Among the many differences between the Arabs in the present and those in the past is their relationship to books. Once upon a time in Arab history, hostages were exchanged for books. Books had a special revered status. When states and kingdoms fell in Andalus, the one thing those fleeing were sure to take with them were their books. In fact, the burning of the remaining books was a form of torture that the enemy used against them.
Today students rip and burn their books as if the books were themselves the enemy. Indeed these days books all too often fall into the hands of those who have neither compassion nor mercy. At the same time, cultural and political associations criticize Arabs for not reading and for their inability to recognize and use knowledge. Have we forgotten the statement by Moshe Dayan, the Israeli defense minister, after the 1967 war? When asked if he had been concerned about the war plans being published before being executed, his answer — which has become famous — was, “Arabs do not read.” And the question still remains unanswered today. Why don’t Arabs read? Perhaps a partial answer could be found if we checked a website such as Amazon and then went to an Arabic library. We might well be amazed at the range of books available on the website. The Arabic library, however, is most unlikely to contain anything beyond the permitted and the predictable. Such works do not encourage a normal Arab wage-earner to spend his hard-earned income on them. Who or what, we might ask, is responsible for the low standards and poor quality of what is available?
First there is the problem of disparaging all attempts at true creativity, especially if it has anything to do with liberty of thought, freedom of opinion, analytical thought and self-expression. Here I am not speaking simply about politics. Even science, and disagreements about its proper use, is often related to “sensitive” issues; indeed, science often serves as a basis and background for open debate in the West. In addition, there is also public and private discouragement of a creative individual whose ideas are not the normal socially acceptable ones. And on still another level, there is an absence of book manufacturing in the Arab world as well as an absence of marketing and selling techniques. How then can even the best writers and thinkers reach an audience?
The biggest problem with this dearth of popular culture is that far too much responsibility is placed on the shoulders of the self-styled “cultured” and “informed” who see themselves as extremely important and are of course very conservative. Far too much Arabic writing today is done in the same traditional ways that have been used for centuries; there is nothing at all wrong with traditional ways but new times demand new ideas and new ways of dealing with them. To move away from this approach would not weaken the content or substance of what is written in Arabic. Those Arabs who are comfortable in English and know their way around the Internet may be the luckiest. As for the others, I urge them to enter the world of books for it is a breathtaking one that will make all who enter happier, wiser and more able to meet and deal with life’s challenges.
