To the editor:

I would like to add a postscript to Kenneth D. Mackenzie’s Sept. 16 letter (“Terrorism, Islam”) to the Public Forum.

Remember when a group of caricatures in the Danish Jyllands Posten newspaper in 2005 set off riots that killed 139 people and injured 823? Well, according to recent articles, the publication of a book on Aisha, entitled “The Jewel of Medina” has been canceled. If you remember, Aisha was the 6-year-old child bride of a certain 7th century prophet.

The book has been found to be “too controversial” for Random House to publish after they bought the rights to the novel and sent out proofs. They had offered the author, Sherry Jones, $100,000 to write the book, and she spent five years learning Arabic and researching the child’s life. It was slated to be a “Book of the Month” selection when published last month.

Why won’t we be able to read this book? Random House feared a “violent reaction” and has pulled its publication.

Carrol Mills,
Lawrence