The Israel-Egypt Peace Treaty
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Volume 7 - Number 8 April - May 2011 £4 | €5 | US$6.5 THIS ISSUE » THE ISRAEL-EGYPT PEACE TREATY – DOOMED TO FAILURE? » THE GCC STATES » THE GULF AND ITS INDIAN ENTANGLEMENTS » WOMEN’S SUFFRAGE IN KUWAIT » THE DRIVE TO DIVERSIFY GULF ECONOMIES » A HISTORY OF SAUDI ARABIA IN TEXTILES » MANHATTAN COMES TO MAKKAH » ARABIAN STUDIES IN BRITAIN » PLUS » REVIEWS AND EVENTS IN LONDON ‘Deraa’ (inner dress), Central Region, Bani Tamim Tribe, 2009 © Art of Heritage (see page 14) About the London Middle East Institute (LMEI) Volume 7 - Number 8 April-May 2011 Th e London Middle East Institute (LMEI) draws upon the resources of London and SOAS to provide teaching, training, research, publication, consultancy, outreach and other services related to the Middle Editorial Board East. It serves as a neutral forum for Middle East studies broadly defi ned and helps to create links between Nadje Al-Ali individuals and institutions with academic, commercial, diplomatic, media or other specialisations. SOAS With its own professional staff of Middle East experts, the LMEI is further strengthened by its academic Narguess Farzad SOAS membership – the largest concentration of Middle East expertise in any institution in Europe. Th e LMEI also Nevsal Hughes has access to the SOAS Library, which houses over 150,000 volumes dealing with all aspects of the Middle Association of European Journalists East. LMEI’s Advisory Council is the driving force behind the Institute’s fundraising programme, for which Najm Jarrah it takes primary responsibility. It seeks support for the LMEI generally and for specifi c components of its George Joff é programme of activities. Cambridge University Max Scott Stacey International Sarah Searight Mission Statement: Society for Arabian Studies Kathryn Spellman Poots Th e aim of the LMEI, through education and research, is to promote knowledge of all aspects of the Middle AKU and LMEI East including its complexities, problems, achievements and assets, both among the general public and with Sarah Stewart LMEI those who have a special interest in the region. In this task it builds on two essential assets. First, it is based Ionis Th ompson in London, a city which has unrivalled contemporary and historical connections and communications with Society for Arabian Studies, the Middle East including political, social, cultural, commercial and educational aspects. Secondly, the LMEI Saudi-British Society is closely linked to SOAS, the only tertiary educational institution in the world whose explicit purpose is to Shelagh Weir SOAS provide education and scholarship on the whole Middle East from prehistory until today. Co-ordinating Editor Anabel Inge LMEI Staff: Editorial Assistant Rhiannon Edwards Director Dr Hassan Hakimian Listings Deputy Director and Company Secretary Dr Sarah Stewart Vincenzo Paci-Delton Executive Offi cer Louise Hosking Designer Events and Magazine Coordinator Vincenzo Paci-Delton Shahla Geramipour Th e Middle East in London is published six times a year by the London Middle Disclaimer: Letters to the Editor: East Institute at SOAS Opinions and views expressed in the Middle East Please send your letters to the editor at Publisher and in London are, unless otherwise stated, personal the LMEI address provided (see left panel) Editorial Offi ce views of authors and do not refl ect the views of their or email [email protected] Th e London Middle East Institute School of Oriental and African Studies organisations nor those of the LMEI or the Editorial University of London Board. 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Contents LMEI Board of Trustees 4 16 23 Professor Paul Webley (Chairman) EDITORIAL Liwa: journal of the National BOOKS IN BRIEF Director, SOAS Center for Documentation and H E Sir Vincent Fean KCVO Research, United Arab Emirates Consul General to Jerusalem Geoff rey King Dr Ben Fortna, SOAS 5 25 Professor Graham Furniss, SOAS FEEDBACK IN MEMORIAM Professor Robert Hillenbrand Th e death of a distinguished Edinburgh University 17 generation of Islamic art scholars Dr Karima Laachir, SOAS Manhattan comes to Makkah Mr Charles Richards 6 Samar Al-Sayed Professor Annabelle Sreberny, SOAS INSIGHT Professor Sami Zubaida Th e Israel-Egypt Peace Treaty – 26 Birkbeck doomed to failure? LISTINGS: APRIL-MAY LMEI Advisory Council Patrick Seale 18 EVENTS Th e British Foundation for the Lady Barbara Judge (Chair) Study of Arabia Professor Muhammad A. S. Abdel Haleem Near and Middle East Department, SOAS Sarah Searight H E Khalid Al-Duwaisan GVCO 8 Ambassador, Embassy of the State of Kuwait THE GCC STATES Mrs Haifa Al Kaylani Arab International Women’s Forum Th e Gulf and its Indian