Just In Time for "Banned Books Week," Al-Azhar Yanks a Book from Bookstores

This week now ending happens to be the American Library Association's annual "Banned Books Week," when the ALA and numerous anti-censorship groups seek to call attention to efforts to ban books in American schools and public libraries. Of course, it's an American thing, and most Middle Eastern countries ban books not just from schools or libraries but from all distribution. Still, there is some irony that it is during Banned books Week (Hat Tip to M. Lynx Qualey of the Arabic Literature (in English blog, though it wasn't posted there) that Al-Azhar, Egypt's watchdog of Islamic Orthodoxy, and the State's Ministry of Awqaf (Religious Endowments) ordered one of Egypt's most prominent bookstore chains to remove the book from its flagship downtown store and elsewhere. The Book is called "Blasphemy in Egypt" (ازدراء الأديان في مصر).

From the statement by The Arabic Network for Human Rights Information (ANHRI):

Middle East Freedom Forum (the book’s publisher) has issued a statement concerning the incident, and it was posted by the forum’s executive director, Magdi Khalil, on his Facebook account. The statement reads: “Some individuals affiliated to religious institutions in Egypt represented in Al-Azhar Institution and Egyptian Endowment Ministry have visited Madbouly Bookstore in Talaat Harb Square, Downtown, and demanded the removal of “Blasphemy in Egypt”- by Hamdi El-Assuiti and Magdi Khalil- with no delay, as it abuses Islam, according to them. They posed threats to the bookstore in case of not removing the copies. Therefore, we had withdrawn the copies from the bookstore upon their request, and in order not to cause any problems for them.”

Hamdi El-Assuiti [Arabic title page suggests this should be Assiuti], a co-writer of the book, in his statements to Tahrir newspaper, said: “The book discloses, in its documentation and introduction, the trespasses are taking place in religious institutions, along with their restrictions on the freedom of thought and expression.” He added: “I was expecting the confiscation transpires immediately upon its publication, but they probably were late to read it.”

 “The incident is not based on the law, whereas Endowment Ministry and Al-Azhar Institution have no power over the book’s removal, or distribution ban. The Constitution, in its Article 67, determined one reason for that is to resort to the public prosecution, which is authorized to investigate the book content. Furthermore, what is consistent with the democratic form is to respond to the different opinion, without resorting to ways of threats and confiscation,” ANHRI said.

So strictly speaking, the move didn't follow the law. As an Editor and Publisher, I oppose censorship on principle and government attempts  to protect its institutions from criticism most of all. The late Lenny Bruce had a well-known aphorism on that subject. (Link Not Safe for Work of course; it's Lenny Bruce.)

Most of us probably can't get hold of a copy of this particular banned book, but it might be an appropriate response to go out and read something from the ALA's banned books list. And F**k censorship. [Asterisks to make the point, not for censorship. The word appears here when appropriate: see below.]

Tunisian Court Fines Network for Blasphemy; Happy World Press Freedom Day

Yesterday a Tunisian court ruled against the television channel Al-Nessma and imposed a fine for "blasphemy" over the showing of the award-winning animated film Persepolis. A roundup on the subject here. The timing was impeccable, since today is World Press Freedom Day.
 
This trailer, in French, for the film includes part of the "blasphemous" scene at about 35-39 seconds. The little girl imagines talking to God, who's shown as an old man with a white robe and a white beard:

Michelangelo's in Trouble in Tunis

It's a fairly conventional portrayal of the deity in Western art (think Michelangelo's Creation of Adam), but, of course, violates the absolute Muslim prohibition of any anthropomorphic portrayal of God.

And the Union of Tunisian Journalists has just issued a report on Press Freedom in Tunisia. Among the findings:

According to the report, a significant number of Tunisian journalists have been subjected to both physical and verbal abuse by police, politicians, and citizens with official political affiliations. The report stated that incidents of verbal and physical abuse occur, on average, once per week.

The report described these attacks as a concerted “campaign against media.” National political figures, such as Interim Prime Minister Hamadi Jebali, were accused of constantly lambasting the media, particularly following the appointment of high-ranking officials within Tunisia’s state-run media network. The report also accused the government of not responding to incidents of assault against journalists with seriousness.

Another section of the report listed journalists who were brought to court for publishing controversial material, such as the cases involving Nessma TV and Ettounisia. The report collected testimony from branches of the union located in Tunis, Sidi Bouzid, and Sfax, as well as the coastal, southwest, and interior regions of the country.

Happy World Press Freedom Day. And remember, Tunisia's one of the best, since the Revolution.

Strange Newsless Arab News Story

Okay, Journalism 101: who, what, when, where, why? An Arab News story with a headline that does what it should, grabbing the reader: "Saudi Writer Charged with Blasphemy." Read the link first, then consider: a "Saudi writer" (unnamed) is facing a possible charge of blasphemy because "a number of people" (unnamed) have alleged that he "allegedly insult[ed] the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him)" because he "allegedly described a Hadith of the Prophet [unspecified] as barbaric," on Al-Hurra, the US-backed Arabic channel.

I suppose if I search Al-Hurra long enough I might figure out who he is, what he said, and what hadith is involved, but so far all I can Google up is the Arab News story. But would a Saudi writer really say something negative about the Prophet on an American channel? Was he critiquing a strong hadith or a weak hadith? Is he a "writer" with religious qualifications?

Beats me. Recently we've seen other evidence that some Saudi citizens seem to forget where they're living, but a Saudi writer really ought to know the ground rules. If we ever hear more of this, which is far from guaranteed, it will be interesting to learn what the details are, because right now they aren't obvious.