The following article was printed in the Dallas newspaper on 11/17. I have
given the site and a few of the opening paragraphs.
If what the author says is true, I find it very surprising that
our government won't allow materials from certain countries to come into the
US. I always thought we (Americans) had the right to read whatever we
wanted, but according to this article, books from Iran, Cuba and other
countries are forbidden.
I am so surprised, I'm not sure what to say.....
http://www.dallasnews.com/s/dws/dn/opinion/viewpoints/stories/111704dnediebadi.50c9f.html
Confronting U.S. censorship ... from Iran
08:43 PM CST on Tuesday, November 16, 2004
When I received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2003, Iranians and Muslims around
the world hoped that the prevailing and unfair image of Muslims as
terrorists would be discarded. We believed the prize would encourage a
forward-looking understanding of Islam. We hoped that our belief in an
interpretation of Islam that is in harmony with democracy, equality,
religious freedom and freedom of speech would reach a wider audience,
particularly in the West.
For many years now, I have wanted to write my memoir - a book that would
help correct Western stereotypes of Islam, especially the image of Muslim
women as docile, forlorn creatures. Sixty-three percent of Iran's university
students and 43 percent of its salaried workers are women.
I have wanted to tell the story of how women in Islamic countries, even one
run by a theocratic regime as in Iran, can be active politically and
professionally. It is my impression, based on the conversations I have had
during my travels in the United States and Europe, that such a book would be
a welcome addition to the debate about Islam and the West.
So I was surprised and angered when I learned that regulations in the United
States make it nearly impossible for me to write a book for Americans.
Despite federal laws that say that American trade embargoes may not restrict
the free flow of information, the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign
Assets Control continues to regulate the import of books from Iran, Cuba and
other countries.
In order to skirt the laws protecting the flow of information, the
government prohibits publishing "materials not fully created and in
existence." Therefore, I could publish my memoir in the United States, but
it would be illegal for an American literary agent, publisher, editor or
translator to help me.
Mary Ludwick, Librarian K-5 Elementary
Owen Elementary, The Colony, Texas (near Dallas)
ludwickm@lisd.net (school address)
ludwick@swbell.net (home address)
"The people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is
easy....
All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked and denounce
the peacemakers for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger.
It works the same in any country."
-- Nazi Reich Marshall Hermann Goering at the Nuremberg War Trials
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