"The Union of Arab Writers has written a letter of protest at the designation of Israel as a guest of honour ..."

All three of them.

Posted by: jay at January 29, 2008 9:32 PM

Union of Arab Writers! What do they write about? The Koran? Killing Jews?

Posted by: Seymour Paine at January 29, 2008 9:51 PM

All three of them.
Posted by: jay

Maybe you over-estimated,lol?

Just shows yet another means to try to control everything.

Posted by: Gramfan at January 29, 2008 9:52 PM

One of the three writers was just killed for blasphemy, so it's down to two.

He suggested that Mohammad may have had a picture on his wall, once.

I think it was of a vulture.

Homeopathy as art.

Posted by: profitsbeard at January 29, 2008 10:11 PM

"In any case, this is a book fair, this is not the United Nations, it is not a political office. The Israeli writers that we invited are usually critical toward their government," said the director of Turin's book fair, Ernesto Ferrero in a response.

Seems to me like the Iraqi author Younis Tawfik was better off under Saddam

Posted by: Infidel Pride at January 29, 2008 10:57 PM

I think it is time to examine such groups. Who are they, and what are they about? Why narrowly politicize such events? If these "Arab" writers actually issue threats, they should be handled by law enforcement, and not given a megaphone.

Posted by: Worry01 at January 29, 2008 10:57 PM

The Western world must not give into Islamic blackmailing anymore. Understand Islam, wake up and stand up to Islamist fascism as this liberal has:

First Things Next: Why a Liberal Opposes Islamofascism

Posted by: IslamWatch at January 29, 2008 11:27 PM

...don't let the door hit you on the way out!

Posted by: sheik yer'mami at January 29, 2008 11:51 PM

The depth of mohammedan cultural corruption and desert-like intellectual aridity on dramatic display!

These gatherings of intellectuals, writers, artists and scientists are traditionally a time and place to put the most avid political and even military commitments aside in the name of a higher ideal. That ideal being of course truth, literature, art or science.

But the waterless, arabified cultural desert of the mohammedan countries admits of no supreme, overarching human ideals.

They have only their damned allah, their damned mohammed and their damned jihad.

Let them rot in their illiterate hell-hole countries alone.

They have nothing to add.

Their absence will cost nothing!

Posted by: joeblough at January 30, 2008 12:21 AM

Everybody should get into this, starting with writers in Corriere della Sera and Il Foglio.

As a free, advanced, Western country, heir to a history much longer than the 60 years of its modern existence, and peopled by the People of the Book, is a perfect guest to be honored in that sixtieth year of the State's existence. Those putting on the Festival should be proud to have done the right thing, and to have given a schiaffo to the U.N., to the E.U., and to all those who have allowed their minds to be poisoned by the mendacious reporting, drip-by-drip-by-drip, that has done such damage to Israel that is only trying, believe it or not, to stay alive, to withstand the Lesser Jihad that has been waged, is being waged, will forever be waged, against it, though Israel's own leaders seem determined not to recognize or name that Jihad. Ferrero seems to understand that he should be unapologetic about the Turin Book Festival's choice. He titles one reply to critics "La Fiera e fiera di Israele." (The Festival is proud of Israel.)

But it is wrong to defend the choice in a way that concedes what should not be conceded. Israel, and Israel's best writers, should be invited because they deserve to be, and not because some or perhaps most, or even all, of those writers are critical of their own government. Indeed, it is unfortunate that the choice appears to have been limited to those who are full-time critics of Israel, all on the left, and all of them political naifs, who enjoy their moral preening, and certainly find it makes things much easier for them, when abroad to join in attacking their country (why, it's the easiest thing in the world), not that they don't also thoroughly enjoy doing the same thing when they are home.

Ferrero should not have drawn attention to these writers being critics of Israeli policies. He had only to say that Israel is a civilized nation, with freedom of thought and speech, and an impressive literary tradition -- he might have mentioned Agnon, or Appelfeld, or any number of poets who do not share the political stance of Yehoshua-Oz-Grossman, just to make clear that the Festival was not about to "honor" Israel by inviting only Israeli critics of Israel, even if they happen, by dint some suspect (I suspect) that not literary merit but political acceptability accounts for their relative fame abroad.

