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And in this case, just the chimerical prospect of violent intimidation. My column in Human Events today discusses the latest cowardice from Random House:
Random House paid $100,000 for The Jewel of Medina, Sherry Jones’ racy historical novel about Muhammad and his nine-year-old wife, Aisha, only to withdraw the book just days before its scheduled August 12 publication date. Random House deputy publisher Thomas Perry explained that they decided to drop the book after receiving, “from credible and unrelated sources, cautionary advice not only that the publication of this book might be offensive to some in the Muslim community, but also that it could incite acts of violence by a small, radical segment.” They decided “to postpone publication for the safety of the author, employees of Random House, booksellers and anyone else who would be involved in distribution and sale of the novel.”This craven capitulation to violent intimidation came without any actual violent intimidation at all. Random House was smart enough to figure out, in these post-Salman Rushdie, post-Muhammad cartoons, post-Pope Rage days that publishing a book that Muslims find offensive could be hazardous to the health of a good many people.
It is curious that they let Jones work on The Jewel of Medina for six years only to remember Rushdie when her book was about to be published. That may be due to pressure from Denise A. Spellberg, an Associate Professor of History and Middle Eastern Studies at the University of Texas at Austin. When Spellberg received an advance copy of the book, she became “frantic” and contacted Shahed Amanullah, editor of the popular website altmuslim.com. “She was upset,” said Amanullah, because the book “made fun of Muslims and their history.” She later declared that The Jewel of Medina was a “very ugly, stupid piece of work…. You can’t play with a sacred history and turn it into soft core pornography.”Spellberg denies charges that she was the “instigator” of Random House’s decision to deep-six Jones’ book. She says, “I felt it my duty to warn the press of the novel’s potential to provoke anger among some Muslims.” Yet Spellberg also maintains: “I do not espouse censorship of any kind, but I do value my right to critique those who abuse the past without regard for its richness or resonance in the present.”
Spellberg does seem to be right about The Jewel of Medina. The book rather improbably depicts the nine-year-old Aisha, at the moment of the consummation of her marriage to Muhammad, as finding “the bliss I had longed for all my life.” As evidenced by trash like this, the actual “richness and resonance in the present” of Muhammad’s marriage to the child Aisha is probably lost on both Spellberg and Jones. But due to Muhammad’s status in Islamic tradition as the supreme example of human conduct, child marriage is quite prevalent in some areas of the Islamic world today.
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) reports that over half of the girls in Afghanistan and Bangladesh are married before they reach the age of eighteen. In early 2002, researchers in refugee camps in Afghanistan and Pakistan found half the girls married by age thirteen. In an Afghan refugee camp, more than two out of three second-grade girls were either married or engaged, and virtually all the girls who were beyond second grade were already married. One ten-year-old was engaged to a man of sixty. In early 2005 a Saudi man in his sixties drew international attention for marrying fifty-eight times; his most recent bride was a 14-year-old he married in the spring of 2004.
If Jones really wanted to offend Muslims, she could have made her novel a negative portrayal of Muhammad’s marriage to Aisha and a denunciation of the devastating effects child marriage has had upon untold numbers of girls in the Islamic world ever since. That would certainly have brought her opprobrium and threats, but she would have had the satisfaction of knowing that she was standing up for the dignity of the human person. As it is, her book does indeed seem to be as Spellberg describes it: a “very ugly, stupid piece of work.”
That being the case, however, since when has Random House or any American publisher refrained from publishing a book because it was ugly and stupid? When has any American publisher passed up a book because they thought it cheapened Jewish or Christian sacred history? Put down your copy of The Da Vinci Code and ponder that one for a minute.
It is becoming increasingly common for Americans to bow to pressure from Muslims to accommodate Islamic practices and mores. It is also becoming common for the specter of violence to inhibit discussion of the elements of Islam that jihadists use to justify terrorism. Where will all this accommodation end? It will not end until America is a Sharia state, unless enough Americans begin to resist. Or, even if America never becomes anything remotely approximating a Sharia state, how much of our freedoms and rights will we allow to be eroded away before we stand up and call a halt to this?
If Random House had axed Jones’ book because it is silly and stupid, that would be no problem. But to explain that they did so because of the possibility of violence is only to reinforce the lesson that threats and violence work. And with that lesson re-taught, our freedoms will continue to erode.
