Cambridge University Press - the propagator of hatred?

A winner of the 2009 Australian Awards for Excellence in Educational Publishing has been withdrawn from sale after a complaint made by the NSW Jewish Board of Deputies. Cambridge University Press won the 2009 Secondary Single title for their first edition of Cambridge Studies of Religion by Christopher Hartney and Jonathan Noble. But after complaints received about content of the Judaism chapter contained in the book they've had to pull all stock until problematic passages have been resolved.

CUP's website cites that the chapter on Judaism is currently under review, the results of which will be included in all reprinted copies, if they re-issue the product. CUP will be using their academic resources and an independent expert in Judaism for the review - it is highly likely that once the appropriate changes have been made, the book will be available again.  

The website of the NSW Jewish Board of Deputies no longer has any information about the issue but did describe the book as having anti-Semitic slurs in a Sydney Herald Sun article on Tuesday. The lack of information on their website is probably due to the matter being swiftly and responsibly responded to by CUP's managing director, Mark O'Neill. CUP's marketing department has also been quick to follow up by contacted all stakeholders and informing them of the problems the text has. In fact, J-Wire, the Jewish online news from Australia and New Zealand, has applauded the actions of the publisher and their recognition of the text's unsuitability as an HSC learning resource.

I've read the material (chapter 12 - Judaism: the basic facts) that has sparked the controversy and it is easy to pinpoint the areas of text which are troublesome. To me, it is quite clear that there is no deliberate religious vilification at play, rather some very ambiguous sentence structure that should have been cleared up by the proofreading stage and some obvious editorial oversights which should not have been overlooked.

The Australian Jewish News' reaction on Monday sparked a few extremist and highly inflammatory comments - comparisons to Hitler’s Mein Kampf and concerns that the book was the product of some kind of Muslim conspiracy! (Perhaps that sentence shouldn't have ended in an exclamation mark, comments like these are highly disturbing and echo the stereotypical and racial vilification that the book has been accused of inciting.)

My Jewish boyfriend is a level-headed sort. He's read the Judaism chapter and sees that some of the facts need to be modified and some ambiguity cleared up. But he hasn't summoned an angry mob to appear outside CUP's doors or snuck into their offices to pin prawns underneath the desk areas of my CUP friends. Not yet anyway.... 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/freecat/ / CC BY 2.0

It seems like the crew at CUP have the matter calmly in hand and it is good to see that pillars of the Jewish community are working with the publishing house to resolve the situation amicably. Not much more to say really.