Leila Khaled: Icon of Palestinian Liberation by Sarah Irving is a compelling account of Khaled's turbulent life. At the book launch, Sarah will explore Leila Khaled's involvement with a radical element of the PLO, the rise of Hamas, the role of women in a largely male movement and Khaled's activism today.
Why does this nowhere say that Leila Khaled was a terrorist who attempted blow up a civillian airline on UK soil? Why is Blackwells glorifying terrorism!
ReplyDeleteWell, in the picture it says, I am not a terrorist, so I guess she is not a terrorist.
ReplyDeleteHi anonymous. The text was largely based on the book's biographical information, which is supplied via Nielsen to all bookshops in the UK.
ReplyDeleteLast time I am shopping at Blackwells. Who was responsible for this???
ReplyDeleteI'm glad Blackwell have cancelled this event. Whitewashing Leila Khaled's extremely violent, Islamist past would have been poor form and bad press to the bookstore.
ReplyDeleteI was going to stop buying my books at your store, but I've reconsidered.
I don't understand why it's not clear to everyone that the launch of a biography does not suggest partisanship with the subject of the book. I'm sure this would be obvious if it was a biography about Stalin - would anyone really suggest Blackwell's glorified dictatorship in that case?
ReplyDeleteI think we can all agree that the Israel-Palestine conflict is a hugely important current issue, and one of the roles of books and literary events like this is to open up discourse and debate. It's a great shame that a vocal minority have managed to stifle that.
Anonymous at 15:46:
ReplyDeleteIs it helpful to hang debates on accounts that glorify the actions of violent extremists on one or other side? How does that clarify the I/P conflict for anybody?
Also, how do you know that this event was cancelled (in your words 'stifled') by a vocal minority and not because somebody at Blackwell thought better of it?
Sarah Irving is a Guardian journalist, and I believe there was a lot of interest - and contention - surrounding this event. I think it's clear why Blackwell's cancelled.
DeleteI think it's dangerous to silence certain voices for being somehow invalid - even if that is your opinion. Any platform for a debate is a valuable opportunity. If you feel the book is biased or untruthful, then why not go to the launch and offer that opinion? Surely we should be striving for knowledge, understanding and debate (albeit maybe critical!) over silence, mystique and fear.
I have it on good authority that the reason the event was cancelled was because of the quantity of calls and emails being directed at the staff of the shop, not for any ideological or political reason.
ReplyDeleteThe above poster shows that the campaign against this event was conducted in precisely the wrong way. That Blackwell's disinvited this group after such a short time shows they weren't particularly involved in the politics Khalid represents.
ReplyDeleteA booking was made by promoters of a book they were stocking. The local store obliged. That's all.
The event likely will go ahead at another location. All that's happened is a bunch of grunts on the shop-floor have had a thoroughly rotten day.
~alec
Of course Blackwell's as a company don't have a political stance on the Israel-Palestine issue, but that's not to say they (including the grunts) are not committed to encouraging engagement with the issue.
DeleteI think the real question is not whether Khaled is right or wrong, whether she's a terrorist or a freedom fighter, but whether a bookshop should ever be forced into a censorial role. It is my conviction that a bookshop should never be harrassed into deeming a text unacceptable, and that this has happened has all sorts of implications for other texts and events.
There has been no restriction of freedom of speech here. Khalid and her promoters are free to gather at another site in Manchester (although, of course, Khalid will have to do so via Skype on account of being barred from entry to this country in accordance with anti-terrorism laws).
DeleteFreedom of speech is not a guarantee of venue.
~alec
I'm glad its been cancelled. Blackwells should not be glorifying terrorists. Deciding whether or not to allow a meeting to be held on your premises is not exercising "a censorial role".
ReplyDeleteTell you what, should they stop stocking biographies of Gadaffi, of Bin Laden, of George W Bush, of Salman Rushdie (Insert Any Controversial Figure Here)? Where were your complaints then? It's pathetic. This is not democracy, it's prejudice and close-mindedness.
ReplyDelete