MIDDLE EAST BOOKS REVIEW

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Palestine: Matters of Truth and Justice

By Azmi Bishara, Hurst, 2022, paperback, 360 pp. MEB $30

Reviewed by Alex Bustos

Azmi Bishara’s Palestine: Matters of Truth and Justice is a bold and important work on the history of modern Palestine and the Palestinian struggle over the past century. However, unlike other histories of Palestine and Israel, the author’s insistence is that Palestine is a matter of justice. Alongside the historical examination of major events, Bishara analyzes key issues central to the question of Palestine and rebukes some common tropes and misconceptions.

He begins with the 1948 Nakba, or catastrophe, during which two-thirds of the Palestinian people were dispossessed and driven out of their homes to make way for the creation of the State of Israel. The author emphasizes the sheer magnitude of the Nakba in Palestinian history and its enduring legacies today, as it “gradually evolved from a historical event into a new reality” marking “a rupture in modern Palestinian history.”

Bishara also refutes some of the most enduring myths about Israel, drawing on the work of both Palestinian and Israeli scholars who have challenged official Zionist-Israeli narratives. This is especially important for Western readers who, as Bishara points out, are inundated with misinformation about the “conflict.”

As just one example, he notes that many are led to believe that the starting point of the struggle for Palestine was 1967, following the Six-Day War and the Israeli takeover of the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip. Bishara contextualizes the longer arc of the Palestinian struggle and forensically shows that the war of 1967, and later the 1982 Israeli invasion of Lebanon, were both “wars of choice” by Israel, not defensive wars as is often claimed.

The book is packed with historical detail and told in a non-linear order, instead focusing on several issues such as the emergence of Zionism; the development of Palestinian national identity under the British Mandate; the role of Arab regimes; the rise and fall of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), making way for the emergence of the Palestinian Authority (PA); and the history of the various U.S. “peace” initiatives, from the 1970 Rogers Plan up until Donald Trump’s 2020 “Deal of the Century.”

In fact, Bishara dedicates a whole chapter to the “Deal of the Century,” excoriating it as “the most abysmal sort of colonialspeak one could possibly find in the present day.” He chastises the initiative for offering “rewards for Palestinians if they met Israel’s subjective standards” and punishments if they rejected Israeli demands. While he reserves his strongest condemnation for Trump’s plan, the author is unflinching in his cataloguing of the failures of previous U.S. administrations to stop Israel’s continued colonial expansion into the West Bank.

Bishara does not singularly spotlight the failures of the U.S. Critiquing both the East and the broader West, he demonstrates how Palestinians have so often paid the price for the failings and crimes of external actors, hindering their struggle.

Indeed, Palestine: Matters of Truth and Justice stands out in its examination of the so-called “Jewish question” and the “Arab question” vis-à-vis Europe. Drawing attention to European anti-Semitism and the development of Zionism, Bishara argues that Western European support for Israel is in large part an effort by governments to “rid themselves of their guilty consciences by shifting it onto the Arab world.”

Now, Israel’s critics are widely depicted by many in Europe as the new anti-Semites. This, Bishara points out, is occurring amid the growth of anti-Muslim and anti-refugee sentiments in Europe, as well as the continent’s broad support for Israeli violations against Palestinians. He argues the end result is a reality in which Europe “can plausibly deny a connection between the racism/anti-Semitism that led to the Jewish Holocaust of the past” and “the European xenophobia and Islamophobia of the present” as long as it continues support for Israel.

Bishara also holds no punches for the leaders of the Arab world. He argues that despite the centrality of Palestine to many people in the region, Arab regimes “cannot resist the temptation to exploit the Palestinian question as a means to an end.” He thus examines the failures and contradictions of Arab regime support for Palestine over the decades.

Critiquing the roles of Arab regimes, the factional (and opportunistic) Palestinian leadership of the Fatah-led PA and Hamas in Gaza, and the duplicitous role of Western governments, particularly the United States, this book calls for a new strategy with a democratic struggle for justice at the heart of it. Insisting that Palestinians are the victims of Zionist settler colonialism and the apartheid regime which grew out of it, the author calls

for a united global effort to resist this reality. Palestine: Matters of Truth and Justice is a valuable contribution to this effort. Notwithstanding the scholarly approach, this book is accessible to a wider audience.

