And he's right. "Salman Rushdie attacks 'censorship by fear' over The Jewel of Medina," by James Bone in the Times, August 16 (thanks to all who sent this in):
Salman Rushdie has criticised his publisher for withdrawing a controversial novel about the Prophet Muhammad and his child bride because of fears of a violent backlash from Muslims.Random House, which published Rushdie's recent books Fury and Shalimar the Clown but not The Satanic Verses, cancelled Sherry Jones's debut novel, The Jewel of Medina, in the latest showdown between Islam and the Western tradition of free speech.
Rushdie, who spent years in hiding after Iran's Ayatollah Khomeini issued a fatwa — death edict — for The Satanic Verses, accused the US publisher of giving in to intimidation.
“I am very disappointed to hear that my publishers, Random House, have cancelled another author's novel, apparently because of their concerns about possible Islamic reprisals,” Rushdie said.
“This is censorship by fear and it sets a very bad precedent indeed.”
Indeed.
"What is freedom of expression? Without the freedom to offend, it doesn't exist." --Salman Rushdie
One of my favorite quotations, along with "The Truth-Teller must always have one foot in the stirrup." --Armenian proverb
The publishing of the book *should* have been canceled, but not for fear of violence. It should have been canceled because it is child pornography.
As Jihad Watch explained earlier, the novel included scenes in which the 9 year old Aisha erotically enjoyed her marriage consumation with 54 year old muhammad:
"the pain of consummation soon melted away. Muhammad was so gentle. I hardly felt the scorpion's sting. To be in his arms, skin to skin, was the bliss I had longed for all my life."
This is supposed to be the memoirs of a CHILD.
The sickness and depravity of islam is evident in this one passage.
This is supposed to be the memoirs of a CHILD.
The sickness and depravity of islam is evident in this one passage.
Posted by: DJM at August 17, 2008 11:10 AM
Also, the sickness and depravity of Sherry Jones, who wrote that sick passage. What an imbecile.
"...the bliss I had longed for all my life."
Oh, for all of your 9 years?
Oh, that's believable!
This has got to be one of the stupidest books ever written. The huge difference between Rushdie and Sherry Jones is that he is an intellectual and knows everything about Islam. She is intellectually-deficient, and knows nothing about Islam.
Here is another article posted today from Missoula, Montana where Sherry Jones grew up and has retreated after being rebuffed by random House and a host of critiques.
http://helenair.com/articles/2008/08/17/top/55st_080817_book.txt
from that Missoula article Sherry Jones says--
“ ... When people talk about an offended Muslim being the same as a violent Muslim, to me that sounds like racism.”
“ ... When people talk about an offended Muslim being the same as a violent Muslim, to me that sounds like racism.”
Posted by: DenverRodeo at August 17, 2008 8:43 PM
Well, Sherry, "to you" a 9-year-old girl enjoyed being raped by a 53-year-old man. So, who cares what you think?
It's good that Rushdie spoke up on this. Shame on Random House.
It is not the question of literary worth, it is the question of censorship through threats and intimidation.
It is not the question of literary worth, it is the question of censorship through threats and intimidation.