Being Kurdish in a Hostile World

by Ayub Nuri

In Being Kurdish in a Hostile World, Ayub Nuri writes of growing up during the Iran-Iraq War, of Saddam Hussein's chemical attack that killed thousands in Nuri's home town of Halabja, of civil war, of living in refugee camps, and of years of starvation that followed the UN's sanctions.

The story begins with the historic betrayal by the French and British that deprived the Kurds of a country of their own.

Nuri recounts living through the 2003 American invasion and the collapse of Hussein's totalitarian rule, and how, for a brief period, he felt optimism for the future. Then came bloody sectarian violence, and recently, the harrowing ascent of ISIS, which Nuri reported from Mosul.

350 pages, Paperback

First published September 16, 2017

Reviews

[LIsa Noell "Rocking the chutzpah!" · Rating 5 out of 5]

An absolutely captivating look at a short span of Kurdish history, "1970's through 2014" as seen through the eyes of Ayub Nuri. What this man and his fellow Kurds have lived through is awful, yet there is much love and tolerance in their hearts. They should have their own country. Iraq sure isn't doing them any good. I'd recommend this book to anyone who is interested in Kurdish history. My thanks to the publishers and Netgalley.

[Sarezh kamla · Rating 5 out of 5]

What does it mean if you being a Kurdish ?
I believe this book should be read by Kurdish people of every generation and Kurdish friends of all over the world .

The writer ( Ayub Nuri ) highlights many different events and horrible situations from his childhood time around 1980 until after 2003 the end of Saddam Hussein . In relation to a kurdish people and Kurdistan region , then being a refugee in Iran camps then return to homeland after Halabja’s chemical attack then witnessing a 1990 kurdish uprising , after that suffering from 1994’s < Bra kuzhi war > and finally see the US invasion and the end of the most tyranny force of Baath party!
It is too much for a person to live and witness all of those up and down times
But in contrast, you can tell if some one try hard , impossible is nothing ! He was 13 years old and couldn’t say even an english word and by 20 he was just perfectly fluent english speaker , he was a good reader and everyday BBC radio listener.

You can say this book is an autobiography of an Halabja’s boy or a brief history or you can say it is just a novel based on a true story ! No you can see it , as if it is a political book “ but for me literary it was all of them “.

You can hear a brief about that book through out this link,
An interview with the writer

https://youtu.be/sUK7r6lAHbw

[Mandy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’ve never fully understood the positon of Kurdistan and the plight of the Kurds, but now thanks to this wonderful memoir by Ayub Nuri I do, and in addition understand much more about Iraq and the American intervention in the fall of Saddam Hussain. Nuri is an insider, so gives an insider’s view, but he’s also an experienced journalist and able to be balanced and objective in his writing when necessary. He’s known violence and conflict all his life, growing up during the Iran-Iraq war and from the 1970s to the present has experienced almost constant fighting, all of which he portrays in this eminently readable and accessible book. He also writes about the history of the Kurds and it doesn’t surprise, though still saddens, to learn that their present plight is largely due to betrayal by the French and British after WWI when the leading powers carved up the Middle East and deprived the Kurds of an independent country of their own. It seems to me, after reading Nuri’s account, that the West doesn’t pay enough attention to the Kurds, who continue to suffer under Iraqi rule and are increasingly under threat from ISIS, and I would like to recommend this book to anyone interested in this troubled region. An excellent and insightful exploration of a difficult and complicated part of the world.

[Brayden Raymond · Rating 5 out of 5]

Unexpectedly powerful memoir, highly recommended to me by a Kurdish friend (and the book of choice for my bookclub with classmates from grad school)

I was not sure what to expect but found myself gripped by this memoir, the personal aspects and Kurdish perspective of events I have learned and studied in detail in the past. I learned so much about Kurds and Kurdistan and believe I come away from this with a renewed understanding of where they fit into both the history and geopolitics of Iraq and its neighbors.

One day I hope to see a free and independent Kurdistan that my close friend and colleague deserves.

[Melkor von Moltke · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mr. Nuri has crafted a nice little autobiography of his quite interesting life, from growing up in the midst of the Iran-Iraq War to racing around post invasion Iraq to interview political leaders and everyday people. Over the course of the book he also gives a nice overview of relatively recent Kurdish history.

The meat of the work is his work during and after the 2003 invasion. He traveled across the country, meeting a great many people with different views and beliefs, particularly about the American invasion.

The biggest issue that I had with the book was that it essentially ends after he left Baghdad in 2005. While he mentions covering the Islamic State and the retaking of Mosul, it's all relatively bare bones for the decade and a half after his flight from the capital.

All in all, it was quite an enjoyable little book, and I would particularly recommend it to anyone who is not familiar with the Kurds and their culture or history.

[alexandra ༊*·˚ · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book for a paper I am writing on the Kurds, and besides this book providing exactly the information I needed for the paper, Nuri's personal account opens up so much that I didn't know, as someone who is already semi-well versed in the topic. The entire narrative is extremely captivating and personal. Nuri does not shy away from his raw thoughts, no matter how controversial or politically unpopular they might be, and thats what makes this book all that much better. The nuance is front and center. It dispelled the collective identity that is often put onto the people of the middle east as a whole, and allowed us to view not only a humanized Middle Easterner's perspective, but a Kurd's, a people often intentionally or unintentionally dismissed in 99.9% of conversations.

Amazing, insightful account on what is means to be Kurdish.

[Patrick · Rating 5 out of 5]

several quotes from the book are very very powerful, and he outlines the facts on the ground in a way that only the Hitch was doing at the time. nothing so firmed up my conviction that Hitch was right. Saddam had to go to stop the war crimes and crimes against humanity.

[Rob Hoff · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a good read which really helps outline the recent history and provides a different perspective on our relationships in Iraq, Iran, Kurdistan that most Americans are completely ignorant of. It would be interesting to read Mr. Nuri's views on the current situation unfolding under the Trump Admin.