Mark LeVine is a leader of the new generation of scholars of the modern Middle East and Islam, Globalization, and Popular Culture, and an award winning musician who has performed with some of the greatest artists around the world.
Mark LeVine is a leader of the new generation of scholars of the modern Middle East and Islam, Globalization, and Popular Culture, and an award winning musician who has performed with some of the greatest artists around the world.
Biography | Recent Articles | TV-Radio Appearances/Transcripts | Reviews of Why They Don't Hate Us | Contact Mark LeVine is a leader of the new generation of historians and analysts of the modern Middle East and Islam. LeVine spent over a dozen years living, researching and reporting from the region, including Iraq, Israel, the Palestinian Territories, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Turkey, Pakistan, Iran, the Persian Gulf and Morocco. Working in Arabic, Hebrew, Turkish, and Persian, as well as Italian, French and German, he has interviewed senior international political figures, reported from Beirut's green line, taught Qur'an to Muslim Brothers, performed from Woodstock to Paris to Damascus Gate, lived next door to Hamas mosques, stood against bulldozers, dodged terrorist bombs, and uncovered damning files in dusty archives. He knows the history, politics, religions–and most important, the peoples–of the region as a friend, but with a highly critical eye.
LeVine's wide and deep knowledge of the politics and history of the Middle East and North Africa (from Morocco to Afghanhistan), its religions and its cultures, and its relations with Europe, Africa, Asia and the United States, enables a unique breadth of insight into the broader dynamics that have produced the events that dominate the news today. Moreover, He remains singularly unafraid to write the truth, no matter who it upsets, based solely on facts and data he can confirm. His writings challenge the actions and opinions of rulers and ruled, oppressed and oppressor, and through them the accepted paradigms for writing about the region, and about hot-button issues such as globalization, terrorism, politics and popular culture. He is a radical voice of reason and honesty at a time when Left and Right, secular and religious forces, remain locked within out-dated arguments and paradigms.
Besides his academic, journalistic and consulting activities, LeVine has a long history of blending art, scholarship and activism. As a musician he has recorded, performed and toured all over the world with artists including Mick Jagger, Chuck D, Michael Franti, Dr. John, Ozomatli, Hassan Hakmoun, Arab/Muslim heavy metal and hiphop artists The Kordz (Lebanon), MC Rai (Tunisia), Salman Ahmed (Junoon--Pakistan),Reda Zine (Morocco), Ghidian Qaymari (Palestine), blues greats Johnny Copeland and Albert Collins, world music artists Sara Alexander and al-Andalus, and numerous R&B and hiphop acts. He was also a lead organizer of both of 2000's wildly successful Shadow Conventions and the Re-Imagining Politics and Society Conference, both sponsored by dozens of America's leading progressive organizations and which brought together hundreds of leading scholars, politicians, activists and artists from the US and around the world. He is also a founding member of the Culture Jamming movement, and has organized and hosted culture jams in the US, Europe and Middle East that have brought into much-needed dialog an innovative combination of leading artists, intellectuals and activists from Jonathan Kozol to Jello Biafra.