And he might not have indicated, as apparently he has, that soon enough brave little non-existent "Palestine" would be similarly honored, in a time-honored tocca-a-te-tocca-a-te approach to what should be untouchable matters of literary taste and historical judgment. The celebrated Arab poet Adonis claims there is no longer any Arab literature; it is all propoagandistic trash, he said in a famous interview a few years ago. He surely meant, above all, the "Palestiian" writers whose subject, only subject, is the wickedness of the Israelis and of the unparalleled suffering -- why, there's just nothing like it in human history -- of the "Palestinian people" about whom not a word was said, for they did not yet exist, before the Six-Day War.

To balance a real country, with a real literature and real freedom of the mind, by then inviting a non-existent country, that is merely one subset of the Arab Muslim people, a place that has never had, and never will have, freedom of thought and freedom of speech, and where the writers are not critics, but silent about the warlords (the Fast Jihadists of Hamas, the Slow Jihadists of Fatah), those "Palestinian" lords of misrule, and their loyalty is not to literature, but to politics, to saying nothing that would ever endanger the "sacred cause" -- which turns out, upon inspection, to be nothing but the old Muslim cause of eliminating any Infidel nation-state that stands in the way of the Greatest Cause of All -- not "Palestine" (that's trivial) but Islam.

Whatever else this "Palestine" that will be invited to a future Fiera del Libro, as one more craven example of "making up" for, or "balancing" (on the one hand this, on the other hand that) for any semi-decency shown anywhere by any official group in Italy or elsewhee in Western Europe, to Israel, may be, it is not a place that allows for freedom of thought and speech, and does not produce literary works but political propaganda ill-disguised as literature (and that includes the much-rewarded (Lannan Prize, the whole works) and celebrated "star" of "Palestinian" literature, that downmarket mayakovsky, that sweet swinger of the Lesser Jihad against Israel, the execrable poet (just try to read his stuff) Mahmoud Darwish.

And so what might have been an act of moral heroism will inevitably be leached of its initial herosim when, in a few months or in a year, or in two, at the Fiera del Libro in Torino, a place tendentiously called "Palestine" becomes -- not on literary merit but by way of atonement or making up for, or "balancing," the act of inviting Israel to be the Torino Bookfair's Guest-Country of Honor - the next, "guest."

And not a single one of those "Palestinian" writers will be a critic of a place, a government, an "authority" belong to "Palestine." No, they will all be stout defenders, will brook no criticism of the Sacred Cause. In other words, loyalists of "Palestine" will be invited to Torino to "balance" the Israeli critics of Israel. This is not "balance." One side kicks the beam.

Posted by: Hugh at January 30, 2008 12:23 AM

No matter how elaborate anyone's comment is, in the end, islam will not tolerate Israelis right to exist.

troting off now....................

Posted by: Bayoucoyote at January 30, 2008 1:21 AM

Islam means submission, and thats what they are trying to do to us.

Posted by: FreeSpeech at January 30, 2008 2:01 AM

Six years ago, at another Arab book fair in Italy:

According to eyewitness Khalid al-Maaly:

Two months after the 9/11 attacks, during an Arab book fair, a rumour suddenly made the rounds that an aircraft had crashed into a high-rise building in Italy. Many people immediately thought this was a repeat of the previous attacks on America. Numerous publishers and editors shouted Allahu akbar (God is great) and welcomed the presumed act, which turned out never to have happened at all. Some of these intellectuals are welcome guests at conferences on Euro-Arab dialogue. But I wonder about the value of such events, when some participants lack all credibility and the emphasis is on mere politeness and flattery.

http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=24922

Posted by: cantor at January 30, 2008 2:34 AM

''"The fact that other writers are talking about their freedom of expression, seems to me incredible," he added.''

Not really ... I seem to recall reading somewhere (can't remember where though) that the state of Greece prints and distributes more textbooks than the entire collective of Muslim nations.

Posted by: Joshua at January 30, 2008 3:26 AM

HUGH,

one example of "Palestinian" criticism of israel is a little radio show called "Palestine Remembered" in Melb, Australia.

