In 2003, just before the invasion of Iraq, Simon and Shuster published a
book titled “Forbidden Love: a harrowing true story of love and revenge
in Jordan”by Norma Khouri that told the story of an “honor killing”.
Norma, a Christian, had a friend named Dalia who was Muslim. Together
they opened a unisex hair salon where Dalia met a Muslim soldier who she
fell in love with. Like Romeo and Juliet, they met surreptitiously until
Dalia’s brother found out and reported it to their father, who plunged a
knife into her heart in order to preserve the honor of Islam. In a
period in which Islam was routinely being portrayed as inimical to the
interests of women, “Forbidden Love” would be interpreted by most
readers that George W. Bush’s crusade was justified.
There was only one problem. The book was a hoax. Dalia did not exist and
the author was a career criminal who was wanted by the FBI. As was the
case with other hoaxes, such as Clifford Irving’s book on Howard Hughes,
the publishers failed to do their due diligence. In 2003, there was a
hot market for Islamophobic books and Khouri’s fit the bill, even if it
was false.
full: http://louisproyect.wordpress.com/2009/03/29/forbidden-lie/
_______________________________________________
pen-l mailing list
[email protected]
https://lists.csuchico.edu/mailman/listinfo/pen-l
