Knowing the Elements of Arabesques (1986), written by Anton Shammas, clarifies the meaning of the ancient art form and enlightens the reader about the meaning of the novel. Its objective, technique and message are closely linked to the theme of Arabesques. The play on words of the arabesque adapts to the heterogeneous conception of the book. First of all, an “arabesque” is a quilted pattern whose shapes and forms resemble nature. Arabesques have their origins in Muslim art where they decorated temples of worship. Referring to one of the main characters, Michael Abyad, Shammas compares him to the one who “silently woven itself into my life where the magic thread of Shlomith unraveled and unraveled in my hands (Shammas 2001 ). The fabric of society is woven by Shammas like a skilled knitter assembling pieces of seemingly disparate materials to form a new, synthesized one. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why violent video games should not be banned”?Get an original essayIn this literary work, Arabesques undoubtedly points to the root of the Arabic word with which we culturally associate Palestine, Saudi Arabia and the Arab world. . Shammas admits that “now I discover that what I had imagined to be only a web woven on the warp of reality with the weft of fantasy no longer obeyed its creator” (Shammas 2001). Spirituality and complex beauty are intertwined in Arabesques as its context reflects a religious tradition and ultimately transposes a worldview. Muslims view arabesques as the infinite God and the diverse complexity of the universe. Arabesque designs are full of repetitions, transitions and uniqueness that encompass three major areas: art, calligraphy, mathematics and religion. In microcosm, Shammas paints a picture of the relationship between Israelis and Palestinians through the relationship between Yehoshua Bar-On. and a Palestinian. Shammas says that at first "they began with mutual reservations, and progressed to more vocal arguments" (Shammas 2001). The relationship between oil and water is not surprising since both compete for land and espouse dissonant principles and religions. Palestine embraces Islam as its official religion while Israel accepts Judaism. The Palestinians want to keep their land while Israel claims that Palestinian land belongs to them. Differences do not cause a desire to put them aside, but rather a propensity to highlight them. The goal of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) is to fight for the rights of Palestinians under attack by Israelis and to counterattack if necessary. This martial environment imposes strong social and political-religious tensions on the reader. The war that prevails in the Palestinian nation is attested to time and again by the speakers recounting their sad stories. Palestine is described as “a veritable minefield” (Shammas 2001). Bombs, bullets and death fill the air in Palestine. A Palestinian boy, Boolus, actually digs up a box of bullets and a gun in a field of blackberries near a quarry (Shammas 2001). This image evokes how violence and guns are natural in Palestine – as natural as fruit in the ground. Nature is seen as nothing more than a revolting reminder of what is happening in Palestine; for example, when Shammas looks at red flowers, he does not capture the beauty of the flower. “When spring comes, we will see the anemones blooming in Tal Hahl, as red as the blood shed by the fighters for Palestine” (Shammas 2001)219). The nature and Gothic of Palestine areinextricable. Shammas chooses to meditate on the red blood that Palestinians have sacrificed in the fight for their territory. Anton Shammas depicts a darker and more realistic vision of Palestine than that of the Zionists, notably in his acclaimed book, Arabesques (1986). It details the macabre nature of wars, hostility, brokenness, drug addiction, attesting to a nation stunned by turmoil, mystery and confusion. One of the characters, Uncle Yusef, participates in an illegal and clandestine smuggling trade where Palestine trades tobacco for drugs with Israel (Shammas 2001). This novel also testifies to numerous disappearances, or alleged kidnappings. More disgusting stories of carnage are emerging, such as the story of the Sabra and Shatila massacre perpetrated by the Phalangists, a radical Israeli Christian sect who murdered Palestinian refugee civilians between September 16 and 18, 1982 in Lebanon. During this carnage, thousands of people died in these Palestinian refugee camps. Shammas evokes the massacres of Sabra and Chatila west of Beirut. It is widely believed that these deaths were retaliation for the assassination of political leader Pierre Gemayel. Another Palestinian group held responsible for the bloodshed of several Israelis is the Palestine Liberation Organization. The Palestine Liberation Organization is a group created as a result of Israeli aggression. In Arabesques, Michael Abyad fights within this organization and works for the Palestinian Research Center. Schulz, a political analyst, states that: “The PLO was established in Jerusalem by an Arab League in 1964… where Palestine is the homeland of the Palestinian Arab people. It is an indivisible part of the Arab homeland and the Palestinian people are an integral part of the Arab nation”…the Arab people are considered as an organic whole (Schulz 1999). We therefore see that the Palestinian vision is to have land that belongs to them. clean, where Palestine represents an inescapable goal worth fighting and dying for. The Palestine Liberation Organization appeals to a universal Arab Palestinian nationalism where Palestine is seen as the promised land reserved exclusively for Palestinians. Shammas attempts to answer the question: “Who are the Palestinian Arabs?” through his novels. First of all, according to him, they speak a language of confusion. On the other hand, the Jews believe that what they spoke was the language of Grace. Another characteristic of the Palestinian Arabs is that they are and always will be a distinct entity from the Jews. Regarding the deaths of a Jew and a Palestinian, Shammas reports that "underneath the black marble lay the two lost men, each in the darkness of his own grave: a Jew of the time and an Arab of the place" (Shammas 2001). Time and place are as different as apples and oranges. They cannot be compared or associated with each other. Just as Jews see themselves as victims, Palestinians also see themselves as terrorized; for example, Hanneh's father is hit by a stray bullet in a hail of Jewish gunfire against supposed Palestinian terrorists (Shammas 2001). A new Palestinian identity is being forged by the inevitable Israeli repossession and renaming of Palestinian lands. Uncle Yusef is referring to a place formerly called Deir El-Kasi, which is located in Palestine, but was then known as ElKosh. This name change says a lot, because the Israelis maintain their vision of Palestinian colonization, annexing it to Israeli territory. ElKosh is a real Israeli village that has biblical and political roots in Palestine. ElKosh means “God is my bow” but the more Arabic Deir El-Kasi. Deir is the wordArabic for monastery and Kasi means strength (otherwise rendered monastery of strength or strong fortress). Shammas tells some of the stories of the Arab rebellion of 1936 to 1939, during which Palestinian Arabs decided they wanted to control the flow of Jewish immigrants, Jewish ownership of land, and for a more democratic and representative government . The reader sees Muhammad-Kareem who decides to enlist in the Palestinian army to fight for his country. He proselytizes against Islam. Mahmood El-Ibraheem, his nom de guerre, ends up dying for his terrorist acts where he is hanged by the British police. Arabesques also refers to the presence of the British army, positioned to quell riots and maintain peace in Palestine. Empowered to perform the functions of modern UN peacekeepers by the Palestinian mandate, the British closely monitor activities in Palestine. Either way, they try to stamp out rebellion after rebellion, uprising after uprising. Uncle Yusef is about Abdallah al-Asbah, a prominent political figure in Palestine who is at the forefront of the Arab rebellion in Palestine and in the novel the British authorities are looking for him. Arab rebels and the British army often clashed violently, with the British hanging some of the perpetrators and participants of the Arab rebellion. This British Mandate on Palestine or Palestinian Mandate authorized British colonialism, thereby rendering Palestinians powerless on their own soil. The British Mandate of Palestine placed Palestine under British rule from 1917 to 1948, when the United Nations (then the League of Nations) assumed government of Palestine. In addition to being a hero during the Arab Revolt of 1936-1939, Abdallah al-Asbah also took part in the Great Syrian Revolt against French troops in Palestine in 1925. Interspersing the narrative with historical figures adds credibility of the novel as life. This is Palestine coming to life. In Arabesques, the Palestinians are hostile to the Europeans and react against them. Their British settlers arrive with their soldiers on Arab soil and immediately begin to torment the Palestinian Arab people. Due to the French occupation in neighboring Syria and Lebanon, Palestinians are forced to welcome the French. French words and French culture pop up in the most unexpected places in Arabesques. Shammas overhears an American singing "English songs rather than Arabic rebellion songs." He has no place in this place” (Shammas 2001). Due to tensions between the English and the Arabs, singing an English song was cacophonous to an Arab's ear because it would call into question his nativity and allegiance; therefore, this individual would be denied a sense of belonging to the life of Arab Palestine. There is a popular idea that the Arabs of Palestine are uneducated, uncultured and, to some extent, non-human. This idea arises from the fact that “My Jew” emphasizes that although he has Arab blood, he is educated, knows enough Hebrew and French to communicate effectively and get by (Hever). Shammas puts distance between himself and the traditional Arab; nevertheless, wishing to shape an Arab who defends a complete, non-bitter, humane and warm character, "he does not gallop on the back of a purebred mare as was the custom at the turn of the century, nor is he a prisoner of the IDF (Israeli Defense Forces), as was the custom at the turn of the state” (Shammas 2001). In this account, the Arabs are classified as wild, savage, itinerant nomads who once traveled on horseback – aiming to conquer, 2001.