London based publisher Gibson Square, who is publishing the controversial The Jewel of Medina, was firebombed over the weekend.
“The bomb was placed through a letter slot in Rynja’s north London home, which doubles as the office of Gibson Square…Police had the home under surveillance and broke down the door to put out the fire with the help of firefighters…Three men were arrested on suspicion “of the commission, preparation or instigation of acts of terrorism,” the police said.”
The Jewel of Medina has been flooding my Google reader over the past few months as it picked up new publishers after being dropped by Random House for fear of violent reactions. Random House was rightfully condemned for its actions by Salman Rushdie, who once relied on Random House to publish his Fatwa inspiring The Satanic Verses.
Despite the threat of violent reactions, Gibson Square will proceed to publish the novel, and Sherry Jones (the author) will go ahead with public appearances.
It is a sad state of affairs that some of the most courageous people in the world today are authors who just want to write what they want. Sherry Jones isn’t even trying to criticize Islam. But that doesn’t seem to matter, because fundamentalist Muslims are in need of a funny bone. The only bone they do have is a hard on for violent reactions in the name of Allah and his prophet Mohamed.
Afternote: I couldn’t find anywhere that the firebombs were planted in the name of Islam. However, this seems to be implied in the articles I read, and it’s very likely.
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Has anyone ever heard of a Muslim comedian poking fun at his own religion? I would really like to see it.
@Tyler
Google for “The Coexist? Comedy Tour”
Isn’t it “The Satanic Verses”, not “versus”?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vj1ixEyULi4&feature=related
Pretty funny stuff, Hahaha
Thx, corrected.
I hate this. I am a writer myself, hoping to get involved in the industy. The Jewel of Medina is about the life Aisha, Muhammad’s youngest and most “beloved” wife. The Satanic Verses also enables the reader to see the Islamic Prophet as a human being – quite shocking. Its what happens when people are put on pedestals, we forget they are mammals with genitalia, and prone to mistakes. The bearded, dogmatic, sexually-repressed, gits are retarded in their treatment – I just wish they would stop blowing ^%$ up, learn to relax and maybe see the world as not divided between Dar-ul-Harb and Dar-ul-Islam (the territory to be conquered and the territory of Islam).
This is why I am critical of Islam and am against it in every sphere of life. It has yet to engender anything helpful (as with other faiths).