Book Review

“Poverty, rapine, murder, tumult, blind bigotry, cruel persecution, pestilence!” recalls an American observer traveling in the Middle East. As he digs into history in search of such inimical quotes, while blatantly obscuring positive ac-counts, Michael Oren’s Power, Faith and Fantasy: America in the Middle East 1776 to the Present continues in the tradition of Zionists, such as Bernard Lewis, in ‘writing the history’ of the Middle East in the most skewed and perilous manner. Oren’s book is yet another reminder and highlight of two dilemmas, one faced by Arabs in particular, and the second by scholars in general. First, the book sheds light on the continuously lost battle in the realm of academia between our Zionist adversaries and us Arabs; they can sell our own history to the American public. We cannot. By combining thorough academic research with enchanting tales of piracy and warfare, Oren succeeds in attracting both, the scholar and the ‘aver-age Joe’ to his account of history. Second, this book sheds light on one of scholarship and academia’s gravest laws: with ample research, diligence, and determination, one can validly prove almost anything. By magnifying certain issues and neglecting, or downplaying others, one can ultimately ‘re-write history.’