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I now find myself looking at every sentence, every image, that purports to tell the West about the Arabs and the Muslims with this question in mind: to what extent does it feed into existing stereotypes and established prejudice?

Ahdaf Soueif

When each moment, each perception is brought out with care, unfolded like a precious gem from its layers of the softest tissue paper and laid in front of the beloved — turned this way and that, examined, considered.
AHDAF SOUEIF

Care Each Layer Moment Paper Precious Tissue Turn Unfolded
They’re only there to wait for the men. To love them and be loved back or not — mostly not; to be beaten up or killed; to appear as a face on the wall of Meurseault’s cell.
AHDAF SOUEIF

Appear Beaten Cell Face Killed Love Loved Men Mostly Wall
From 1949 to the present, for every dollar the US spent on an African, it spent $250.65 on an Israeli, and for every dollar it spent on someone from the Western Hemisphere outside the US, it spent $214 on an Israeli.
AHDAF SOUEIF

Atheism Country Dollar Every Hemisphere Present
It is that happy stretch of time when the lovers set to chronicling their passion. When no glance, no tone of voice is so fleeting but it shines with significance.
AHDAF SOUEIF

Chronicling Happy Passion Set Shining Stretch Voice
You know, I’ve been thinking: all the women in the books you like — Sartre and Camus and all that — they don’t really exist. Not as people.
AHDAF SOUEIF

Book Exist Like Man People Reading Thinking Wall
Tell me, if you thought a man had a tendresse for you, but he wasn’t doing anything about it.
AHDAF SOUEIF

Anything Doing Little Man Moving Tell Thought
I haven’t come to you only to take , I haven’t come to you empty handed : I bring you poetry as great as yours but in anther tongue , I bring you black eyes and golden skin and curly hair.
AHDAF SOUEIF

Empty Eye Golden Great Hair Handed Only Poetry Skin Sunshine Take Tongue
And Egypt? What is Egypt strenght?her resilience ?her ability to absorb poeple and events into the pores of her being? is that true or is it just a consolation ?
AHDAF SOUEIF

Ability Absorb Country Event Pores Resilence Responsibility Strength
But things move on and by the time you’ve plotted your position the world around you has changed and you are running -panting- to catch up.
AHDAF SOUEIF

Around Change Move Moving Plotted Position Running Think World
I bring you Islam and Luxor and Alexandria and Lutes and tambourines and date-palms and silk rugs and sunshine and incense and voluptuous ways.
AHDAF SOUEIF

Bring Date Palm Rug Silk Sunshine Way
The white foam knows nothing better than those sands which wait for it , rise to it and suck it in .but what do the waves know of the massed, hot, still sands of the desert just twenty , no , ten feet beyond the scalloped edge ?
AHDAF SOUEIF

Better Desert Edge Foam Nothing Scalloped Waves Whip White
Egypt.mother of civilization, dreaming herself through the centuries. Dreaming us all, her children: those who stay and work for her and complain of her, and those who leave and yearn for her and blame her with bitterness for driving them away.
AHDAF SOUEIF

Centuries Children Civilization Dream Dreaming Mother
So at the heart of all things is the germ of their overthrow; the closer you are to the heart, the closer to the reversal. Nowhere to go but down. You reach the core and then you’re blown away–
AHDAF SOUEIF

Closer Germ Heart Nowhere Overthrow Reversal Thing
That narrow stretch of sand knows nothing in the world better than it does the white waves that whip it , caress it , collapse on to it .
AHDAF SOUEIF

Beach Better Blue Narrow Nothing Wave White World
A shifting of responsibility? and if it is true , how much can she absorb and still remain Egypt ?
AHDAF SOUEIF

Country Much Remain Responsibility She Shifting Still True
And you wanted to hurry him up a little so you made a move, an unmistakable move; one that nobody could pretend had been a misunderstanding. And he – he ignored it – ignored you. What would you feel?
AHDAF SOUEIF

Hurry Ignored Little Made Misunderstanding Nobody Unmistakable Wanted

I now find myself looking at every sentence, every image, that purports to tell the West about the Arabs and the Muslims with this question in mind: to what extent does it feed into existing stereotypes and established prejudice?

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I now find myself looking at every sentence, every image, that purports to tell the West about the Arabs and the Muslims with this question in mind: to what extent does it feed into existing stereotypes and established prejudice?

Related Topics

Popular Authors

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