Lenka S. reviewed on 5/12/2025 + 852 more book reviews

I had just finished up Infidel by Ayaan Hirsi Ali and wanted to learn more. Nonie Darwish describes her life in Gaza and Cairo in great detail. She discusses the issues of pride, ignorance, prejudice and refusal to accept responsiblility in a non-confrontational way using her life experiances.

Of particular importance was her description of the evolution of her feelings towards Israel. She goes on to describe how in school children in Arab nations are taught to hate Israel and Jews; they are the root of all evil. Then goes on to talk about how a member was treated in an Israeli hospital.

Nonie Darwish paints a picture of how the radical clerics from Saudi Arabia are hijacking the Mosques in the United States and wow they are encouraging Muslims here not to integrate with society. Again, all in a non-confrontational way.

What I was a little put off by was the sort of one sidedness that is portrayed. It is written as The United States doesn't have a slight hand in this situation, To be fair to Ms. Darwish, it is a book about why she "Renounced Jihad for America, Israel and The War on Terror" and therefore should be expected to be a bit biased. I would have liked to see just a bit more discussion on Americas hand in the Middle East and why there is a little reason for the Muslim world to take issue with us.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book. It was captivating and written with a lot of passion. Anyone that would like to have a deeper understanding of how the Middle East thinks about the West and Israel should read this. I would like to see one of her tours.

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