The Pakistani press is far more courageous than the Arab press: "But then, you ask, why did the Saudis have to organize a Riyadh international book fair when they and the rest of the world knew how squeamish they have always been about liberalism, indeed about the free workings of the mind? Saudi police have been on a hunt for books at the fair because they think these books are emblematic of blasphemy. And in that zeal to keep the kingdom pure and untainted by profanity and alien thoughts, they have cracked the whip on the late Mahmoud Darwish. The Palestinian writer was clearly a leading voice of liberalism and political forthrightness in the Middle East. The Saudi authorities, never unwilling to accept the presence of western soldiers on their 'holy' soil, are nevertheless clearly of the opinion that anyone who does not conform to the restrictive mindset propagated and practiced by the kingdom's ruling classes will not have a place in a book fair.
That is okay. Some countries will not change, at least not in our lifetime. But, in that case, why must these countries put up a show of literary enterprise through organizing book fairs that only end up being one more instance of religious fanaticism? Darwish is not the only one to be guillotined by the Saudis. The list stretches to the limits of the bizarre. The Iraqi poets Badr Shaker al-Sayyab and Abdul Wahab al-Bayati have also felt the cruel blows that only a dynastic rule can come up with. The Palestinian poet Muin Bseso is another victim, just as the former Arab Israeli lawmaker Azmi Bishara is. These are individuals, be they dead or alive, who pose a clear 'threat' to the security of the kingdom. Pitiable is the state which stands to disintegrate only because poets and novelists have had a lifetime passion for writing." (thanks Tanweer)
That is okay. Some countries will not change, at least not in our lifetime. But, in that case, why must these countries put up a show of literary enterprise through organizing book fairs that only end up being one more instance of religious fanaticism? Darwish is not the only one to be guillotined by the Saudis. The list stretches to the limits of the bizarre. The Iraqi poets Badr Shaker al-Sayyab and Abdul Wahab al-Bayati have also felt the cruel blows that only a dynastic rule can come up with. The Palestinian poet Muin Bseso is another victim, just as the former Arab Israeli lawmaker Azmi Bishara is. These are individuals, be they dead or alive, who pose a clear 'threat' to the security of the kingdom. Pitiable is the state which stands to disintegrate only because poets and novelists have had a lifetime passion for writing." (thanks Tanweer)
