BOOKS, WRITING, LIFE
Picture this: young Arab women from a small state traveling to the Amazon to help build a school. And in the first trip update, people commenting that they are behaving unislamically. That’s what happened this week when a short video of a group of 7 young Qataris was posted on Facebook with some of the ladies not in headscarves.
A sobering reminder that what women wear (or do) is still not entirely up to them.
The transformation of Facebook from a message board of romantic statuses into a pop culture newspaper has put us at odds with each other.
There was the 2012 Chik-fila imbroglio over their support of organizations that do not pay benefits to gay couples. And the run up to the 2008 and 2012 US presidential elections which brought mudslinging onto your handheld, causing many people swearing off Facebook until December. In both instances, people, formerly known as friends, were having debates, exchanges, and unfriending based on wall posts.
And now, this summer, during the most recent conflict in Gaza, has interrupted the deluge of wedding-engagement-holiday updates. Israel-Palestine has long been a polarizing issue – even before the advent of Facebook. Debate continues to rage on the nightly news as well as on personal media networks about Gaza, Hamas, Israel, and rights. As the physical conflict increases, so have reactions and interactions online. Living in the Middle East and being on vacation in the United States has meant I’m watching the conflicting opinions from both sides. I’m also realizing how little common ground there is online in the case of longstanding conflicts such as this one.
“My response to someone who told me they did not want to be friends anymore based on my posts on Gaza” popped on my timeline when I was contemplating the social fray that Gaza was e about the cost of sharing her opinion on Facebook. She went on to say: “Sharing those posts was and still is very important to me, because there is a humanitarian crisis going on now and I feel obligated to spread awareness regarding it. I am sorry if my posts have caused you to feel offended, but I have not shared them to offend you and am not ashamed of my beliefs and opinions.” The meditation on the boundary between expression and tolerance was probably lost on her friend who had probably stopped following her posts.
I’ve also been sharing about Gaza, and the disproportionate amount of violence being used, wondering if any of my US friends would object.
Another friend posted a 3 a.m. rumination about the conflict: “Tonight as I sit in silence my heart aches for the mothers and fathers that lost their children and will never again experience a “day”with their son or daughter. My heart aches for Palestine and Israel. How does killing a child justify anything?”
An immediate response to her post was telling: “What’s your heart aching for Israel for? Things are NOT equal to be saying this.”
She then replied within a few minutes: “It aches for the Israelies that want peace and want the killings to stop. They are not being heard. We are not being heard. It’s awful.”
I went to Gaza in 2012 as part of the Palestine Festival of Literature. I had the chance to see one of the most populated places on earth first hand: we helped have the first musical concert in a over ten years.
What I saw mostly was people trying to live normal lives with bullet ridden buildings all around them and a democratically elected government trying to maintain its power base.
If we can’t talk about the world in social media, then why be social at all? What do you think: is it better to keep it simple and to personal events or engage in current events online? Or do the rules of civility for in person conversations apply to online discourse? No politics, no religion, or anything of interest?
Describe your book in one sentence for our readers:
Warwick is an epic story of adventure, power and influence at the heart of one of the most dangerous times in the history of England.
What’s a random fact about yourself that would surprise your readers?
I used to ride zebras as a child in Africa.
What do you love about writing?
I still find it amazing to think of people all over the world reading my work – and really like it when they connect with me through social media and reviews.
What’s the hardest part of writing a book?
Editing. It isn’t easy to cut passages when you’ve spent so long researching and crafting them, only to find the book is better without them!
What inspired you to write Warwick?
I was watching The White Queen, the BBC’s TV adaptation of Philippa Gregory’s book, and was intrigued at why Sir Richard Neville, known as the ‘Kingmaker’, risked everything by changing sides during the Wars of the Roses. The apparent reason was his anger at King Edward IV marrying a ‘commoner’, which seemed implausible. When I looked into it I was surprised to find nobody had ever tackled the real story as a novel, despite the amazing life Richard Neville led.
What will readers learn from Warwick?
I’m prepared to bet that most readers know very little about what became known as ‘The Wars of the Roses’. Although WARWICK is historical fiction, I’ve gone to a lot of trouble to ‘immerse’ myself for a year in the culture and attitudes of fifteenth century England. I wanted to make sure that the events depicted in the book, all the historical facts and smallest details are based on careful research. Fortunately, the truth really is stranger than fiction!
About the author:
Tony Riches is a full time writer living by the sea in rural Pembrokeshire, Wales UK. You can find out more about Warwick and Tony’s other books and visit his popular writing blog. Follow Tony on Twitter @tonyriches or check out his author pages on Facebook and Goodreads.
