According to a contact of mine at one of the top English schools, their librarian last week received an official letter from the Ministry stating that Harry Potter books are now banned in Kuwait and all copies should be removed from the library. Whats interesting is that previously Harry Potter books were the only magic books that were actually allowed but it looks like that’s no longer the case.
Update: According to a friend who works at the library of a different English school, they weren’t requested to remove Harry Potter from their shelves.
60 replies on “Harry Potter Now Banned in Kuwait”
Because magic in a fictional universe = Sorcery that should be banned to prevent the country from going into total collapse.
gg
This reminds of the time way back when they tried to ban pokeman when it was very popular, as a muslim i find these dumb decisions offensive to my religion, Islam isn’t weak that it should feel threatened by fucking magic wands and pokeballs.
+1
Somewhere inside the ministry, there is a naked man standing. Evil laughter can be heard, but it is not the naked man laughing. It is his dick. Lord Voldemort has returned.
Avada Kedavra!
Uae banned it from day Zero
It isn’t banned in the UAE. I just purchased the box set there 2 weeks ago
Don’t know what is more scary. Banning Fantasy books because magic is fiction or banning Fantasy books because you believe magic is real. I think some expats were kicked off for sorcery charges. It is like we live in medieval times. We just need a burning witches event.
+1 !
That’s like imposing late night curfew on your children…after they got married and moved into their own home.
And they want to build a national library? Are they banning English books all together in that library? The fact that you have to leave a country to buy a book or a decent magazine states the status of that society. The irony is that I don’t even feel that Kuwait is a conservative muslim society, I feel the UAE is more conservative, hence, where I have to fly to buy a magazine or book most of the time. Another problem is that the intelligent people in this society are way too silent which makes all them look dumb.
well imagine some day if we could fly on brooms and etc… then this book could actually be true and.. OMG!
We’d solve the road traffic issue! I love the idea!
Really? the way cars are driven in Kuwait? can you imagine the shit with magic brooms?!
loloooooooo LMAO….
:”D
Hilarious!
So are animal farm and the adventures of tom sawyer …….
Tom Sawyer is banned? Why?
There is a character called “Nigger Jim”.
Idiocy is not confined to just Kuwait:
https://www.aclu.org/news/harry-potter-series-tops-list-banned-books-texas-according-aclu-report
yeah i knew texas was full of idiots anyway. Why do you think people from deserts keep blowing up people from other deserts?
well good thing I lost interest in Harry Potter long time ago.
But still, why would they banned them now?
Booo!
I feel safer now with the ban.
They believe sorcery is real because the Quran says so.
In Saudi Arabia they behead “sorcerers”.
In Kuwait, MPs tried on many occasions to introduce the death penalty for sorcerers.
Banned it after what? The entire movie series was showcased in Kuwait and everyone got a book at that time. I really wonder who censors these books :/ its so annoying
Really? the way cars are driven in Kuwait? can you imagine the shit with magic brooms?!
The light poles would be clean.
I did some google search and found some interesting results. If this is true then this is a disaster. Here is what I found in the article:
“Moving on to 2002, The Philosopher’s Stone was burned in New Mexico as “a masterpiece of satanic deception;” and challenged for ENCOURAGING “lying, cheating, stealing, and witchcraft.” The photo to the left depicts just such an event.
In 2003, its removal was sought by a teacher’s prayer group at a Russell Springs, Kentucky high school for dealing with ghosts, cults, and witchcraft. It was also challenged in Moscow, Russia, by a Slavic cultural organization that alleged the stories about magic and wizards could entice students into Satanism.
Then, in 2004, a federal judge overturned restricted access to the books after parents of a Cedarville, Arkansas fourth-grader filed a federal lawsuit challenging the school’s restricted-access policy, seeking to have it thrown out completely. The book was originally challenged because it characterized authority as “stupid” and portrayed “good witches and good magic.” It was also challenged, but retained, in the New Haven, Connecticut schools despite claims the series “makes witchcraft and wizardry alluring to children.”
Then, in 2007, the Gwinnett County, Georgia, school board rejected a parent’s pleas to take Harry Potter books out of the school libraries. The Georgia Board of Education ruled on December 14, 2006, that the parent had failed to prove her contention that the series “promotes the Wiccan religion, and therefore that the book’s availability in public schools does not constitute advocacy of a religion.” On May 29, 2007, Superior Court judge Ronnie Batchelor upheld the Georgia Board of Education’s decision. County school board members have said the books are good tools to encourage children to read and to spark creativity and imagination.
Still, that same year, they were removed from the St. Joseph School in Wakefield, Massachusetts, because the themes of witchcraft and sorcery were “inappropriate for a Catholic school.” (I guess they never actually read the Bible, then).
On December, 15, 2010, I wrote an article about a Salvation Army post in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, refusing to take donations of Harry Potter items because they “promote black magic and the occult.””
Source: https://bannedbooks.world.edu/2011/07/10/banned-books-awareness-harry-potter/
“MY book of Mythology and Fictional Fairy Tales will not be contradicted by another book of Mythology and Fictional Fairy Tales!” LOLOL
Why don’t think ban education as a whole and that way they won’t have to worry about us reading books, surfing the internet and traveling abroad?! Seriously, this sounds the most logical thing to do. By banning education they will free up billions of dinars from the state budget which is also good for economy because that way instead of having money going to government bodies concerned with education and moral enforcement… the government will be able to pay hefty salaries for Kuwaitis for just staying at home. Those Kuwaitis will only care about buying homes, buying cars, buying watches and all other materialistic things.