The Olive Branch from Palestine: The Palestinian Declaration of Independence and the Path Out of the Current Impasse

By Jerome M. Segal, University of California Press, 2022, hardcover, 316 pp. MEB $30

Reviewed by Walter L. Hixson

This study analyzes the pivotal role of the Palestinian Declaration of Independence that was issued in 1988. In many ways it is the story of a path not taken, what might have been, and what could still be in the future.

Segal, a philosopher, policy analyst and author of several previous books, declares he “was the first person to publish a call for such a declaration.” He then assisted Mahmoud Darwish—long considered the national poet of Palestine—in drafting the historic statement.

The Olive Branch from Palestine presents the origins of the Declaration, its evolution and ultimate rejection as a pathway to peace by both the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and, of course, by the Israelis. Segal argues that the Declaration advanced the narrative of an independent Palestine and continues to illuminate a path forward in the wake of the failed and indeed chimerical Middle East “peace process.”

During the first generation of the struggle for Palestine, most Palestinians rejected the “right” of Israel to forge a “Jewish state” and hoped to prevent that reality. However, in the wake of their sweeping defeat in the June 1967 war, Palestinians began to move toward a two-state solution. Palestinian resistance in the 1987 First Intifada inspired the drafting of the unilateral Declaration of Independence the following year.

At this point, Segal argues, the PLO made the historic mistake of entering the multilateral and ultimately fruitless “peace process” in order to accommodate American demands, rather than pursuing the unilateral strategy implicit in the Palestinian Declaration of Independence. “It is my view that the Palestinian leadership made a fundamental mistake in the five years separating the 1988 Declaration and the 1993 Oslo Accords,” Segal explains. “They should have established a government of the State of Palestine, a peace-government that would have replaced the PLO.”

Drawing on personal papers, interviews and a range of Palestinian, Israeli and U.S. documents, Segal presents a history of the Declaration and asserts its continuing relevance for the future. While Israel summarily rejected the independence statement, many Palestinians also opposed the Declaration’s recognition of Palestine as a “land of the three monotheistic faiths”—language that could be viewed as legitimating a Zionist state in Palestine. On the other hand, if the Israelis “had responded in kind” and recognized Palestinian independence, Segal argues “it is quite possible that peace and Palestinian statehood might have been achieved” in the wake of the Declaration.

Segal insists that Palestinian statehood remains the path forward, though many readers may find this vision of a two-state solution as improbable as the defunct peace process. In view of the massive and illegal Jewish settlements in occupied Palestine, the rise of a viable, independent Palestinian state is increasingly viewed as

Contributing editor Walter L. Hixson is the author of Architects of Repression: How Israel and Its Lobby Put Racism, Violence and Injustice at the Center of US Middle East Policy (available from Middle East Books and More), along with several other books and journal articles. He was a professor of history for 36 years, achieving the rank of distinguished professor.

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unachievable. More practical today, many believe, is a one-state solution that would put an end to Israeli apartheid by mandating equal rights for Palestinians.

Segal makes a strong case for the significance of the Declaration of Independence, which he argues convincingly has been “unappreciated” in narratives of the struggle for Palestine. “The Declaration,” he concludes, “was and remains a remarkable document, a unilateral effort that provides a basis for resolving the conflict.”

Iceland Street in Jerusalem

By Hjálmtýr Heiðdal, self-published, 2022, paperback, 242 pp. MEB $25

Reviewed by Dale Sprusansky

Even those with a deep knowledge of the events surrounding the creation of the State of Israel have something to learn from Hjálmtýr Heiðdal’s Iceland Street in Jerusalem. Like many before him, Heiðdal outlines the key players of the early Zionist movement, paying particular attention to their motivations and the devastating impact of their actions on the Palestinian people.

Where Iceland Street truly stands out, however, is in analyzing Zionism through the prism of the Icelandic government and media. While this approach may initially seem curious, Heiðdal convincingly dem on strates how the remote country of fewer than 400,000 people played an outsized role in legitimizing and facilitating the establishment of the Israeli state in 1948.

Just three years after becoming an independent republic, Iceland was appointed to the U.N.’s 1947 Ad Hoc Committee on Palestine, charged with recommending a solution to the burgeoning Zionist-Arab conflict. Iceland further cemented its place in history when its U.N. representative, Thor Thors, was the first person to address the General Assembly on Nov. 29, 1947 as the body debated the now infamous U.N. Partition Plan for Palestine. Although Thors was heavily lobbied by Zionists, he told Abba Eban, Israel’s future foreign minister, that his country’s support for a Jewish state was never in doubt.

