Habibi as a Banned Book

While reading the book Habibi, I really enjoyed learning about a culture in the Middle East. I have not had the opportunity to read very much literature which takes place in a country such as Israel. I felt that the book gave me a good foundation to the political conflict of the Middle Eastern territory. I realize that a lot of details were left out, but it gave me a solid starting point to begin to understand it. Also, while reading I thought the narrator did a good job of keeping the feelings neutral between the Arab and Jewish conflict. Realizing though, that the point of view would always be slighty biased being that it was told from an Arab-American standpoint. The book was constantly referencing hopes for peace between the two peoples and recognized that they did not fully understand the Jewish point of view. Therefore, I was sort of embarassed with myself when I heard that this book had upset some members of the Jewish community. How could I have ignored these scenes in the book which made the Jewish seem "misrepresented"? I understand now the reasons for the school district in West Bloomfield seeing this book as being problematic. However, I do not agree with banning the book. I feel that this book could still be taught and the issues should be pointed out when the arise in the reading. It could be a good lesson on biased stories and the sterotypes that can be labeled on specific groups of people. I still believe, despite some of these issues that this book can be benefical to students and teachers.