Citizens happy, they have no ambitions and are financially satisfied.
Private sector happy, they are basically getting most of the oil revenue.
Government happy, because citizens and private sector are happy.
they*
I can see it my head.. abaya’s flying true the air on broomsticks… looking at their mobiles… Brilliant
Next on the list…. Twilight Saga.
Well Twilight Saga should be banned anyway for being so lame
I really don’t see a reason why children should be exposed to such dangerous books. When I was in school and college, I was exposed to plenty of interesting books which include:
1) The Call of The Wild
2) The Red Badge of Courage
3) Treasure Islands (this was my favorite book)
4) To Kill A Mocking Bird
5) Babylon Revisited (not really a book but I enjoyed reading that long story.)
There were some books which I did not enjoy reading, such as The Tale of Two Cities but these books are much better than Harry Potter books……
يعني لازم هاري بوتر؟ مافي قصة بالدنية غيره؟؟؟
Dangerous book…………………..
Exhibit A. How wonderful.
Dangerous? Whats so dangerous aboutt Harry Potter?
Dangerous in the sense that (based on my online research about Harry Potter’s books themselves) it “PROMOTES” negative ideas to the readers by promoting lying, cheating, stealing, disobeying authority, promoting witchcraft, etc.) https://www.infoplease.com/spot/banned-harry.html
Now I have to admit that I have never read any of Harry Potter’s books, so I have no idea how precisely the author was promoting these things. However, imagine a child falling in love with the book and becoming obsessed with one of the characters (whether good or bad) and trying to imitate him. What do you think his personality will be like if the book is promoting negative ideas to the readers? What if he believes that magic can turn out to be a good thing in life?
As I previously mentioned I have read many books when I was in school/college and some of these books included violence and breaking the law (such as the pirates in Treasure Islands and how Buck in The Call of The Wild book had to fight with the other dogs to survive after being kidnapped from his spoiled house), but I don’t recall ever the authors PROMOTING such negative ideas to the readers so once again, I have no idea what’s precisely written in Harry Potter’s books or how the author is promoting such ideas. However, the fact remains that if the author was indeed promoting negative ideas, then this definitely should become a concern towards society.
You really should read the book before coming to such conclusions and forming opinions like these.
Promoting witchcraft? Now I’ve heard it all!
I’m curious to know, did Treasure Island make you want to chop your arm off as a mid? You know, in the pursuit of a piratical lifestyle and all that?
Did reading Harper Lee make you challenge established societal norms? Atticus does precisely that when he defended a black man, so you could argue that it promotes deviant behaviour as well. Who knows, we might have an epidemic of black guys raping white folk because the book inspired them.
Please, I have no issues with you expressing your views, but when you infringe on my liberty to read what I wish to, you are crossing a line.
At least some of the stories I was FORCED to read were true stories such as:
1) The Red Badge of Courage
2) To Kill a Mocking Bird
3) Babylon Revisited
By reading these books/stories I learned something new from the past (I learned about history.) Now let me ask you this. What will the children ever GAIN (or benefit) from reading a fictional story?
What good does it bring to make a child read a Harry Potter story? If you can’t answer that then I see no reason why Harry Potter books should not be banned…..
According to your logic, we should also ban any form of fictional entertainment. Why stop at books?
Entertainment? Is that not a good enough reason for you?
I think promoting stupidity is worse than a children’s fantasy book.
If you think Harry Potter is dangerous, you seriously need to revaluate your life.
well obviously you didn’t learn much – since it’s Treasure ISLAND not ISLANDS. It’s a sign of a failing education when you can’t remember the classics you’ve already studied
Why were the movies not banned though? Talk about double standards
*facepalm*
Does that mean they’ll stop selling it in bookstores?
What bookstores?
Kuwait has bookstores, don’t you notice?
Harry Potter is a series anyone can read, it’s not dense like some classics are and the fact that people ignore how influential Harry Potter had on children’s literacy are comepletly ignorant and foolish.
خدرو الشعب خدروه
Why should Harry Potter be banned????
Just cause it talks about characters that they are magical and does magic???
Of course , I agree that the characters uses Charms, spells, and magic. After all its fiction, something imaginary that won’t happen in reality.
I love reading books.. Even love reading Harry Potter. It doesn’t mean that I’m getting influence from these Harry Potter books to be a witch or to practice witchcraft.!
Wow! They can ban these things so well. But what about the other books that talks or relates to deep dirty things? What about banning those movies that are purely awful.. At least the kids won’t deviate into the wrong.
Those books are the hard work of those writers who faced a bad time in their past. Respect them, its their hard earnings… I’m not blaming anyone…
it always depends on our mindset how we take the things. If we believe that those things are real, its us who takes that decision.. And lets just hope for a better world 🙂 .
Why am I not surprised? Ban and deport are two of the most heard words in Q8.
Isn’t Harry Potter about fighting evil, friendship, compassion and heroism?!
I don’t see what’s so bad about it!
Im gonna say this in the most female high pitch voice ever:
OH-EM-GEE !!!!!