The Conscience of Lebanon: A Political Biography of Etienne Sakr (Abu-Arz) (Israeli History, Politics and Society) [Hardcover]

Mordechai Nisan (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0714653926 | ISBN-13: 978-0714653921 | Publication Date: April 29, 2003 | Edition: 1

This work is a combination of an account of a most captivating Lebanese personality with a penetrating analysis of the historical and religious contours of Lebanon. Mordechai Nisan spent much time with Etienne Sakr between 2000 and 2001. Set within the context of the national political narrative of Lebanon, this volume offers a portrait of Sakr and the times in which he lived before his exile to Israel in May 2000. Personal testimonies from Lebanese residents and conversations with others outside of Lebanon who knew Abu-Arz, in addition to interviews with Israelis aquainted with him, provide the authenticity to the portrait of this remarkable man.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Mordechai Nisan earned his doctorate in Political Science at McGill University Montreal and has been teaching Middle East Studies at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem since 1976. He has written extensively on Arab-Israeli, Islamic and Middle Eastern subjects, published in both English and Hebrew.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 208 pages
• Publisher: Routledge; 1 edition (April 29, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0714653926
• ISBN-13: 978-0714653921
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.4 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #10,268,219 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars It is high time for Lebanon's true story to be told, May 7, 2003

By 

Felix El-Bezri "A Chiite Lebanese" (Montreal, Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Conscience of Lebanon: A Political Biography of Etienne Sakr (Abu-Arz) (Israeli History, Politics and Society) (Hardcover)

It is high time for Lebanon's true story to be told, not the same old jaded and dubious Arabist apologetics.
I just finished reading Mordechai Nisan's Political Biography of Abu-Arz, and thankfully, the author does just that; he shatters the duplicity and falsehoods that Arabism and Islam have been feeding us for the past 100 years to conceal their vicious plundering of Lebanon (and their intrinsic loathing and rejection to the unmolested presence of non-Muslim minorities in their midst in Middle East.)
Professor Nisan's book is an amazing journey, and a hypnotic page-turner. And as usual with his work on Middle Eastern minorities, his narrative is elegant, his prose pellucid, and his scholarship penetrating and compelling... to say nothing of the verve, commitment and unyielding and unequivocal fondness he has for Lebanon and her people.
We should blush that it wasn't a Lebanese who wrote this book; but we should also be proud and flattered that it was Professor Nisan's undertaking. Nobody could have told this story more compellingly and with such erudition.
As a Muslim Lebanese, I am heartened to see that someone has finally summoned up enough integrity and courage to tell the true story of Lebanon and its struggle against the predatory Arabism of Syria and the thugery of Palestinian refugees and Hezbollahy quislings (to say nothing of the Syrian installed 'Lebanese' puppet regime in Beirut) who never tire from pillaging Lebanon and subverting its sovereignty and Lebanonness.
Every true Lebanese should acquire a copy of this splendid addition to the literature on Lebanonism... and anyone interested in the TRUE story of Lebanon should check out this superb work of historical sociology.

1 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Book, January 9, 2009

By 

Directorate (Oak Grove, KY) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: The Conscience of Lebanon: A Political Biography of Etienne Sakr (Abu-Arz) (Israeli History, Politics and Society) (Paperback)

If you want to understand the Lebanese War from a candid perspective that is not tilted and stirred then this is the book to read. I don't get the people that talk about not interviewing Abu Arz's enemy. They should realize that this is his biography narrated by himself. It is not a study on who Abu Arz is, but he also makes it perfectly clear what his enemies thought of him, and the funny thing is that he also talks about his enemies being from the same front that he fought on.

You'll learn a lot about the unpublished facts of the Lebanese War from this book. A lot that hasn't been mentioned because of political ramification is in this book. Highly recommended.

3 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Handbook to the Middle East, May 27, 2007

By 

Mark Treston (Los Angeles, CA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Conscience of Lebanon: A Political Biography of Etienne Sakr (Abu-Arz) (Israeli History, Politics and Society) (Paperback)

This book serves as a handbook to the Middle East. Everyone who is confused about the Middle East and the struggles between extremism and moderates must read this. Lebanon and Israel are the only true democracies in the entire Middle East and North Africa. There are many who like to see both these institutions fail in order to deflect attention from their own oppresive regimes.