Anti-Islam Danish book withdrawn

A Danish publishing house has decided to withdraw a book offensive to Muslims after protests by Muslim leaders in the Scandinavian country. “After scrutinizing the complaints, Malling Beck Co. decided to take Os og Kristendom (Us and Christianity) 5 off bookstores,” the publishing house said in a statement obtained by IslamOnline.net. Malling Beck Director Lars Tindholdt had initially defended the authors before reconsidering his position after the mass-circulation daily Politiken ran a report on the contents of the book on Monday, November 20.

The book was listed on the curricula of third-ninth grades under the Christianity subject. It tackles Islam in a chapter entitled “terrorism.” The first pages of the chapter remind students of the grisly Beslan massacre in Russia, when armed Chechens took hundreds of students hostage. The book associates Muslims with terrorism and also outlines the terrorist 9/11 attacks with a profile of Al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden. The newspaper said the first thing Danish students learn about Islam and Muslims is all about horror and panic. “It sends the message that Muslims are the root cause of terrorism in this world,” it added.

IslamOnline, 21 November 2006