LeVine received his BA in comparative religion and biblical studies from Hunter College. His MA and Ph.D. were done at New York University's prestigious Department of Middle Eastern Studies, home of the most acclaimed new generation of Middle Eastern scholars in America. There he focused on the history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and modern Islamic religious and political thought and movements. His dissertation, Overthrowing Geography: Jaffa, Tel Aviv and the Struggle for Palestine, was published by the University of California Press, while his new book, Why They Don't Hate Us: Lifting the Veil on the Axis of Evil, was published by the Oxford-based Oneworld Publications. He also is the editor, with Viggo Mortensen and Pilar Perez, of Twilight of Empire: Responses to Occupation, which features leading scholars and activists from the US and the Muslim world writing about the US occupation of Iraq (including Naomi Klein, Mike Davis, Nadia Yassine, Jerry Quickley, Amir Hussein, Jodie Evans, Amb. Joseph Wilson, and others. Click here for information about how to order the book), and brought together and recorded with Moroccan Gnawa and world music star Hassan Hakmoun, the French Gypsy band Les Yeux Noirs and Ozomatli on the band's CD, Street Signs, which won the 2005 Grammy for Best Latin Rock/Alternative album. His other books include Religion, Social Practices and Contested Hegemonies: Reconstructing the Public Sphere in Muslim Majority Societies, co-edited with Armando Salvatore, and the forthcoming An Impossible Peace: Oslo and the Burdens of History (Zed Books, 2007),
Reapproaching Borders: New Perspectives on the Study of Israel-Palestine, co-edited with Sandra Sufian (Rowman and Littlefield, 2007), and Heavy Metal Islam: Rock Resistance and the Untold Story of Islam's Generation-X (Random House/Harmony Books/Verso, 2007), which explores the relationiship between heavy metal, hiphop, rock and punk musicians and their more conservative and religious peers across the Muslim world. An album and documentary of the same title are also in planning.
Before being hired at the University of California, Irvine, he was a fellow at numerous research institutions, including the International Center for Advanced Studies at NYU, the Stuttgart Seminar in Cultural Studies, in Stuttgart Germany, the Society for the Humanities at Cornell University, the Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies at the European University Institute in Florence, Italy, where he has a continuing relationship and co-directs an innovative program bringing Israeli and Palestinian scholars together to imagine new ways to approach their country's history and current trouble. His publications have appeared in leading newspapers and journals around the world such as the Los Angeles Times, Le Monde and the Christian Science Monitor, and he has appeared as a guest and consultant on The Newshour with Jim Lehrer, Hannity & Colmes, CNN, numerous NPR and Pacifica Radio programs, KPFK, KPFA, WHYY, KABC, WBAI, The O'Reilly Factor, KCAL 9/Channel 2 News, KCET's "Life and Times," KPCA, the Ian Masters Show, KKLA, the Dennis Prager Show, Charles Perez, and NYC's Channel 11. He has been extensively quoted in the NY Times, the Washington Post, Salon and other leading newspapers and magazines. He was also historical consultant for the Oscar-nominated and double Emmy award-winning Promises documentary about the lives, dreams and realities of six young Israeli and Palestinian children./
Biography | Recent Articles | TV-Radio Appearances/Transcripts | Reviews of Why They Don't Hate Us | Contact
Newest Review of Why They Don't Hate Us, March 22, 2007, on About.com's Terrorism website, "A Wonderful Cacophony... and a vibrant critique of the "clash of civilizations" theory. LeVine redraws the West vs. Islam map that has been so prominently displayed in the last few years.
NEW:Why They Don't Hate Us chosen as "Editors' Pick" for the International Institute for the Study of Islam in the Modern World journal. The editors write that "by insisting on the reality of complexity, LeVine powerfully shows the fallacies of the dominant rhetoric and conceptions about Muslim societies" (Autumn 2006 issue).
NEW: LATEST REVIEW OF Why They Don't Hate Us, by the prestigious International Journal of Middle East Studies, the leading journal of the field, writes that the book "combines solid analysis with advocacy... His analysis of the war in Iraq is a must read... The discussion of culture is key to his overall analysis... His style ranges from providing statistical evidence to show how the policies of the World Bank, IMF, and WTO impact the lives of ordinary people to creative story-telling about musicians, preachers, and gay and lesbian dancers in a Beirut night club. The variation in LeVine's narrative show that his iconoclastic book is a product of scholarly research as well as journalistic dispatches from Iraq, Israel, the Palestinian Territories, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Turkey and Morocco. Few readers would agree with all of his views, but even fewer could fail to appreciate his edifying and revealing insights." Click here for the complete review, which appears in Vol. 38, #4 (2006).
Read major stories on Mark LeVine in the Press:
NEW: Read
the interview with Mark and pictures from performances in the Pakistani weekly In Step, June 3, 2007.