Heiðdal offers a thorough examination as to why Iceland and many other Western countries so ardently supported Zionism.

Perhaps his most persistent assertion is that many Western leaders “were shaped from childhood by the Bible’s stories about ancient Israel,” inclining them to fetishize the idea of a Jewish return to Zion. Heiðdal indeed provides ample evidence to support his claim that Christian Zionism underlined the thinking of leaders from Iceland and elsewhere.

He also deftly demonstrates how Jewish Zionists exploited simplistic Christian understandings of the Hebrew scriptures to make the case for a new Jewish state in the land of the Bible. Heiðdal points out that most early Zionists were areligious and looked at a whole host of possible locations to establish a Jewish homeland—most notably Uganda. Furthermore, he notes the historical opposition of many religious Jews to a new Jewish state. In doing so, he shows that religion was used cynically and opportunistically to sell the Zionist cause.

And yet, Heiðdal’s noticeable disdain for religion occasionally undermines these points. For instance, his flippant comments about the ahistorical “myths” of the Bible serving as the basis for the Jewish state contradict his nuanced scholarly discourse demonstrating the secular underpinnings of Zionism. Relatedly, the author also tends to delve into religious issues that are not germane to the focus of the book, such as the internal Jewish debate as to what makes one a Jew.

Aside from his exegesis on Christian Zionism, Heiðdal masterfully ties Zionism to the prevalence of nationalistic imperialism among 19th and 20th century Western countries. He shows how Zionist leaders intentionally targeted leaders in the United Kingdom, knowing both the country’s global power and its inclination to support settler colonial nationalistic movements. This, combined with the prevalence of Christian Zionism, intense lobbying efforts, European desires to expand their influence in the East and guilt over the Holocaust all helped to secure Western support for a Jewish homeland, the author argues.

A true strength of the book is Heiðdal’s frequent and adept use of primary sources to solidify his arguments. As just one example, he extensively quotes Edwin Montagu, the UK’s Secretary of State for India, who was both an outspoken opponent of the Balfour Declaration and the most prominent Jew in the British government. Giving ample space to Montagu reinforces the author’s contention that many Jews disputed the early Zionists’ proposition that the Jewish people constituted a nation in exile. The comments of Montagu and others are also skillfully used to demonstrate the prescient warnings of early anti-Zionists about the consequences of permitting a settler project in Palestine.

A further highlight of Iceland Street is Heiðdal’s examination of the multiple times Palestinians were lied to and assured that a Jewish national home would not infringe upon their rights. The selected primary sources are particularly powerful in demonstrating that Palestinian rights are typically an afterthought for Western leaders, casually referenced at the end of strong statements in favor of the Zionist state. Indeed, the author notes that even as Iceland has moved away from its strong support for Israel in recent years, its leaders still tend to voice their concerns about Israeli human rights violations alongside their support for the country’s right to self-defense.

The book concludes with Heiðdal devoting several chapters to outlining the contradictions of Israeli “democracy,” spurious charges of anti-Semitism and Israeli violence against Palestinians. These chapters tend to be more rudimentary and can at times get a bit long-winded. Though this can be forgiven when one remembers the book was primarily written for Icelanders, who presumably have much less access to books on this subject in their native language. The book also contains innocent typos here and there, which is again easy to look past since the author self-translated the book after it was first released in Icelandic in 2019.

Minor flaws aside, the book does a brilliant job of providing a new and intriguing angle through which to explore Zionism, while also serving as a highly useful resource for understanding the foundations of the Zionist movement. As such, Iceland Street in Jerusalem is a valuable read for seasoned and new readers on the subject alike.

Meir Kahane: The Public Life and Political Thought of an American Jewish Radical

By Shaul Magid, Princeton University Press, 2021, hardcover, 296 pp. MEB $40 Reviewed by Steve France

It’s sad to say, but this would be a good time to learn about—or refresh your knowledge of—right-wing Rabbi Meir Kahane. The violent visionary was assassinated 32 years ago, but in Israel’s post-Oslo scramble to finally absorb occupied Palestinian territory and ghettoize any remaining Palestinians, Kahane’s message is more cutting-edge than it was even in his lifetime.

