Kanan Makiya

Kanan Makiya’s books include Republic of Fear (published under the pseudonym Samir al-Khalil) and Cruelty and Silence. He was born in Baghdad.

Whose Jerusalem? Jerusalem

Kanan Makiya, 7 February 2002

Whatever one does, one always rebuilds a monument in one’s own way. But something has already been gained if we use only the original stones.

Marguerite Yourcenar

The problem that everyone faces in writing about the Dome of the Rock is that so few ‘stones’ remain from the first century of Islam. Why was it built then; what did it mean to the Muslims who built it? We know...

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