Posted by Robert at August 13, 2008 5:53 AM
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Oh dearie me! The book might be offensive to Muslims? We can't have Muslims being offended, can we? I mean, they might start killing people.
No, our best approach is to check with Muslims before we publish any books, just in case there is a risk they might be offended.
And if that means no books get published, well, that's a small price to pay for the privilege of not being blown up.
[/sarcasm]
Posted by: watling![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.jihadwatch.org/nav-commenters.gif)
at August 13, 2008 6:07 AM
Liberals and muslims have us conditioned to treat islam with more reverence than it deserves. This reinforces the islamic mindset of superiority and furthers their cause.
Push back anywhere and everywhere you find islam.
at August 13, 2008 6:23 AM
Personally, I found this excerpt from the book, describing Aisha's "wedding night", offensive:
".........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."
Yes, that's what the rape of a nine year old child feels like. I was raped when I was nine, so I know. It offends me to read this, but I wouldn't call for the publishers to cancel release of the book over it, nor would I blow anything up.
Posted by: ImNoDhimmi at August 13, 2008 6:50 AM
"She later declared that The Jewel of Medina was a “very ugly, stupid piece of work…. You can’t play with a sacred history and turn it into soft core pornography.”"
OK, so let's play with the "sacred history" and turn it into hard core pornography. No worries.
Posted by: S Perry at August 13, 2008 6:55 AM
"Should one point out that from ancient times a decline in courage has been considered the beginning of the end?"
— Alexander Solzhenitsyn
Posted by: Cornelius at August 13, 2008 9:34 AM
>>Yes, that's what the rape of a nine year old child feels like. I was raped when I was nine, so I know. --ImNoDhimmi
Of course you're correct that the excerpt you quoted is repugnant, revolting, 100% unrealistic, and nothing but 100% utter trash. Sherry Jones should be ashamed of herself for writing that ridiculous and MENDACIOUS crap.
On a personal note, I'd like to cite your courage and honesty in posting your horrific experience at age 9 - that took guts. Obviously you have become a brave and honest adult filled with integrity, and I'd like to applaud that! You're fabulous while your attacker is a total loser sociopath.
I hope you have a great day, ImNoDhimmi!
at August 13, 2008 10:12 AM
Greetings:
Back in my undergraduate days, one of the things I came across in studying psychology was what was referred to as "avoidance behavior." Basically, it referred to situations where the subject responded before a negative stimulus was delivered. The classic experiment entailed putting a rat into a box with two compartments with hole in the wall between them. The compartments contained a metal grid floor and a light bulb. In the experiment, the bulb in the compartment with the rat was lit and seconds later an electric shock was delivered to the metal grid. Quickly, the rat would learn to leap into the other compartment when the light came on, thereby avoiding the shock.
One of the insidious aspects of this behavior was in trying to extinguish it once it was established. Because the subject reacted before the negative stimulus was delivered, it was never able to see if it was still being delivered. In the end, the only way the rat could be retrained was to physically restrain it in the compartment when the light came on.
at August 13, 2008 10:32 AM
darcy,
Thanks for your kind words. Actually the sexual abuse I suffered as a child went on for five years. When I was about 30, I realized how my life, my marriage, my relationships with other people, and my ability to be a good mother had been and continued to be affected by the abuse. I got help for the issues I was dealing with, and learned that I am not a victim, but a survivor. It's true what they say, what doesn't kill you makes you stronger!
Anyway, that's why I have empathy / sympathy for these little muslim girls.
Posted by: ImNoDhimmi at August 13, 2008 10:52 AM
Establishing a fund to publish works such as this one rejected out of publishers' fears of retribution would be a worthy cause indeed. Any (deep-pocketed)takers?
Posted by: Doubting David at August 13, 2008 11:27 AM
From the article:
The book rather improbably depicts the nine-year-old Aisha, at the moment of the consummation of her marriage to Muhammad, as finding “the bliss I had longed for all my life.”
That's odd--the author herself Sherry Jones on her own website says:
All I did was try to portray A'isha, Muhammad's child bride (believed by most historians to have married Muhammad at age nine and consummated the marriage at age 11) in the context of her times.
http://sherryjones.blogspot.com/2008/08/dont-believe-everything-you-read.html#links
Either this report is inaccurate, or Sherry Jones is sloppy.
