PrintAugust 9, 2008
Fearing Muslim backlash, Random House scraps novel
Nearly three years ago, Iraq held historic parliamentary elections. Millions of Iraqi voters shrugged off the threat of Al-Qaida suicide bombers and pro-Saddam reactionaries. They headed to the polls in heavy number, proving their courage and commitment to democratic values.Sadly, both qualities were absent in Random House's decision last May to cancel publication of "The Jewel of Medina," a novel by journalist Sherry Jones. Egged on by a politically correct professor of Islamic studies, publishing executives feared the novel could provoke the kind of violent backlash among Muslims that was touched off by Salman Rushdie's 1988 novel "Satanic Verses." And they nervously recalled the Danish "cartoon riots" in Europe and the Muslim world, too. The full story of Random House's cowardly self-censorship -- a story of how "fear stunts intelligent discourse about the Muslim world" -- was the subject of a Wednesday Op-Ed column...(Read Full Article)