Shaul Magid’s study of Kahane’s life and thoughts is an excellent new resource to understand the Kahanist theological brew that extreme religious settlers use to justify their violent persecution of Palestinians. Readers see how Kahane drew on his 13 years of study in the Mir Yeshiva in Brooklyn to convince religious Israelis to discard the spiritual reluctance of some earlier religious Zionists to engage in hands-on violence against “Arabs” who got in the way of Jewish “redemption” of the Land of Israel.

A rough-edged American deeply involved in Israeli politics, Kahane enunciated a robust theology made-to-order for the expulsion or total subjugation of Palestinians, which Magid notes was based on Kahane’s “selective reading of prophetic texts.” Kahane, Magid writes, defined the “Jewish

Steve France is an activist and writer affiliated with Episcopal Peace Fellowship, Palestine‐Israel Network.

On Zionist Literature by Ghassan Kanafani, translated by Mahmoud Najib, Ebb Books, 2022, paperback, 188 pp. MEB $20.

Translated into English for the first time since its publication in Arabic in 1967, legendary Palestinian writer Ghassan Kanafani’s On Zionist Literature is an incisive analysis of the body of literary fiction written in support of the Zionist colonization of Palestine. Interweaving his literary criticism of works by George Eliot, Arthur Koestler and many others with a historical materialist narrative, Kanafani identifies the political intent and ideology of Zionist literature. Namely, he demonstrates how the myths used to justify the Zionist domination of Palestine first emerged and were repeatedly propagated in popular literary works in order to generate support for Zionism and shape the Western public’s understanding of Israel.

Once Upon a Time in Iraq: History of a Modern Tragedy by James Bluemel and Dr. Renad Mansour, BBC Books, 2021, paperback, 432 pp. MEB $21.95.

When troops invaded Iraq in 2003 to topple Saddam Hussein’s regime, most people expected an easy victory. Instead, the gamble was a grave mistake and its rami fi cations continue to reverberate through the lives of millions both in Iraq and the West. In Once Upon a Time in Iraq, award-winning documentary maker James Bluemel collects first-hand testimony from those who lived through the horrors of the invasion. It takes in all sides of the conflict— working class Iraqi families watching their country erupt into civil war; soldiers and journalists on the ground; American families dealing with the grief of losing their son or daughter; parents of a suicide bomber coming to terms with unfathomable events— to create the most in-depth and multi-faceted portrait of the Iraq War to date. Accompanying a major BBC series, James Bluemel’s book is an essential account of a conflict that continues to shape our world, and a startling reminder of the consequences of our past decisions.

Degrade and Destroy: The Inside Story of the War Against the Islamic State, from Barack Obama to Donald Trump by Michael R. Gordon, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2022, hardcover, 496 pp. MEB $30.

Degrade and Destroy takes us inside National Security Council meetings at which President Barack Obama grappled with early setbacks in the war against the Islamic State. The book also offers the most detailed account to date of how President Donald Trump granted greater authority over the war to the Pentagon, but in Gordon’s opinion, jeopardized the outcome by rushing to exit. Drawing on his reporting in Iraq and Syria for the Wall Street Journal, Gordon documents the closed-door deliberations of U.S. generals with their Iraqi and Syrian counterparts and describes some of the toughest urban battles since World War II. Among the questions he addresses: How was the war actually fought? What were the key decisions, successes and failures? What was learned? As Americans debate the future of using force abroad, Gordon’s account offers vital insights into how wars are fought against non-state actors, and the enduring lessons we can draw from such wars.

claim to the Land of Israel” as “not a nationalist one, simply because ‘we once lived there,’ not because of a Balfour, a League of Nations or [a] United [Nations]. Not a request or a plea but a proud claim, based on a divine grant.” Violent destruction of the enemies of that “promised land” was a “holy act” in Kahane’s eyes.

Kahane taught religious Israelis to see as “enemies of Israel” even fellow Zionists who were non-religious, or liberal-religious in outlook. Even the iconic founder of Israel, David Ben-Gurion, whose socialist and secular Zionism Magid describes as “a hardfought experiment in Jewish normalization,” was to Kahane no more than a “Hebrewspeaking goyim,” deeply tainted by non-Orthodox thinking. Going still further, he held that “Zionism, a Jewish state and Judaism are incompatible with Western democracy.”