Posted by: DenverRodeo at August 13, 2008 11:54 AM
"I do value my right to critique those who abuse the past without regard for its richness or resonance in the present.”
-- from the article above, quoting Associate Professor (with tenure? without?) Spellberg
Nine-year-old Aisha, with 57-year-old Muhammad.
That past.
Its "richness."
Its "resonance."
That permanent immutable Model for All Time.
at August 13, 2008 11:59 AM
This story, along with ImNoDhimmi's personal account, really makes my blood boil because sexual abuse is so destructive and perverted, that there are no words to express what I truly think about it; and I too would like to thank you ImNoDhimmi for your courage, as Darcy did, and I would hug you if I could, for sharing what you suffered at the hands of someone you undoubtedly trusted, because it shows how truly ugly sexual abuse is. Hugs to you via cyberspace, as inadequate as that is. Many hugs.
OK - Muhammad was a total sexual pervert, and is no PROPHET OF GOD, that's for sure!
The idea that this child molester acquired "prophet status" is mind blowing, and anyone who subscribes to Muhammad's teachings and follows him has condoned his sexual behavior - they have approved of his sexual deviancy - and they are just as bad as he was. Yeah, and some of you followers of Muhammad are, in fact, as bad as he was, because you practice this sexual deviancy on your own children, don't you, or on those children close to you? Shame on you for your deviancy, shame on you.
Muhammad is not a true prophet, and his sexual perversion is but one prime example PROVING that he isn't a prophet. I'm just disgusted with this man - disgusted! Muhammad is not a prophet from God. Wake up!
Posted by: champ at August 13, 2008 12:46 PM
If You are a Muslim: Welcome
http://www.prophetofdoom.net/article.aspx?g=401&i=40001
(talks about Muhammad's sexual perversion)
Posted by: champ at August 13, 2008 1:06 PM
the rape of a child weather boy or girl is wrong yet we have it happening in both the east and west i know this first hand as i was gang raped at the age of six and it took a lot of years to learn to deal with it the fact that ms jones book is basicly glorifying the rape of asia is wrong but the actions taken by ms spellburg are just as wrong ! as a as Associate Professor she would not have tenature some one on jw should start a online petition
http://www.petitiononline.com/create_petition.html
to be sent to the president of A AND M asking that because of her reaction to the possible publishing of jewel of medina she be removed from her Associate Professorship i would write it myself but im in too much pain from getting hit by a car , this took 3 hours to type jim
at August 13, 2008 3:37 PM
darcy,
Thanks for your kind words. Actually the sexual abuse I suffered as a child went on for five years. When I was about 30, I realized how my life, my marriage, my relationships with other people, and my ability to be a good mother had been and continued to be affected by the abuse. I got help for the issues I was dealing with, and learned that I am not a victim, but a survivor. It's true what they say, what doesn't kill you makes you stronger!
Anyway, that's why I have empathy / sympathy for these little muslim girls.
Posted by: ImNoDhimmi at August 13, 2008 10:52 AM
Oh, you're a "survivor" allright! Brave, and Courageous, and Strong! Brava to you, ImNoDhimmi! Your evil, perverted attacker bears immense shame and will be answering to Jesus someday. Best Wishes to you and your family, and ditto what Champ said above.
Posted by: darcy at August 13, 2008 5:00 PM
"The rape of a child weather boy or girl is wrong yet we have it happening in both the east and west i know this first hand as i was gang raped at the age of six..." --ISLAMSNOTFOR ME (jim)
jim, as you know, you did nothing wrong. My heart just cries for what you went through, an innocent child attacked by evil people. I'm so sorry that happened to you. Please know that many here care about you and your ordeal at age 6, and wish you the best. Also, I'm so sorry, as everyone here is, that you were hit by a car. You've obviously gone through a lot in life, but you're still here, fighting the enemy, Islam! Bravo to you, jim! Keep fighting!
You're right that Sherry Jones's book is a pile of stinking mendacious crap, but there is the First Amendment, and we should NOT be cowed by the mass-murdering brainwashed-by-Mohamet Barbarians.
Posted by: darcy at August 13, 2008 5:12 PM
Establishing a fund to publish works such as this one rejected out of publishers' fears of retribution would be a worthy cause indeed. Any (deep-pocketed)takers?
