Friday, November 2, 2007

[News from the Muslim world] Iranian Newspaper defends book-cafes against Authority crackdown

"[...] It is important to mention that book-cafes, which are popular in the country, are among the most traditional establishments supported by the councils and bookshops across the world. If book-cafes are popular in the developed countries, do we not deserve to follow their lead? It seems that the cultural officials have taken a wrong route dealing with the artists and scholars. [...]

"We want to ask to the following question to Culture officials: 'What kind of threat does a group of scholars who meet in a book shop to have a scholarly chat or to write and drink a cup of tea, pose to our society? [...]”

Source: E'temad-e Melli (Iran), October 23, 2007