Kahane’s Zionist Judaism was about radical action, not prayer and piety. Profusely citing scripture, he preached that “whoever relents from revenge against Israel’s enemies is giving up on avenging G_d, for whoever attacks the people of Israel is actually attacking the G_d of Israel.” Using the biblical name for Arabs, he identified Palestinians as “the Ishmaelite cancer and desecration of the Land of Israel” and accused Israelis of “profan[ing] G_d’s name by their refusal to expel from Eretz Yisrael the Ishmaelites.” Any alleged Jewish sage who said Jews are obligated to treat Arabs mercifully was a rodef (murderer) who “collaborates with the gentile in the killing of Jews.” Magid, who is a professor of Jewish studies at Dartmouth College, traces the evolution of this philosophy back to New York, where Kahane founded the Jewish Defense League in the late 1960s. JDL sought to undercut the liberal Jewish establishment in America, which Kahane viewed as guilty of assimilating to the non-Jewish establishment and undermining the pride of ordinary Jews. JDL fielded street gangs to battle Blacks and others who supposedly were assaulting defenseless Jews. The group also bombed Soviet offices in a campaign to support emigration of Russian Jews to Israel. When he moved to Israel in 1971, Kahane’s fundamentalist, messianic Judaism became central to his political vision and deepened and darkened his hatred of secular and liberal Jews. By the time of his death in 1990, he was a tremendously controversial figure. Still, the extremist ideology he developed lived on, Magid relates, even after his Kach party was outlawed in 1994, in the wake of the massacre by his disciple Baruch Goldstein of 29 Muslim men and boys (and the wounding of scores more) in Hebron’s Ibrahimi Mosque.

As the Oslo peace process has crumbled and Israel has locked in its commitment to apartheid, secular justifications for the Jewish state have become less and less convincing—and Kahane’s star has risen. Last year, the leader of the Jewish Power party, Itamar Ben-Gvir, a follower of Kahane who displays a portrait of Goldstein in his home, entered the Knesset. In the upcoming election, his party is expected to win many more seats.

This slide toward theocracy deeply contradicts the vision of the secular founders of Zionism, such as Theodor Herzl and BenGurion. They aimed to create a society where Jews would be free from the shackles of religion-based tradition, as well as safe from persecution by—or assimilation into— non-Jewish society. Now, Zionism’s impressive triumph—the State of Israel—is propped up by Kahanist fundamentalism. Should the Kahanists gain full control, their ideology will not only dictate total war against the Arabs but also the repression of liberal and secular Israeli Jews. In an ironic twist, the ideal of a Jewish, democratic state might founder on the intra-Jewish divisions that Zionism once seemed to have settled. ■

Republics of Myth: National Narratives and the U.S.-Iran Conflict

By Hussein Banai, Malcolm Byrne and John Tirman, Johns Hopkins University Press, 2022, hardcover, 432 pp. MEB $29.95

Report by Amelia Leaphart

The Atlantic Council sponsored a virtual event on June 23 to discuss Republics of Myth: National Narratives and the U.S.-Iran Conflict, a new book that assesses U.S.Iran relations since 1979. The authors argue that the prevalence of strongly held— and often conflicting—national myths in both countries help explain the animosity between Tehran and Washington over the past 40-plus years.

“It’s not just national interests that drive behavior, but also national narratives,” said John Tirman, co-author and executive director of the MIT Center for International Studies. “Narratives are stories about a nation, their folklore. They are facts to some extent, history through a particular nationalistic lens, and they’re conveyed through education, news media, art, architecture—all kinds of ways.” These myths and narratives, he explained, “can often be a subtle shaper of political leaders’ behavior and decisions.”

Tirman believes the prime national narrative influencing U.S. behavior is the “frontier myth,” the centuries-long notion that the earliest Americans tamed and reaped the bounty of a new exotic land filled with native “savages.” He noted that when the U.S. completed its colonization of the West Coast it began to pursue an international frontier to “tame,” hence the American occupation of Cuba and the Philippines, following the Spanish-American War. This mentality has continued to the modern day, inclining the U.S. to become involved in confrontations across the world.

On the Iranian side, Tirman noted that the country’s leadership exalts the martyrdom of Imam Husayn, the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad who was killed for resisting the rule of a tyrant. “This has become a powerful story for Iranians,” he explained. “One of the most important things to take away from this is a very deep suspicion of foreigners, foreign influence, of the power of martyrdom and so on.”

Tirman pointed out that U.S. imperialistic

aggression and a strong Iranian sense of national defense are naturally incompatible. “These two national narratives are very much at odds with each other,” he said. “It explains, I think, a lot of the behavior of the countries and their relationship to each other.”