Posted by: Doubting David at August 13, 2008 11:27 AM
Actually, as this idiotic book romanticizes the Rape of Aisha (9 years old), I wouldn't "fund" this evil book if I had a million bucks.
"Scorpion's sting" and "bliss"? Sherry Jones is an illiterate imbecile whose neurons aren't firing. I'm against this book because it makes the rape of a child glorious. What utter and complete crap. Jones should be so ashamed of herself it's not funny. But, I think she's too stupid to feel shame. Jones and Spellberg are both wrong, for different reasons.
Posted by: darcy at August 13, 2008 5:26 PM
I may be wrong here, but it occurs to me that Random House's motive may be pure profit. I recall that RH was the of publisher of both "The Da Vinci Code" and "The Holy Blood and The Holy Grail", and the authors of the latter sued the author of the former for plagiarism. I am prepared to bet that the sales of both books benefited significantly from the publicity of the court case.
RH now say they are going to postpone publication of this book. If this is genuinely true, then the publicity of these threats and the notoriousness of the book will also increase sales.
After all, how many people would have bothered to plough through Salman Rushdie's notoriously dense "Satanic Verses" if had not been the publicity of the fatwah?
Posted by: Paul at August 13, 2008 5:39 PM
darcy thanks for your kind comment as for getting hit im 6'7 and about 350 i would love to know how someone could not see a big guy like myself in the quatum 1650 power chair could not be seen by a moterst but thats his excuse :( must have been a muslim inman as they seem to never see the real world (evil grin)
i saw the predator that lead the rape gang that got me later on when i was in the rcaf reseves (highland infantry) and it did me a lot of good to see the fear on his face when he realized just how big his former victem had become right up to when i broke his jaw and crushed his family jewels with the toe of my combat boot :) i dont think he will bother a child again , i understand they had to castrate him beacuse his jewels were crushed:) i think that all pediphiles should be castrated but in the muslim lands i dont think we will ever see it because there would be a ton of eunuchs running around
at August 13, 2008 8:15 PM
How is this book not "kiddie porn"?
54 year old rapist and 9 year old girl.
Sugarcoated by an airhead.
Posted by: profitsbeard at August 13, 2008 8:45 PM
Ms Jones should have stayed right off the subject.
No Nabokov she.
BTW - once one knows all about little 'Aisha' and what Mohammed did to her, it makes one want to puke every time one encounters, or hears about, a Muslim woman whose parents have named her 'Aisha'.
OT a little: Ladies and gentlemen: a round of virtual toasts to 'Imnodhimmi' and 'Islamsnotforme'. Survivors!
Islamsnotforme, you mentioned 'highland infantry' - are you by any chance a Scot? If so - Scots Wha Hae and God Bless Scotland (And I guess that virtual toast I just called for, had better be the very best uisge beatha...).
Posted by: dumbledoresarmy at August 13, 2008 9:32 PM
Mosab Hassan Yousef, the former Muslim who has converted to Christianity and is featured on another of today's articles here says in his interview, "If people, if Muslims, start to understand their religion .. and see how awful stuff is in there, they'll start to figure out ... points they are embarrassed to talk about."
I hope that Ms. Jones' disgusting book is published if for no other reason than to force the rot of this disgusting "religion" to the surface.
Posted by: charlie at August 14, 2008 12:28 AM
In Saudi Arabia when somebody is caught stealing, cutting off a hand and the opposing foot seems to be the common punishment.
Too bad that for rape (especially of under-age girls) a comparable punishment isn't imposed on the perps. It would certainly take them out of the gene pool; however, since it is man's world in islam and everything is ALWAYS someone else's fault (especially the poor women and little girls), we'll never see the day. Tragic indeed!
Posted by: MadAggie at August 14, 2008 10:02 AM
I do believe that copyright law is quite clear in this case. The author has the right to be heard, and to be published.
DESPITE the copyright being sold, the auther is fully within her rights to "demonstrate" the work to anyone. This could easily be interpreted to mean that in this case she has the right to both publishing it herself, or even selling the copyright AGAIN.
After all, the opening line of copyright law states that the law is meant to INCREASE availability of a work.
In addition to that little tidbit, the publishing house would be attracting huge amounts of attention to the book by attempting to sue the author.
Anyone got the text ?
Posted by: tomcpp at August 14, 2008 6:37 PM
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