Qatar blacklists Snow White over ‘sexual innuendo’

Snow White is anything but, according to a parent in Qatar, whose complaints about supposedly blue illustrations prompted a school to remove the classic from its bookshelves.

The father of a pupil at the Spanish SEK International School in Doha castigated what he saw as “sexual innuendo” and vulgar phrases and illustrations in the 16-page early readers’ version published by Penguin Kids, the Doha News reported. The book’s cover features Snow White in the embrace of her prince.

Removal of the book was ordered by Qatar’s Supreme Education Council (SEC).

School principal Vivian Arif rushed to apologize for the “unintended situation” and said the school had immediately taken the offending title from the library. The school had procedures for making sure that “the laws, traditions and ethics of the Qatari community” are followed, she said.

The director of the SEC’s private schools department said the school had been reminded of its obligation to follow SEC rules, which stipulate that school material must not conflict with Islamic values or Qatari norms. SEC regulations specify which books and texts are allowed in schools.

Doha News noted that films in Qatar are regularly censored to erase scenes containing intimacy, while pictures of bikini-clad women are blacked out before they go on sale.

Perfumes carrying the Playboy logo and a Victoria’s Secret line of scents called VS Fantasies: Strawberries and Champagne were pulled from stores for offending Qatari sensibilities, the paper said.