Dubai has spent billions of dollars transforming its coasts into palm-tree shaped islands and building the world's tallest skyscraper in a bid to lure in Western dollars, but for Canadian author Margaret Atwood, the state's leaders, who decided to ban British authors Geraldine Bedell's novel The Gulf Between Us, which features a gay Middle Eastern character, don't have enough luxury condos in the world to lure her to the homophobic nation.
The AP writes that Atwood said:
"I was greatly looking forward to the Festival, and to the chance to meet readers there; but, as an International Vice President of PEN — an organization concerned with the censorship of writers — I cannot be part of the Festival this year."…
Festival director Isobel Abulhoul described Atwood's decision not to attend the Feb. 26 to March 1 festival as "regrettable."
The festival has not given a specific reason for why it banned Bedell's forthcoming book. But Abulhoul said decisions can be driven in many cases by "simple attendance imperatives."
"I would hope that anyone informed and interested in the differing cultures around the world would both understand and respect the path we tread in setting up the first festival of this nature in the Middle East," she said in a letter posted on the festival's Web site late Wednesday.
Dubai has struggled over the past year to merge its glitzy international appeal with its conservative Muslim values. The UAE has also come under intense pressure this week after it barred an Israeli women's tennis player from a lucrative Dubai tournament. On Thursday, it announced that an Israeli men's doubles player would be allowed entry into the country to play in next week's men's tournament."
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Good for Margaret, Dubai must be pissed, if there is one thing they hate it is bad press in the western world. Book readers = those with disposable income (often) and often funds to travel!!
Good for her!
But what is fucking appalling is that all the other writers are still planning to go!
Methinks that with this bad economy and the continuing bad press, Dubai will be swallowed by the desert once more in the next decade.
Yet another reason why I love Margaret Atwood.
High Five, Margaret!
Margaret Atwood is one of my favorite writers. I'm very pleased with the stand she's taking. Hope the publicity actually causes the book to find more readers in the Arab world.
Geraldine Bedell spoke about the ban in the Guardian. http://www.guardian.co.uk/book.....bedell-ban
"Can you have a literary festival and ban books because they feature gay characters? Is that what being part of the contemporary literary scene means? The organisers claim to be looking for an exchange of ideas – but not, apparently, about sex or faith. That doesn't leave literature an awful lot of scope.
The Gulf Between Us, now coming out in April, isn't an earnest book. It's a comedy, and a romantic comedy at that. But it does have a theme, and it's prejudice. All kinds of thoughtlessness crop up – not just homophobia, but Islamophobia, anti-Americanism, prejudice against women, against Arabs. The thread running through the novel is that the blinkered ideas that stop us understanding each other are often nonsensical.
So the ban really is ironic."
Dubai is bleeding money like you wouldn't believe right now cause their the only emirate in the UAE that doesn't have oil so almost all of their money comes from tourism and the finance sector however Dubai is the most liberal of the emirates in the UAE so its possible that they're banning the book so that the more staunchly conservative and wealthy emirates will consider loaning them money though Dubai of course disputes any signs of economic slow down but if the rumors of expats fleeing, to avoid jail terms for defaulting on debts is to be believed, then Dubai's rising star has reached the tipping point.
"Whether or not the raffling off of luxury cars and deep discounts at many hotels will be enough to change the negative outlook for the emirate has yet to be seen."
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/.....68044.html
the other day, when the news of the alleged honor killing in new york broke, there was heated discussion on this blog about muslim culture. i said then, and i'll say it again, these countries are theocracies: there is NO separation of church and state at all. and they openly and predictably discriminate against other people because they disagree with their religion or lifestyle.
whether it is a jewish female tennis player who is denied a visa to play in the dubai championships this week, or a book being banned because of a gay character, the leaders of these countries and, in fact, the overwhelmingly barbaric leaders of their religious groups, deplore westerners for not being more open to their culture and beliefs. yet, they discriminate against western ideals and people of other cultures/lifestyles at will.
THIS is what we are up against. in the interest of multiculturalism and pluralism the west is bending over backward to make way for a muslim-dominated world.
some may say that i'm overeacting. this is just a book festival. it's just ONE banned book. i say, quite vehemently, that those people are wrong and they need to wake up.
for more on the "spirited" debate, feel free to read the comment section from the article posted earlier this week about the honor killing.
and, again, PLEASE read "America Alone" by marc steyn. PLEASE!
Thank you, Miss Atwood.
Thanks to Ms. Atwood. How about a list of authors attending this event despite of the organizer's discrimination against gays?
In case you haven't read the press lately.
Laid-Off Foreigners Flee as Dubai Spirals Down
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02......html?_r=1
So who are the authors going to this event??
Allegedly Ms. Atwood has "re-confirmed" her support for the event. But will not be attending due to what they claim are misleading and incorrect press reports. See below. The authors attending are listed on the site.
They have also apparently added an event to explore the issue of censorship and cultural preconceptions about the acceptable limits of freedom of expression.
http://www.eaifl.com/
Emirates Airline International Festival of Literature
Update:
Saturday 21st February – Statement on Additional Event
Isobel Abulhoul, Festival Director, EAIFL
"I am delighted that Margaret Atwood has re-confirmed her support for the Emirates Airline International Festival of Literature (EAIFL) at which authors from more than 20 countries will be present. We are naturally disappointed that Ms Atwood can not now attend the Festival in person after the unfortunate chain of events over the past week initiated by a series of misleading and incomplete press reports.
One of the positive outcomes from this is that PEN International has accepted our invitation to stage an event in partnership at the Festival on Saturday 28th February. This event will explore the issue of censorship and cultural preconceptions about the acceptable limits of freedom of expression. All authors attending EAIFL, many of whom are PEN members, are being invited to participate. The event will be facilitated by Eugene Schoulgin, International Secretary of PEN International. I am personally in touch with Margaret Atwood and her office about how best she can be involved in this event."
Hi All
Well I think we should respect the law of the land. We can’t go against it either in Emirates or any other country, every person who are non Emiratis are here to earn so they should mind there business first instead of commenting about banning the author…
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