OC Weekly, Nov. 1, 2002 | Orange County Register, April 4, 2003
(inlcudes photo gallery, recordings of Mark's guitar work and video of him performing with world music artists Sara Alexander and Ghidian Qaymari at Jerusalem's Damascus Gate) [ enter "levprof" for the username and password when login requested]
BREAKING NEWS! Mark has joined the blogiverse. Read Mark's blog at the History News Network. Also look for Mark's blogs on The Huffington Post
NEW: Read Mark's in depth interview by editors of beliefnet.com. the largest religion web-magazine, about Why They Don't Hate Us
NEW: Mark LeVine named "Orange County Innovator in Culture, Ethics and Values" [ Enter "levprof" for the username and password when login requested]
Read the latest review of Why They Don't Hate Us, Beirut Daily Star, Jan. 18, 2006
FIRST REVIEW OF Why They Don't Hate Us , by Publisher's Weekly: "Sprawling... engaging... and valuable to anyone wishing to hear a different perception on the complication relationship between the US and the Islamic World."
SECOND REVIEW, by the London Sunday Times, says that the book "should be celebrated. First, LeVine is absolutely right and, indeed, quite brave to insist on the reality of complexity. Terrorism and war both tend to simplify world views and, without doubting their intellectual status, so do the utopians of the new right... Perhaps his book’s greatest virtue is that it introduces both the many shades of opinion and cultural complexity of the, largely, Arab world. In addition, LeVine is absolutely right to insist on the importance of culture... LeVine detonates the uneasy but nonetheless profound complacency that seems to have invaded politics."
THIRD REVIEW, by The Economist, says that "What LeVine writes about is worth reading... [he] supports his thesis with such a wealth of statistical detail that even the most gung-ho advocates of IMF and World Bank programmes must pause for thought."
More reviews:
"LeVine is an intellectual giant. The most important book I've read in a long time." Jon Elliott, Air America Radio
"A Remarkable book." Jim Bohannon, Jim Bohannon Show, Westwood One Radio
"Remarkable... a riveting discussion, incredible depth of knowledge... complicated and evocative [yet] sure to be enjoyed." National Public Radio
"The best description I've seen yet of the situation about the riots in France and beyond." Dave Ross, KIRO 710 radio, Seattle
"An important book and sure to be provocative." ABC Radio
"A great book, and important to read to gain the necessary understanding of what's going on in the Middle East" Sam Seder, Majority Report, Air America Radio
"An absolutely important book." Mike Levine, Expert Witness Radio
Biography | Recent Articles | TV-Radio Appearances/Transcripts | Reviews of Why They Don't Hate Us | Contact
NEW: Listento Mark's brand new radio documentary, "Heavy Metal Islam" for Pacifica Radio, now available as a podcast. Includes Music from the best metal, rock and rap artists from Morocco to Pakistan discussed in the forthcoming book and included in the soon-to-be-released EMI album, "Like Flowers in the Desert"
NEW: Watch Mark's interview with Connie Martinson "Talks Books"
COMING SOON:Video and audio podcasts of Mark's appearances on Canadian television and radio from his recent booktore
NEW: Watch CNN's special on Mark's trip to Istanbul and performance at the 2007 Barisa Rock for Peace Festival, October 8, 2007.
NEW: Watch the CNN Turk version of the Barisa Rock for Peace concert story, with additional live footage and interviews
NEW: Watch Mark on al-Jazeera International's "The Listening Post" discussing Iranian President Ahmadinejad's visit to New York, September 28, 2007.
NEW: Watch Mark performing with Hassan Hakmoun from the concert film "A Night of Ferocious Joy".
NEW: Listen to Mark's performance and arranging of Ozomatli's Grammy Award winning song, "Believe," featuring Hassan Hakmoun and the French Jewish Gypsy band Les Yeux Noirs
NEW: Watch Mark performing at the Barisa Rock for Peace Festival, August 24, 2007, with the Iranian melodic death metal supergroup Farzad Golpayegani on You Tube (better footage from CNN coverage of Mark's trip to Istanbul coming soon).
