Online Activists Protest Egyptian Book Ban
| August 15, 2012 |
Egypt’s new post-revolutionary government, headed by President Mohamed Morsi, has banned Egyptian bookstores from importing the book "A History of the Modern Middle East", by William L Cleveland and Martin Bunton.
The reason the book was banned is unclear, since the administration released no official statement justifying its decree. It is likely that the Muslim Brotherhood opposed passages in the text for ideological reasons. The book is in its 12th edition, however, raising the question of why the offending material was not previously discovered.
Many Egyptian activists took to Twitter to condemn this censorship:
The reason the book was banned is unclear, since the administration released no official statement justifying its decree. It is likely that the Muslim Brotherhood opposed passages in the text for ideological reasons. The book is in its 12th edition, however, raising the question of why the offending material was not previously discovered.
Many Egyptian activists took to Twitter to condemn this censorship:
“
" mohamed rashad(@rashad11111) August 13, 2012@eladlmedhat: نحن في طريق إيران-تم منع كتاب تاريخ الشرق الأوسط الحديث لوليم كليفلاند والمقرر فيAUC من الدخول الي مصر..والقادم أخطر”
“We are on the path to be Iran. The book ‘The History of the Modern Middle East,’ written by William Cleveland, was banned. The book is used at the American University of Cairo. Whatever comes next is risky.”
بمناسبة منع الكتب. انا اشتريت كتاب "محمد" لماكسيم روبينسون، الي ممنوع في مصر، من اسطنبول تركيا مارس اللي فات.
" The Big Pharaoh (@TheBigPharaoh) August 13, 2012
“Speaking about banning books, last year I bought the book ‘Muhammad’ by Maxime Rodinson, which is forbidden in Egypt, from Istanbul, Turkey.”
اول نتيجة لقرار منع كتاب تاريخ الشرق الاوسط ان فيه دلوقتي اكيد 50 واحد قاعدين بيشوفوا الكتاب فيه ايه وهيقولوه على الانترنت.
#نتيجة_عكسية " Bassem Sabry (@Bassem_Sabry) August 13, 2012
“The first result of banning the book ‘The History of the Middle East’ is that now definitely more than 50 people are reading the book on the internet. #opposite_effect”
هشتري كتاب تاريخ الشرق الاوسط الجديد اللي صادره الاخوان الافكار ليها اجنحه محدش يقدر يمنعها توصل للناس بكره ميبقاش غير كتب مدح الاخوان
" مهندسه ديكور وبس (@lucia_klda) August 13, 2012
“I am going to buy the book ‘The History of the Modern Middle East’ after the Muslim Brotherhood banned it. Ideas have wings and no one can prevent them from reaching the people. Soon we won’t find any books except those that speak nicely of the Muslim Brotherhood."
