Ajhid Marawoui writes in my guestbook: "You should remove that stupid 1912 article on female circumcision. It brings shame and embarassement (sic) on Muslims." In reply, I would like to point out (a) that it is not an article, but an excerpt from a Western medical textbook, and (b) that it has absolutely nothing to do with Islam or Muslims. I have included it below simply for the benefit of those researching the subject of female genital mutilation, which was practised in Western society in the late 19th century and (evidently) well into the 20th century.

The comment left in my guestbook by "Ahmed" � "Shame on Al-Jazeera, the source of terrorism and hate" � carries no weight, in the absence of any evidence to support the allegation. What Al-Jazeera has done, as Silvia Gaiani points out in Al-Jazeera and the Information Warfare, is "[amplify] the Arabic perspective and [show] the West that the global marketplace of news and information is no longer dominated by the United States". Naturally, some people don't like that. (See The US War on Journalists.)