Every so often I listen to it despite its dreariness. Its ONLY subject is How Badly Israel Treats "Palestinians" or See? Even Israelis think Israel is a Nazi State etc. etc.

Rather interestingly it has a hypnotic layer of music snaking in and out of the anti-Israel propaganda which certainly creates a dream-like effect. I suppose that hypnotising us with fantasy-type music is the only way to convince of their cause, since there is no factual basis for any of their claims.

Not once have I ever heard a show about the supposed glories, history or people in the past, lost "Palestine" and what the people used to do before the naughty Zionists came or anything else you'd expect to hear about a country that had lost history, literature or anything else worth having, which, considering its name, you'd expect to hear. No, it's all about Israel's perfidy and 'occupation'. Still;, i suppose a show called "We Hate Israel" might create comment.

There's a saying that points out that what you think about you will attract. In which case,long may they talk about Israel.

Posted by: carpediadem at January 30, 2008 3:42 AM

All three of them.
Posted by: jay

-----

Damn.. beat me to it.. by one.. LOL

Posted by: Allah Schmallah at January 30, 2008 3:58 AM

I wrote to Mr. Ferrero thanking him after I read about this on ynet. But the ynet article didn't mention Mr. Ferrero's remarks. Maybe he hadn't said them at that time; but if he had, I would have said something like Hugh (above) said. It's like he is saying to the Muslims: "Don't worry; the writers we have invited will do the job for you!" I certainly hope that isn't the case!

Posted by: TeachESL at January 30, 2008 4:27 AM

Arab writers? An oxymoron. The fair will be a lot better off without them.

Posted by: johndoe at January 30, 2008 5:22 AM

Jewish Israeli posters here: which authors do you think the Turin Book Fair people *should* have invited, if they truly wished to honour Israel (and, in the process, honour the memory of Oriana Fallaci and her unforgettable declaration "I stand with Israel! I stand with the Jews!').

I remember that in the 'Jerusalem Post' some years ago, I read of the publication of what sounded like a perfectly charming book called something like 'Margolit's Kitchen' (English translation of its title; the review said it was written and published in Hebrew).

The author, an Oriental Jewess, a redoubtable Jerusalemite born-and-bred, had had, I *think*, in the course of her very long life, some five husbands - each one representing a different branch of the Jewish people. One husband had been Sephardi; the last was a Hungarian Jew, an Ashkenazi. For each man, Margolit had lovingly learned to cook his favourite dishes; thus, in each marriage, mastering a new cuisine. The book was described as a compilation of the favourites of all five husbands (of blessed memory) together with reminiscences, stories and so on, written at the request of her children or grandchildren, who had urged her to record her famous recipes.

Love, food, and Jewish history refracted through one woman's life. It sounded delightful, just the sort of book I'd love to read; but alas, it was only being published in Hebrew. (It sounded a perfect candidate for translation into Italian).

Doubtless it isn't quite Great World Literature - but it might, perhaps, be capable of gently undermining a lot of preconceived ideas. I'd propose 'Margolit' and her book of 'the food my husbands loved' as a guest at Turin!

Posted by: dumbledoresarmy at January 30, 2008 8:00 AM

....protesting Non Muslim authors?...

....Muslims often attack schools and other institutions and burn books...remember 05/15/07:

"Militants torched a school in Bannang Sata district on Sunday night, after breaking into its library to burn books. The attack took place less than two days before the new school year begins tomorrow."

....when Muslims burn books, they will followup by burning the school, followed up by executing the teachers...

....protesting anything or anyone non Muslim is but the first step the Muslims take to help them with their "internal struggles" aka JIHAD....

Ban Muslim Immigration...

Posted by: exsgtbrown at January 30, 2008 8:01 AM

These Muslims writers get all courageous while in the West, but very silent when it's time to attack their own leaders.

I think the europeans should ask them the obvious question: who are you to impose freedom of speach?

Posted by: Crusader at January 30, 2008 8:26 AM

I will be on vacation in Italy a few weeks after the festival. Hopefully, I will be able to congratulate the Italians for standing up to these muslim bullies. But then, that could be wishful thinking.

Posted by: Bigfoot at January 30, 2008 8:45 AM

They won't be missed.

Posted by: pythagoras at January 31, 2008 2:30 PM