На каблуках по Ближнему Востоку

Ksenii͡a Svetlova - izrailʹskai͡a zhurnalistka, arabistka i vostokoved, politicheskiĭ analitik Byla deputatom Knesseta. Kniga "Na kablukakh po Blizhnemu vostoku" nachinaetsi͡a ne s voĭny, a s detskogo voskhishchenii͡a drevnim Vostokom: piramidy, maska Tutankhamona… No prokhodit sovsem nemnogo vremeni - i avtor okazyvaetsi͡a ne u muzeĭnoĭ vitriny, a v samom t͡sentre sobytiĭ, v opasnom i chasto ne ochenʹ predskazuemom mire. Svetlova otpravli͡aetsi͡a v Gazu, nabli͡udai͡a ukhod izrailʹskoĭ armii, v Ramallu vo vremi͡a intifady, v Kair i Damask, v Beĭrut, Bakhreĭn, Tunis, v Persidskiĭ zaliv nakanune voĭny v Irake. Ona nabli͡udatelʹ, no nabli͡udatelʹ ne so storony - ona vnutri sobytiĭ. I chasto okazyvaetsi͡a v ėpit͡sentre, kak odnazhdy na ploshchadi Takhrir. Na stranit͡sakh knigi - ne tolʹko bolʹshai͡a politika i izvestnye imena. Vy uvidite zdesʹ i pochivshikh protivnikov Izraili͡a - I͡Asera Arafata, Saddama Khuseĭna, Akhmeda I͡Asina - , i zdravstvui͡ushchego Abu-Mazena. No, chto ne menee vazhno - vy vstretite zdesʹ li͡udeĭ iz gushchi naroda. Irakskiĭ biznesmen v samolëte, bakhreĭnskiĭ taksist, studentki universiteta v Maname, obsuzhdai͡ushchie khidzhaby i pop-zvëzd, ili palestinskiĭ zhurnalist, v besede s kotorym prikhoditsi͡a do pory do vremeni skryvatʹ sobstvennui͡u identichnostʹ. Chitateli͡u zapomnitsi͡a i prebyvanie avtora na amerikanskom vertoletonost͡se v nachale voĭny 2003 goda. V tot moment, kogda samolëty bombi͡at Bagdad, v korabelʹnoĭ stolovoĭ pokazyvai͡ut "Amerikanskiĭ pirog-2", i molodye soldaty edi͡at popkorn. Ėto stolknovenie realʹnosti i eë vosprii͡atii͡a: Blizhniĭ Vostok - prostranstvo paradoksov, "normalʹnosti" na fone katastrof. "Na kablukakh po Blizhnemu Vostoku" - ėto ne tolʹko khronika burnykh let, kogda rushilisʹ rezhimy i rozhdalisʹ novye konflikty, prodolzhenie i razvitie kotorykh my nabli͡udaem seĭchas. Pered vami kniga - puteshestvie s umnym i znai͡ushchim provodnikom so svoim vzgli͡adom na proiskhodi͡ashchee. Ėto ochenʹ lichnyĭ vzgli͡ad zhurnalistki na slozhneĭshiĭ region, kotoryĭ prini͡ato opisyvatʹ cherez voĭny i ideologii. A realʹnostʹ sotkana iz sudeb li͡udeĭ, razgovorov na rynkakh i v universitetakh, sluchaĭnykh vstrech i mnozhestva detaleĭ, bez kotorykh nevozmozhno nichego poni͡atʹ.

Ksenia Svetlova is an Israeli journalist, Arabist and Orientalist, a political analyst, and was a member of the Knesset. The book "On the heels of the Middle East" does not begin with the war, but with a child's admiration for the ancient East: the pyramids, the mask of Tutankhamun… But very little time passes – and the author finds himself not at a museum showcase, but in the very center of events, in a dangerous and often not very predictable world. Svetlova goes to Gaza, observing the withdrawal of the Israeli army, to Ramallah during the intifada, to Cairo and Damascus, to Beirut, Bahrain, Tunisia, to the Persian Gulf on the eve of the Iraq war. She is an observer, but she is not an observer from the outside — she is inside the events. And he often finds himself in the epicenter, like once in Tahrir Square. There are more than just big politics and famous names on the pages of the book. You will also see the deceased opponents of Israel here - Yasser Arafat, Saddam Hussein, Ahmed Yassin, and the living Abu Mazen. But, just as importantly, you will meet people from the thick of the crowd here. An Iraqi businessman on a plane, a Bahraini taxi driver, university students in Manama discussing hijabs and pop stars, or a Palestinian journalist who has to hide his identity for the time being. The reader will also remember the author's stay on an American helicopter carrier at the beginning of the 2003 war. At the moment when the planes are bombing Baghdad, "American Pie 2" is shown in the ship's mess hall, and young soldiers are eating popcorn. This is a clash of reality and its perception: the Middle East is a space of paradoxes, "normality" against the background of disasters. "On my Heels in the Middle East" is not only a chronicle of the turbulent years when regimes collapsed and new conflicts were born, the continuation and development of which we are witnessing now. Here is a travel book with an intelligent and knowledgeable guide with his own view of what is happening. This is a very personal view of the journalist on the most difficult region, which is usually described through wars and ideologies. And reality is made up of people's fates, conversations in markets and universities, chance encounters, and many details without which it is impossible to understand anything.