Aunt Safiyya- Chapters One and Two

I found the first two chapters of Aunt Safiyya very intriguing.  The first thing that really struck me was that the author chose to mesh two religions into the story, something which I found brilliant in the English translation, although I am not sure it was intended to be that way.  The way that Christianity was always in the background of the main story gave me, as a reader familiar with Christianity, a comparison point for the religious and ethic differences in standard between America and the Middle East.  Possibly the most striking thing to me in the story thus far is the detail of Middle Eastern daily life and the similarities that I am able to see to my own lifestyle.  The education process described by the main character, and the family interactions described within the book are strikingly similar to American cultural standards. Already I can feel my preconceptions of what it means to be Middle Eastern shattering and being reformed into something more sensible and less frightening.  

I'm not yet sure what to make of the violent acts described in the second chapter.  I keep trying to tell myself that it is a cultural or religious difference that helps to justify these acts, but the events that took place just seem so universally cruel... I think I will have to finish the story before I can form an opinion about this.