Random House pulls book over concerns of Muslim violence

This is terrible that this happened! This is sad that Random House pulled this book. Thanks for sharing this Juan!

Now I understand why The Netherlands is so worried about Muslims.

The book was published. But the next publisher pulled it from the shelves.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/20/arts/20arts-MORETROUBLES_BRF.html?ref=arts

This really gets on my nerves. Whats next John? I mean as a Catholic, I have heard it all and gone with the flow when everyone and everything having to do with Catholicism is ridiculed or insulted but this is just too much. If we can stand the heat than why can't everyone else??

"Ms. Jones, in an article for a Serbian newspaper, said she was saddened by the Serbian publishers’ decision, The Guardian reported. “My intentions were to celebrate these great historical figures while dispelling misunderstandings about Islam,” she added."

Appearently they would prefer to keep the tensions about their religion going.
Well what can you expect. Most of these people are fed from childhood to hate everything and everyone, even themselves, which is why they live in such a violent world.

If you want world peace, you have to enlighten the other half of the world. Hard to do if they won't let books in or teach a map with Israel on it. No wonder their conflict is centuries old.

I agree that it makes no sense to threaten violence over a book. But I caution us all to remember that this is from a few extreme proponents of Islam, not the entire faith. We cannot paint an entire religion based on the actions of the few.

Would we paint all Catholics as pedophiles because some priests were pedophiles? Would we paint all Christians as murderers because some of them feel it is okay to murder doctors who provide legal abortion services?

Focus on the real problem...let's think rather than make blanket statements.

Thanks for posting to Political Futures

I haven't read the book. I heard Random house pulled its publication because they could not find a reputable historian to write a blurb on the book. All the professors they gave the book to preview and write a review said Jones distorted the historical facts and the book does not paint an accurate picture of Mohammad's life.

This is Random House's statement:

After sending out advance editions of the novel THE JEWEL OF MEDINA, we received in response, 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.

We felt an obligation to take these concerns very seriously. We consulted with security experts as well as with scholars of Islam, whom we asked to review the book and offer their assessments of potential reactions.

We stand firmly by our responsibility to support our authors and the free discussion of ideas, even those that may be construed as offensive by some. However, a publisher must weigh that responsibility against others that it also bears, and in this instance we decided, after much deliberation, 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. The author and Ballantine subsequently agreed to terminate the agreement, with the understanding that the author would be free to publish elsewhere, if she so chose.

The Random House Publishing Group

This is the first step in which the U.S. will start yielding to Islamic extremism, each and every time the Muslim community feels offense and threatens violence if they do not get their way. We are on our way to follow the same path the majority of Europe is taking and that is yielding to the extremist each and everytime.