NEW: See Photosof Mark at Barisa Rock for Peace, and pix from Dubai Desert Rock, on Flickr.
NEW: See photosof Mark at Barisa Rock for Peace on Facebook.
NEW: Watch Mark on al-Jazeera International's "The Listening Post" discussing world media coverage of Iran, August 31, 2007.
Watch Part 1 and Part 2 of Mark's interview with Faraz Khan, host of the Pakistani video channel The Music's "Rock On," recorded in Dubai during the Desert Rock Festival,
Other video of Mark's interivews on Pakistani television, including MTV Pakistan, the Talat Hussain show on ARY, and Indus Television coming soon
Coming Soon: Video of Mark's January 1, 2007 appearance on Hannity and Colmes discussing Saddam's execution.
Watch and read the transcript of Mark's November 24, 2006 Appearance on the News Hour with Jim Lehrer discussing the latest developments in Iraq.
Listen to Mark's discussion of globalization in the Middle East and why it's not working on NPR's "On Point," August, 22, 2006
Check back soon for video of Mark's appearance on CNN's "In the Money" on August 17, 2006
Watch the video of Mark being interviewed at the PEN International Conference in Copenhagen, September 8, 2006, Copenhagen.
Listen to Mark's discussion of the media spin of the Israel-Hezbollah war on NPR's "On the Media," August 16, 2006
Listen to Mark's interview with KPFA Hard Knock Radio host Davey D, as they discuss their trip to Beirut together last fall
Watch excerpts of Mark's debate with David Horowitz on Hannity and Colmes, Aug. 1, 2006 (full interview to be uploaded soon)
Watch the video of Mark's appearance on Fox News The Big Story, transcript of Mark's appearance on The Big Story, Nov. 10, 2005, about the riots in France
Read the transcript of Mark's appearance on Hannity and Colmes, Nov. 6, 2005 on the riots in France
View pix of Mark's recording and performance with some of the leading Arab/Muslim rock, metal and hiphop artists, from Morocco to Pakistan in Beirut, October 2005
Watch the video and read the transcript of Mark's October 12, 2005 interview with Ray Suarez on the News Hour with Jim Lehrer.
Listen to Mark's September 28 interview on San Francisco's NPR station, KALW about Why They Don't Hate Us
Listen to Mark's August 5 interview with Rikki Klieman on KFI 640AM Los Angeles about Why They Don't Hate Us and the latest about the terrorist bombings in London and the situation in Iraq
Listen to Mark's discussion of the Iraqi elections on NPR, Feb. 11
Listen to Mark's discussion of the certification of the Iraqi election results on Air Talk with Larry Mantle, Feb. 17.
Read the transcript and watch the video of Mark's November 19, 2004 interview with Ray Suarez on the NewsHour with Jim Lehrer.
Read the transcript and watch the video of Mark's September 30, 2004 interview with Ray Suarez on the NewsHour with Jim Lehrer.
Read the transcript and hear the real audio of Mark's August 5, 2004 interview with Margaret Warner on the NewsHour with Jim Lehrer.
See the video of Mark's August 5, 2004 NewsHour appearance here, on RealVideo.
See the video of Mark's appearance on the O'Reilly Factor, on RealVideo.