entanglements Dr Khalid Bin Mohammed Al Khalifa 19 President, University College of Bahrain Caroline Osella POETRY Professor Tony Allan Saad al-Humaidin and Suad al- King’s College and SOAS Mubarak al-Sabah Dr Alanoud Alsharekh LMEI and Fellow, St Antony’s College 10 Mr Farad Azima Iran Heritage Foundation Th e battle for infl uence: women’s 20 Professor Doris Behrens-Abouseif suff rage in Kuwait ROAD TO JERICHO Art and Archaeology Department, SOAS Lindsey Stephenson ‘Th e message is always much Dr Noel Brehony stronger through music’ MENAS Associates Ltd. Randa Safi eh on a concert tour of Mr Charles L. O. Buderi Curtis, Mallet-Prevost, Colt & Mosle LLP British, American and Palestinian Dr Elham Danish 12 musicians coming soon to London Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia Away from oil and towards Professor Nasser D. Khalili innovation: the drive to diversify Nour Foundation Gulf economies Mr Kasim Kutay Moelis & Company Kenneth Wilson 22 Ms Heidi Minshall REVIEWS: BOOKS Middle East & North Africa Research Ottoman Brothers: Muslims, Group, Foreign & Commonwealth Offi ce Christians, and Jews in Early Mr Rod Sampson Barclays Wealth, Dubai 14 Twentieth-Century Palestine by Dr Mai Yamani Th e Art of Heritage collection: a Michelle U Campos Carnegie Middle East Centre history of Saudi Arabia in textiles Roberto Mazza Michelle Motiwalla and Pramod Founding Sponsor and Kumar Member of the Advisory Council Sheikh Mohamed bin Issa al Jaber MBI Al Jaber Foundation April-May 2011 » The Middle East in London » 3 EEDITORIALDITORIAL DDearear RReadereader The Museum of Islamic Art in Doha, Qatar, designed by I M Pei and Jean-Michel Wilmotte Sarah Searight, MEL Editorial Board he fl uidity of events in the Middle relevant in this respect: for instance, the in the UAE, described by Geoff rey King East region will be well known power of money in the construction boom as ‘an essential point of reference for Gulf Tto our readers, and its impact is in Makkah, the diffi culty Kuwaiti women regional studies’, and from Saudi Arabia, unpredictable. For this reason, although this face in making their newly acquired vote the Art of Heritage collection – the crucial issue is focused on the Gulf Cooperation eff ective (they have fi nally acquired four preservation of the country’s material Council (GCC) states, our ‘Insight’ seats in the national assembly) and the need culture. Th ese are heartening developments contribution by the renowned Middle East to diversity GCC economies partly in order at a time of widespread regional commentator Patrick Seale assesses an old to provide employment in the private sector. disturbance. Equally appropriate is Randa issue still pertinent to the entire region: the Kuwait, Bahrain and Oman have all been Safi eh’s article on a concert tour of British, future of the Israeli-Egyptian Peace Treaty shaken by protests for better representation American and Palestinian musicians in the post-Mubarak era. and better employment prospects. coming soon to London that aims to change As we know, the Gulf states, too, have However, this issue also draws the public’s image of Palestine by bringing had their share of upheavals. It is therefore attention to some of the exciting cultural to as wide as possible an audience the apt to look at the region in terms of developments within the GCC. Alongside chance to hear the cry of Palestinians for poverty, unemployment and corruption – the architectural fl amboyance of new freedom through music. aggravated by rising food prices – rather museums up and down the Arabian shore, than merely oil wealth. Several of the it is good to read of two developments: the articles in the current issue are indeed arrival of Liwa, a new journal published 4 » The Middle East in London » April-May 2011 FFEEDBACKEEDBACK FFeedbackeedback Volume 7 - Number 7 February-March 2011 £4 | €5 | US$6.5 We value your feedback and constructive suggestions. Please address letters to the editor to [email protected] or Editor, London Middle East Institute, School of Oriental and African Studies, University of THIS ISSUE » IRAN » WHITHER SANCTIONS? » FLOWERS OF PERSIAN SONG AND MUSIC » MAKING NOISE QUIETLY » IRANIAN ORGANISATIONS IN LONDON » TASTING BLOOD: CALIGULA IN TEHRAN » WILL THERE BE WAR ON IRAN? London, Th ornhaugh Street, Russell Square, London WC1H 0XG » PLUS » RESTAURANT, EXHIBITION & BOOK REVIEWS AND EVENTS IN LONDON I JUST read the article ‘Wither Sanctions?’ I HAVE been really enjoying reading THE NEW format is wonderful. in Th e Middle East in London. I must admit the magazine – I am keen to contribute Congratulations! that I really enjoyed it. I have passed it to sometime. our partners and everyone showed a lot of Norbert Hirschhorn MD interest in reading it.