Early in August the Wall Street Journal ran an opinion piece about the decision of Random House to cancel publication of a novel about Aisha, the favorite wife of Muhammad, on the grounds that it could be "offensive to some in the Muslim community." Radom House expressed regret that it "cannot" publish the book at this time.
The publisher is quoted as expressing fear for the safety of Random House employees, booksellers, and others, should it publish this book. About ten days ago I emailed the ALA's Office of Intellectual Freedom about this case of self-censorship due to intimidation, or fear of intimidation asking whether ALA has taken a stand or action on this issue. I haven't heard back, and I wonder whether anyone else has pursued this. The WSJ piece, titled "You Still Can't Write About Muhammad" can be found here: http://online.wsj.com/public/article_print/SB121797979078815073.html Andrea Rapp Cincinnati, Ohio Messages and opinions expressed on Hasafran are those of the individual author and are not necessarily endorsed by the Association of Jewish Libraries (AJL) =========================================================== Submissions for Ha-Safran, send to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] SUBscribing, SIGNOFF commands send to: Listproc @ lists.acs.ohio-state.edu Questions, problems, complaints, compliments;-) send to: galron.1 @ osu.edu Ha-Safran Archives: Current: http://www.mail-archive.com/hasafran%40lists.acs.ohio-state.edu/maillist.html History: http://www.mail-archive.com/hasafran%40lists.acs.ohio-state.edu/history.html AJL HomePage http://www.JewishLibraries.org