The story of the birth of Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew is told in eight verses. Embedded in this short narrative is "Joseph's dilemma". Listeners are told that: "When Mary had been engaged to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit" (1:18). What happens next has long been debated. We are made to assume that Joseph discovers that Mary is pregnant, but that he does not know that she is with child from the Holy Spirit. This information is made known to Joseph later by an angel of the Lord who appeared to him in a dream. In the meantime, Joseph must decide what he will do with Mary. We are told: "Joseph, being a righteous man and unwilling to expose her to public disgrace, planned to dismiss her quietly" (1:19). The discussion of this verse generally focuses on two questions. First, did Joseph suspect Mary of adultery? Second, if he did suspect Mary of adultery, what where his options? While there is some diversity in the way that these questions are answered, the majority of modern interpreters envision only one option - that of divorce. The dilemma, then, is whether Joseph will divorce Mary "publicly" or "privately". While these questions are important, neither adequately addresses Joseph's dilemma. In this book, Matthew J. Marohl argues that early Christ-followers understood Joseph's dilemma to involve an assumption of adultery and the subsequent possibility of the killing of Mary. Worded differently, Joseph's dilemma involves the possibility of an honor killing. If Joseph reveals that Mary is pregnant she will be killed. If Joseph conceals Mary's pregnancy, he will be opposing the law of the Lord. What is a "righteous" man to do?

The fact is that war comes in many guises and its effects continue to be felt long after peace is proclaimed. This challenges the anthropologists who write of war as participant observers. Participant observation inevitably deals with the here and now, with the highly specific. It is only over the long view that one can begin to see the commonalities that emerge from the different forms of conflict and can begin to generalize. [From the Introduction] More needs to be understood about the ways of war and its effects. What implications does war have for people, their lived-in communities and larger political systems; how do they cope and adjust in war situations and how do they deal with the changed world that they inhabit once peace is declared? Through a series of essays that move from looking at the nature of violence to the peace processes that follow it, this important book provides some answers to these questions. It also analyzes those new dimensions of social interaction, such as the internet, which now provide a bridge between local concerns and global networks and are fundamentally altering the practices of war.

The story focuses on the trials of a young American and how his story changed from grass to grace. The hero of the book, Ralph Rexworth, was an honorable man who faced a lot of tribulations. Life became a rollercoaster when his honor was put to test. Will he be able to overcome the obstacles on his path?

Plots of War: Modern Narratives of Conflict discusses the dynamics of change and transformation that underlie the troubled project of modernity and shows how deeply it has been shaped by war and violence. The narrative of war, the emplotment of violence in historic and mainly in symbolic terms, is deeply embedded in the construction of individual and collective memories, but it also helps to shape the mediation of future conflicts.What is ultimately at stake here is the complex figuration and mediation of the violence of war in ever more hyper-mediated ways with direct consequences to the production of identities and processes of cultural memory.

A collaboration between an Israeli psychologist and a Palestinian school teacher. This highly original book recounts the surprisingly candid stories of three Palestinian mothers and their daughters. Beautifully told and sensitively edited, these linked narratives bear witness to their experiences of Israeli occupation, their memories of the wars of 1948 and 1967, and the profound changes that have occurred in their political and personal lives. "The complexity of the women's lives and stories and the ways in which they portray themselves in the book make this work of value to anthropologists, as well as to scholars in women's studies, oral history, Middle East studies, and sociology." -Journal of Palestine Studies

". . . from expected death comes unexpected new life!" The Gospel of Matthew does not shy away from the realities of struggle, suffering, doubt, and death. Yet, from the first names in the genealogy to the last words spoken by Jesus, the Gospel testifies to the promise that from expected death comes unexpected new life. Through the actions of Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, and Bathsheba, we experience the expectation of death and the promise of unexpected new life. In the birth story of Jesus, Joseph suspects Mary of committing adultery. It is this dilemma that is the focus of the narrative. If he reveals her pregnancy, she could be killed. If he conceals her pregnancy, he will be going against the law of the Lord. What is a righteous man to do? In Joseph's dilemma, this experience of expected death, the Gospel of Matthew proclaims the promise of unexpected new life. The promise of unexpected new life is a theme that continues throughout Matthew's Gospel in the life and ministry of Jesus. The call of his disciples is a call from death to new life. The teaching of Jesus focuses on the experience of death and the promise of new life. In both healing and curing, Jesus brings unexpected new life to those who face death. But it is the death and resurrection of Jesus that is the climax of unexpected new life in the Gospel of Matthew. Even as Jesus experiences a most horrific and humiliating death in the crucifixion, death and the grave do not have the final say. In bearing witness to Jesus' resurrection, the Gospel of Matthew proclaims the magnificent promise of unexpected new life. Matthew J. Marohl invites you in these pages to read the Gospel of Matthew in a new way, from a fresh perspective. Integrating insights from the study of Mediterranean anthropology, Marohl makes the cultural world of the Gospel come alive, so that as you read Matthew again (or perhaps for the first time) you will certainly experience the powerful promise that from expected death comes unexpected new life!

In At the Limits of Justice, twenty-nine contributors from six countries examine the political, social, and personal repercussions of the war on terror.

Palestinian Literature and Film in Postcolonial Feminist Perspective is the first sustained study of gender-consciousness in the Palestinian creative imagination. Drawing on concepts from postcolonial feminist theory, Ball analyses a range of literary and filmic works by major creative practitioners including Michel Khleifi , Liana Badr, Annemarie Jacir, Elia Suleiman, Mona Hatoum and Suheir Hammad, and reveals a hitherto unrecognized trajectory in gender-consciousness under development in the Palestinian imagination from the start of the twentieth century. The book explores how these works resonate with questions of power, identity, nation, resistance, and self-representation in the Palestinian imagination more broadly, and asks how these gender-conscious narratives transform our understanding of Palestine's struggle for postcoloniality. Working at the cusp of postcolonial, feminist and cultural enquiry, Ball seeks to open up vital new directions in the interdisciplinary study of Palestine.