Amazing Women of the Middle East is an 112-page illustrated children’s book. It profiles 25 famous women, including historical figures such as Cleopatra and Nefertiti, and also modern-day heroines like human rights lawyer Amal Clooney.
What it doesn’t include, however, is the State of Israel.
The book’s colourful map of the Middle East removed any mention of the Jewish homeland, instead labelling the entire country as Palestine. The author is a Lebanese-born writer and translator who lives in England, and the is publisher is a Palestinian activist whose parents had a home in Jerusalem until 1948. Neither replied to The CJN’s requests for comment by our podcast deadline.
After one Jewish family noticed the omission, which sparked outrage across social media, Canada’s largest bookseller, Indigo, pulled the book from its shelves. Daniel Koren, the person who spotted the book and contacted Indigo directly, joins to discuss his impression and feelings about the issue.
What we talked about:
- Read Indigo’s content policy at help.indigo.ca
- Watch the HMCS Winnipeg return at facebook.com/RoyalCanadianNavy
- Read “Indigo pulls pro-Hitler and Holocaust-denial books from virtual shelf” at thecjn.ca
Credits
The CJN Daily is written and hosted by Ellin Bessner (@ebessner on Twitter). Victoria Redden is the producer. Michael Fraiman is the executive producer. Our theme music is by Dov Beck-Levine. Our title sponsor is Metropia. We’re a member of The CJN Podcast Network; find more great Jewish podcasts at thecjn.ca.