Re: My thoughts...
Thanks for your response, Matt. Cool to see you here!
I will freely admit that I jumped the gun on the accusation of bias. I didn't read the excerpt carefully before posting--just saw the bits with Palestinians as suicide-bombing werewolves consumed by hate--and knowing Willingham's position on the issue (and assuming him to be the author) I jumped to a conclusion that didn't take all the information into account. As you say, the qobusun are shown to be genuinely oppressed and victims of sinti racism and violence, so their hate is based in real grievances.
I do still think that the portrayal of the qobusun (at least in this excerpt) presents a pretty one-dimensional, negative stereotype of Arabs. No one could deny that girls being ostracized for having lost their virginity, partriarchal sexual abuse, and suicide bombings do occur in the Arab world, but all media portrayals always seem to focus selectively on these negative aspects. And from what I read of your story, qobusun society didn't seem to have many other notable characteristics.
It would be refreshing for once to see a Palestinian character who was not a suicide bomber.