In August 2007, Cambridge University Press (CUP) asked libraries around the world to pull one of its books from their shelves. Cornell University Library refused the request, and "Alms for Jihad: Charity and Terrorism in the Islamic World" is still available to all.

Appropriately, the dispute comes as Cornell Library is observing Banned Books Week, Sept. 29-Oct. 6.

CUP announced it would destroy all unsold copies of its 2006 title as the result of a successful libel suit brought against the publisher in England by Saudi billionaire banker Khalid bin Mahfouz. The book traces how traditional Muslim philanthropy is sometimes diverted to violent ends. Mahfouz complained it linked him to the funding of terrorism.

The suppression of "Alms for Jihad," written by American professor Robert O. Collins and former State Department official J. Millard Burr, marks Mahfouz's fourth successful libel suit against books questioning his ties to terrorists. His frequent litigation in British courts has earned him the sobriquet "libel tourist" in the press.

An Aug. 14 posting on the American Library Association's Office of Intellectual Freedom noted, "Unless there is an order from a U.S. court, the British settlement is unenforceable in the United States, and libraries are under no legal obligation to return or destroy the book. ... Given the intense interest in the book, and the desire of readers to learn about the controversy firsthand, we recommend that U.S. libraries keep the book available for their users."

It is difficult to order the book online, but you can still read it in Kroch Library. "We have to be steadfast in supporting the freedom to read," said Barbara Eden, director of Cornell Library's Department of Preservation and Collection Maintenance. "Books are continually being challenged, primarily in public libraries. This situation is unusual in that the request to remove the book is from an academic press."

As part of its observance of Banned Books Week, Olin Library is mounting a display of famous once-banned books, including those by Cornellians Kurt Vonnegut, Toni Morrison, Vladimir Nabokov and E.B. White. The library has also joined the Freedom to Read Foundation, which participates in intellectual freedom litigation.

Salman Rushdie, whose "The Satanic Verses" so angered Iran's Ayatollah Khomeini that he issued a fatwa calling for Rushdie's death, will speak on campus Oct. 18.