Jewel of Medina's Publisher Firebombed

The London home of Martin Rynja, UK publisher of Sherry Jones' controversial Jewel of Medina, was firebombed on Saturday. Three men have been arrested.

The Literary Saloon calls the attack a self-fulfilling prohecy and says :

Sadly, of course, it's all the press attention rather than the book itself (which surely these morons hadn't read, seeing as it hasn't been published yet) that led to this outrageous act; sadly, it forces the entire literary community (and, one hopes, everyone else) to rally around what sounds like a pretty mediocre and forgettable piece of writing (at least if the limited excerpts available online are anything to judge by). But the principle is far, far more important, and while there are apparently some who believe this dead-for-over-a-thousand-years lady's virtue is worth defending at all costs, no one should buy that.

In a very interesting piece in the Times today, Kenan Malik argues that :

Rushdie's critics lost the battle but won the war.

Malik also quotes Sherry Jones (right) as saying :

If Random House had simply published my book I don't think there would have been any trouble. The real problem is not that Muslims are offended but that people think they will be. I was disgusted by the inflammatory language Random House used to describe the potential Muslim reaction.

I think she's absolutely right!