Malcolm Bryne, co-author and deputy director of research at the National Security Archive, noted that the book initially focused on how missed opportunities have defined Iran-U.S. relations in recent decades. A plethora of interviews with policymakers and analysis in both countries confirmed this conclusion, but also illustrated the dominant role of national myths in shaping outcomes. “We essentially moved from the idea of missed opportunities to national narratives as just one interesting and unexplored angle through which to try to understand the mess that this 40-year relationship has become,” Bryne explained.

Hussein Banai, co-author and professor of international studies at Indiana University, noted that even though diplomats, negotiators and high-ranking officials in both countries tend to be highly educated, they are still likely to be guided by national myths. “It became very clear to us that these background narratives were actually exercising tremendous control over these otherwise practically minded [leaders],” he said. “These narratives actually anchored their views more than was even apparent to them.”

Banai cited the 2015 nuclear deal, reached with former Presidents Barack Obama and Hassan Rouhani, as the most noticeable rare example in recent history of leaders from both sides transcending myths and refusing to let an opportunity pass. It was the “exception that proves the rule,” he said.

Byrne noted the irony of myths preventing the progress that leaders in both countries generally want to see. “Every U.S. president, from Jimmy Carter on forward, and every major Iranian leader have at one time or another wanted to reach out to the other side, wanted to find some sort of agreement,” Bryne said. ■

Amelia Leaphart is a student at Sewanee: The University of the South, where she is editor‐in‐chief of The Sewanee Purple. She was an intern with the Washington Report this summer.

Sudan’s Unfinished Democracy: The Promise and Betrayal of a People’s Revolution by Willow Berridge, Justin Lynch, Raga Makawi and Alex de Waal, Oxford University Press, 2022, paperback, 280 pp. MEB $35.

Sudan’s Unfinished Democracy tells the story of the Sudanese revolution of 2019 and how it succeeded in bringing down the long-standing rule of President Omar al-Bashir. How ever, the revolution quickly led to a troubled tran sitional civilian-led government that failed to meet the aspirations of the country’s revolutionaries and led to greater instability. The authors set the non-violent uprising in its historical context, showing how the protesters drew upon the precedents of earlier civic revolutions and adapted their practices to the specific challenges of the al-Bashir regime. The book also explores how the regime was brought to its knees through its inability to manage the intersecting economic and political crises caused by the 2011 secession of South Sudan and the loss of oil revenue, alongside the uncontrolled expansion of a sprawling security apparatus.

Vintage Humour: The Islamic Wine Poetry of Abu Nuwas by Alex Rowell, Hurst, 2018, hardcover, 224 pp. MEB $35.

Abu Nuwas, the pre-eminent bacchic bard of the classical Arabic canon, was loved and reviled in equal measure for his lyrical celebration of Abbasid Baghdad’s dissolute nightlife. His cutting satires of religion and the clergy, as well as the extraordinary range and virtuosity of his literary talent, only amplified Abu Nuwas’ profile. Vintage Humour contains approximately 120 translations, each replicating the mono rhyme scheme of the originals, with commentary where appropriate, a brief history of the poet’s life and times and a glossary of the key themes, motifs and running jokes of the poems themselves. Based on extensive research with both Arabic and English source materials, Vintage Humour is an illuminating collection of interest to both general and informed readers with an interest in Islamic studies, Arabic literature and the history of Iraq and the Middle East.

Middle Eastern Sweets: Desserts, Pastries, Creams & Treats by Salma Hage, Phaidon, 2021, hardcover, 240 pp. MEB $35.

The latest culinary treat from Salma Hage, one of the Middle East’s most-loved home cooks, Middle Eastern Sweets is an indulgent collection of dessert recipes for all tastes and occasions. Whether you start your day with something sweet, finish it with something sweet, or make sure sweets are within reach all day long, you’ll find serious inspiration in these pages. The Middle East’s wide range of cultures, ingredients and influences informs the array of dishes she includes, such as spiced cookies, cream-filled pancakes, aromatic pastries and delicious cakes. Her recipes are refreshingly easy to follow and allow you to enjoy the process of crafting your treat. With natural sweeteners such as dates and honey often used in place of refined sugar; alternative protein sources including nuts and yogurt; and recipes that are naturally gluten-free, vegan, nut-free and dairy-free, this is the ideal book for both everyday treats and festive celebrations.