Read transcripts of Mark LeVine reporting from and on Iraq during the first anniversary of the invasion for Democracy Now and National Public Radio
Listen to Mark on NPR/WBEZ on April 5, 2004 | audio recording of Mark reporting from Baghdad on March 19, 2004 for Democracy Now
The New Creative Destruction, Asia Times, August 22, 2006
Interview with Mark LeVine on "Music Mending Differences" and on being named "Orange County Innovator in Culture, Ethics and Values" [ Enter "levprof" for the username and password when login requested]
Islam Needs Radicals (And So Do We) |
Sex, Shopping and the Death of a Regime
Assimilate or Die! | Assimilate or Die! (original version together with New Yorker editor Françoise Mouly's "Semantic Attacks")
Why Some of 'Them' Hate Some of 'Us'
Why Paris is Burning | Playing the Chaos Card in the Middle East
Shaikh al-Dhari's Disastrous Gamble, and Ours
Read Mark's account of how Mircrosoft Word's "Track Changes" reveal Syrian President Bashar al-Assad as the man behind the Hariri assassination
Iraq's Oslo Moment
Read Mark's blog on his discussions and performances in Beirut (10/05) with some of the leading rock, metal and hiphop artists in the Muslim world
America, Welcome to the Global Era | The Iraqi Constitution: And the Winner is... The United States? | We Should Have All Gotten Our Asses to Iraq
Echoes of Oslo: Iraq's New Constitution | Good Muslim, Bad Muslim, Moderate Muslim?
Why Withdrawal Is Possible | The London Bombings: Globalization's Revenge?
When Your Enemy is Your Best Hope | Life Before Wartime--An Iraqi Filmaker Stuck Between US Marines and Iraqi Insurgents
An Open Letter to John Yoo | Carrots and Sticks in Post-Election Iraq
If Only Iraqis Vote Their Conscience |
Gandhi, King and the Elastic Sheik |
Will Elections Make a Difference in Iraq?
Decoding the Palestinian Elections | Torture and Human Rights: A Roundtable Discussion
Why is This Man Banned? (archive copy) | An open letter in response to Robert Spencer's article: "Mark Levine: Noam Chomsky as Rock Star"
Iraq's Lose-Lose Scenario | The Death of Arafat and the Myth of New Beginnings
Four Solutions for Falluja? | We're All Israelis Now--Redux
To Be Muslim, Western, and Modern. An interview with Tariq Ramadan
Towards a Truce with the Muslim World. Also published on/in Znet, Mother Jones, and the History News Network
Towards a Truce with the Muslim World. Updated, longer version appearing in the Beirut Daily Star
The World Sells Out Iraq | War Crimes Have Doomed the Occupation
Who's Chaos is it Anyway?
(longer analysis, published on tomdispatch.org, reprinted on znet, commondreams.org, progressivetrail.org, warincontext.org, and other leading web news sources around the world)
Cash for Chaos: Mark LeVine's Spring Break in Falluja
Seeing Iraq through the globalization lens | Chaos Theory in Iraq
The Chaos Theory in Action (a slightly different version of Chaos Theory in Iraq)
America: Shared Enemy. How Sunni and Shi'i Iraqis experienced the first year of occupation
Failed by their Elders
(on Muslim-Jewish tensions on college campuses)[ if you're not an OC Register online reader, enter "levprof" for the username and password when login requested]
Transcript of June 6/18/04 appearance by Mark LeVine on Fox News's "The O'Reilly Factor"
The Shiites Plan for Iraq, featured on ABC News Primetime
The Trial of Saddam Hussein
A Problematic Peace Plan
[ Enter "levprof" for the username and password when login requested]
The Peace Movement Plans for the Future
Globalization in the Middle East and North Africa: Conflicting Narratives of Growth, Inequality and Integration
The Shiite Factor: How Will Iraq's Persecuted Majority Behave When the Saddam Era is Over?
How the Peace Movement Blew It | The Death of Rachel Corrie
'Bush Wins': The Left's Nightmare Scenario
The Danger of Google History in a Time of War, or Why I was Called a Liar on National Radio
What Our Children Are NOT Learning About Iraq at School
Where Are the Moderate Islamists? |Peacemaking in Irvine?
Bring the Turtles to Ramallah |
We Are All Israelis Now
10 Things to Know About Terrorism |
Waiting for Islam in the Global Era
The Arab Human Development Report: A Critique
Muslim Cultural Responses to Globalization (pdf doc)
Why Europe Can and Must Take the Lead for Peace
Why 'They' Don't Hate 'Us' | Melting the Matrix