. While reading Habibi, I found myself completely taken in by the character of Liyana because I could really relate to her, especially her unyielding attitude and her constant opposition to tradition. Then I started to question this all together. Does the book fixate on Liyana’s half American heritage by giving her these characteristics? After battling with myself on possible answers; I began delving into the book and looking for subtle stereotypes that I could draw up and unfortunately I found more than I would have liked to. I think one of the most noticeable stereotypes was that against Jewish people. I think only representing Omer as a person who was accepting of all people was a definite mistake. Although it was nice to see that even within Liyana’s family there were people who were just as intolerant. The short glimpse into Omer’s past with his father also helped to bring a sort of understanding of indiscretions from both sides. So I guess in the end, if I did more research on both cultures and found a book to narrate the story from a Jewish perspective than I would add this book to my library.

Other questions that I raised while reading were the following:

- Does this book portray the spiritual aspects of Islam and other religions in an authentically?
- Was the state of the government--- corrupt soldiers, unsafe checkpoints- truly representative of how the government truly is?
- Would Jewish/Arab relationships be accepted and acknowledged publicly?
- What was the author trying to get across in writing this novel?