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America in an Arab Mirror
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America in an Arab Mirror
Images of America in
Arabic Travel Literature,
1668 to 9/11 and Beyond
Edited by
Kamal Abdel-Malek and
Mouna El Kahla
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AMERICAINANARABMIRROR
Copyright © Kamal Abdel-Malek and Mouna El Kahla, 2000.
All rights reserved.
First published as America in An Arab Mirror: Images of America in Arabic
Travel Literature: An Anthology in hardcover in 2000 by St. Martin’s Press
LLC, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010. This revised edition,
America in An Arab Mirror: Images of America in Arabic Travel Literature, 1668
to 9/11 and Beyond first published in paperback in 2011 by Palgrave
Macmillan.
Where this book is distributed in the UK, Europe and the rest of the
world, this is by Palgrave Macmillan, a division of Macmillan Publishers
Limited, registered in England, company number 785998, of Houndmills,
Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS.
Palgrave Macmillan is the global academic imprint of the above
companies and has companies and representatives throughout the world.
Palgrave® and Macmillan® are registered trademarks in the United States,
the United Kingdom, Europe and other countries.
ISBN: 978-0-230-62035-3
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available from the
Library of Congress.
A catalogue record of the book is available from the British Library.
Design by Letra Libre
First PALGRAVE MACMILLAN paperback edition: March 2011
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Printed in the United States of America.
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For A. Abdel-Malek,
my dear brother and my first Ustaadh, teacher,
who instilled in me the love of learning.
Semper fidelis.
Kamal Abdel-Malek
And to my kindhearted and supportive parents,
with my unbounded love:
I am now and will always be
proud to be your daughter.
Mouna El Kahla
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Contents
Preface xi
List of Accounts of Arab Travelers to America
According to Their Date of Publication (1668–2008) xv
I
AMERICA IN THE EYES OF A
NINETEENTH-CENTURY ARAB
1. A Stranger in the West: The Trip of Mikhail Asad Rustum
to America, 1885–1894, Mikhail Asad Rustum (1895) 3
II
THE MAKING OF AN IMAGE: AMERICA
AS THE UNCHANGED OTHER,
AMERICA AS THE SEDUCTIVE FEMALE
2. “The America I Have Seen”:
In the Scale of Human Values, Sayyid Qutb (1951) 9
3. A Love Tour, Mahmud Awad (1972) 29
4. An American Immigrant,Ahmad Mustafa (1979) 31
5. New York 80, Yusuf Idris (1980?) 37
6. America: The Jeans and the Switchblade,
Muhammad Hasan al-Alfi (1989) 43
7. America for Sale, Mahmud Imara (1991) 45
III
AMERICA: THE DREAM AND THE REALITY,
THE AMERICAN AS AN EXAMPLE TO EMULATE
8. America in the Eyes of an Easterner,
Or Eight Years in the United States,Philip K. Hitti (1924) 49
9. The World in America,Amir Boqtor (1926) 55
10. The Trip to America, Muhammad Labib al-Batanuni (1930) 59
11. The Flying Sphinx [in America], Mahmud Taymur (1946?) 61
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12. America Under the Microscope, Zaki Khalid (1954) 63
13. My Days in America, Zaki Najib Mahmud (1955) 67
14. The Land of Magic, Shafiq Jabri (1962) 81
15. America: Paradise and Hellfire,Adil Hammuda (1982) 87
16. The Washington Memoirs, Yusuf al-Hasan (1986) 91
17. America (Top Secret),Ahmad Haridi (1987) 93
18. Embers and Ashes: Memoirs of an Arab Intellectual,
Hisham Sharabi (1988) 97
IV
AMERICA IN THE EYES OF
ARAB WOMEN TRAVELERS
19. America and I, Jadhibiyya Sidqi (1962?) 105
20. An Egyptian Girl in America, Karima Kamal (1983) 111
21. The Trip: The Days of an Egyptian Female
Student in America, Radwa Ashur (1987) 117
22. America’s Other Face, Layla Abu Zayd (1991) 121
23. America the Way It Is, Hala Sarhan (1995) 123
V
SATIRICAL VIEWS OF AMERICA
24. Cheerful America of the Past: Journal of a Penniless
Student in the United States, Mustafa Amin (1989) 129
25. America, You Cheeky Devil, Mahmud al-Sadani (1990) 135
26. My Story with Eva [Ivana Trump],Ali Salem (1993) 143
27. “The Sabeel in America,” Kamal Abdel-Malek (1999) 147
VI
COLONIAL SPANISH AMERICA IN THE EYES
OF A SEVENTEENTH-CENTURY ARAB (1668)
28. The Gold and the Tempest: The Journey of Elias al-Musili to
America, The First Arab Journey to the New World 153
VII
EARLY EGYPTIAN TRAVELERS IN AMERICA:
MUHAMMAD ALI PASHA’S TRIP IN 1912
29. A Passage to America, Muhammad Ali Pasha (1912) 157
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VIII
ACCOUNTS OF ARAB TRAVELERS
TO AMERICA BETWEEN 1996 AND 2000
30. The First Glimpse of New York, Hisham al-Hadidi (1996) 163
31. An Egyptian in America,Adil Ahmad Sarkis (1998) 167
IX
ACCOUNTS OF ARAB TRAVELERS
TO AMERICA AFTER 9/11
32. One Americano with Mayonnaise, Please,
Samir al-Jamal (2001) 173
33. One Hundred and Eighty Days in Yankeestan,
Wafaa Ibrahim (2002) 177
34. Returning to California as a Tourist,Ghazi Abd al-Rahman
al-Qusaybi (2002) 181
35. Deconstructing America: 9/11 and Its Aftermath,
Rida Hilal (2003) 185
36. Dusk in America, Muhammad al-Jawwadi (2003) 187
37. Would You Like to Hate America?Yusuf Maati (2003) 189
38. Cities of the Wind,Abd al-Aziz al-Musallam (2004) 193
39. Americanli, Sunallah Ibrahim (2004) 195
40. Why Do They Hate Us? Nasir al-Din Muhammad
al-Zamil (2004) 197
41. The Rise and Fall of the American Empire, Mansur Abd
al-Hakim (2005) 199
42. Embrace Condoleezza Rice at Your Own Risk,
Zuhayr Wasini (2006) 201
43. Chicago, Alaa al-Aswani (2007) 207
44. Saudis in America,Turki Al-Dakhil (2007) 211
45. The Egyptian Occupation of America,Yasir Qantush (2008) 213
Appendix: Accounts of Arab Travelers to America Unlisted in Part One:
Sinbad in the New World, Husayn Fawzi (1984) 219
Index 221
