Dibs

Three books have been removed from the Baillieu Library at Australia’s Melbourne University for promoting jihad and martyrdom, according to the Herald Sun. The country’s new anti-terror sedition laws drove the decision to remove two of the books, Defence of the Muslim Lands and Join the Caravan, which “were the subject of an investigation by the Federal Government’s Classification Review Board in July which imposed a ban on their sale or importation into Australia,” reports the paper. “The books were investigated after being found for sale in Islamic shops in Brunswick and Sydney. The federal censor found Defence of the Muslim Lands — which carries an endorsement by Osama bin Laden — incites ‘terrorism acts, including the plan, action and execution of martyrdom operations.’ The review board also found that Join the Caravan was a ‘real and genuine call’ to incite Muslims to carry out terrorist acts against ‘disbelievers.’” Library officials went one step further and pulled a third book, The Lofty Mountain, off their shelves. Written by Sheik Abdullah Azzam, an alleged inspiration to bin Laden, this third book contains similar subject matter to the first two. According to the Herald Sun, “Associate professor Richard Pennell, the university’s lecturer in Middle Eastern history, is understood to have bought the three books over the internet more than a year ago to help teach an honours course.” Pennell is now upset at the books’ removal: “‘Students and academics need to be able to access research materials,’ he said.” These are strange times. There is research, and there’s … um, “research.”