| Kanan Makiya |
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Information AboutKanan Makiya |
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BOOKS In 1981, he left the practice of architecture to write a book about Iraq. He began his literary career using the pseudonym, Samir al-Khalil. ''Republic of Fear'' (1989) became a best-seller after Saddam Husain's invasion of Kuwait. Makiya's next book, ''The Monument'' (1991), is an essay on the aesthetics of power and kitsch. ''Cruelty and Silence: War, Tyranny, Uprising and the Arab World'' (1993) was published under Makiya's own name. It was awarded The Lionel Gelber Prize for the best book on international relations published in English in 1993. Makiya recently published ''The Rock: A Seventh Century Tale of Jerusalem'' (2001), a work of historical fiction that tells the story of Muslim-Jewish relations in the formative first century of Islam, culminating in the building of the Dome of the Rock. FILMS Makiya has collaborated on two films for television, the most recent of which exposed for the first time the 1988 campaign of mass murder in northern Iraq known as the Anfal. The film was shown in the U.S. under the title 'Saddam's Killing Fields,' and received the Edward R. Murrow Award For Best Television Documentary On Foreign Affairs in 1992. POLITICAL ACTIVISM In October 1992, he acted as the convenor of the Human Rights Committee of the Iraqi National Congress, a transitional parliament based in northern Iraq. Makiya also writes an occasional column and has been published in ''The Independent'' and ''The New York Times'' among others. CRITICISM OF MAKIYA Edward Said , former professor of English at Columbia University and supporter of Palestinian rights, was a vocal critic of Makiya. Said contends Makiya was a Trotskyite in the late 60s and early 70s and later profited by designing and constructing buildings for Saddam Hussein. Said also claims that Makiya mistranslates Arab intellectuals so he can condemn them for not speaking out against the crimes of Arab rulers. EXTERNAL LINKS
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