Censorship as a Form of Terrorism

Cambridge University Press was sued for libel in Britain by Sheikh Khalid Bin Mahfouz, who the American authors of Alms for Jihad: Charity and Terrorism in the Islamic World, Robert Collins and J. Millard Burr, described as associated with businesses and charities that financed acts of terrorism in the 1990s. Rather than try the case, Cambridge settled, agreeing to apologize to Mahfouz, destroy all remaining copies, pay damages and court costs, and ask approximately 200 libraries to return their copies. The total number printed was 1,500. Mahfouz has successfully sued or settled with different authors four times now.

You can read about it here:

Libel Suit Leads to Destruction of Books
Cambridge University Press’ apology

Erin O’Connor, writing at Critical Mass, has a good summary of the issue as well as information on other suits filed by Mahfouz.

In some ways, I fear tactics like this (censorship, intimidation) that slowly chip away at our basic freedoms (that I too often take for granted) more than I do those employed by terrorists.

Update: Please read Jeffrey Breinholt’s summary at Counterterrorism Blog of libel cases filed by Islamic organizations. (h/t: Stanley Kurtz at The Corner)