So this guy reviewed a new book on modern Arabic fiction for the book section of the NYT. Why was he selected to review the book? Is he an expert? He is not an expert, but he has reported on the war in Iraq for the New York Times. So he lives in that fortress that is owned by the New York Times in Baghdad and is protected by tens of armed bodyguards, and John Burns, who was more enthusiastic about the war than Judith Miller, is in charge of that operation. Here, the correspondent who does not know Arabic or Arabic literature generalizes about Arabs and makes things up as he goes along: "In societies where religion dominated all aspects of life, the notion of authors creating a separate fictional world was widely viewed with suspicion. Many Arab writers saw “A Thousand and One Nights” — revered as a masterpiece in the West — as a frivolous work unworthy of their emulation." As if Arabs needed the White Man to tell them about the One Thousand and One Nights. Where do they come up with that stuff? Also, he says this: "The author, Ghassan Kanafani, was himself a Palestinian advocate killed by a car bomb in Beirut in 1972." Car bomb? Would you care to say who planted the car bomb? Or do you think that car bombs just fall from the air in Lebanon? Even the Israeli media now coldly and casually mention Israeli responsibility. Hell, Israelis are proud when their forces kill Palestinian artists, writers, and poets, among others.