Amazon gives lame excuse for removing 'offensive' dystopian novel about mass migration ruining Europe



France was among the Western nations whose elites determined it worthwhile in the second half of the 20th century to open the floodgates to mass migration from the third world, especially from former colonies.

Award-winning French novelist and travel writer Jean Raspail foresaw the threat this demographic replacement posed to his nation and to Western civilization more broadly and dared — following the collapse of the Fourth Republic and amid the flight of Vietnamese "boat people" to Europe — to explore this threat in his controversial 1973 dystopian novel, "The Camp of the Saints."

'A ban by Amazon is a virtual ban of book sales and distribution.'

Both then and now, Raspail's novel serves, on the one hand, to illuminate the folly of multiculturalist aspirations and allowing unassimilable hordes of culturally antipathetic foreigners into one's nation and, on the other hand, to enrage those who are still pretending that unchecked mass migration is a laudable policy and that saying otherwise is "racist."

Evidently, the book is still ruffling feathers. This time around, the novel has apparently prompted a negative reaction from the world's largest company, Amazon.

The novel — characterized by the Southern Poverty Law Center as a "racist fantasy about an invasion of France and the white Western world by a fleet of starving, dark-skinned refugees" — was first translated into English in 1975 and has been published several times since in the United States. Despite growing in relevance and popularity, supply couldn't meet demand for the book in recent years, especially as the right-holders had reportedly refused to reprint it. A small publishing house stepped up, however, and managed to secure the rights.

RELATED: They'll Build a Fire with Your Lovely Oak Door

The late French writer Jean Raspail; Micheline Pelletier/Sygma/Getty Images

Vauban Books, an imprint of Redoubt Press, published a new edition in September, generating significant waves and sales. After months of sales of the title on its platform, Amazon U.S. removed the paperback listing for the new edition on Friday.

Vauban Books editor in chief Ethan Rundell said in a statement on Sunday that his publishing house was "informed by Amazon that the book is in violation of the company's 'offensive content' policy. Amazon has supplied no information as to which portions of the book are offensive nor to whom."

After noting that Vauban had sold roughly 20,000 paperback copies of the book since first listing it for presale on Amazon last summer and that it nets an average rating of 4.8 stars, Rundell said, "It may be no coincidence that the listing was removed one day after New York Magazine published a critical article on Vice President Vance that referenced the book. This echoes a 2019 campaign that targeted Stephen Miller, leading the novel's previous publisher to drop the title from its catalogue."

Rundell noted that regardless of whether Amazon chooses to distribute the title, Vauban Books "remains committed to keeping the novel in print and accessible worldwide."

Shortly after making the initial statement, Vauban Books announced that Amazon U.S. had also removed the hardcover edition of the novel.

There was a great deal of backlash over the book's removal.

Nathan Pinkoski, a senior fellow at the Center for Renewing America who penned the introduction for the new edition, called the reported removal of the paperback option "an egregious act of censorship."

"Amazon is committed to the burning of your fine oak doors," wrote BlazeTV host Auron MacIntyre, referencing the following line from the novel, "Your universe has no meaning to them. [The invading migrants] will not try to understand. They will be tired, they will be cold, they will make a fire with your beautiful oak door."

Former Idaho Solicitor General Theo Wold wrote, "Amazon just censored a book first published in 1973 that depicts the destruction of the west through third-world mass migration. I'm sure all the people who whine about 'book bans' when a school board prevents 6-year-olds from reading about gay sex will be just as upset."

Jason Kenney, Canada's former Conservative minister of immigration and former Alberta premier, tweeted, "This is outrageous. Amazon handles up to 80% of book distribution in North America. A ban by Amazon is a virtual ban of book sales and distribution. I have never read The Camp of the Saints (although I am now moved to do so,) so offer no judgement about its merits. But there is no denying that it is a widely read novel with a significant cultural impact on France, and around the world."

It appears the backlash prompted Amazon to rethink things.

As of Monday morning, the paperback version of the novel is available again on Amazon.

When asked for comment about the novel's removal, Amazon told Blaze News that an "error" was responsible for the paperback listing of the book's temporary removal and that other formats were not affected.

An Amazon spokesperson told Blaze News, "We’ve resolved an error that briefly affected the availability of a paperback listing of The Camp of the Saints, and the title is now restored."

Vauban Books stated after its title reappeared on the platform, "Amazon has still not offered an explanation as to why the novel was taken down. We have received NO explanation, much less apology, for the deletion of the paperback Friday and hardcover this morning."

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

Even in Iowa’s Bible Belt, porn for kids is now the sacred cow



A library board member in the reddest part of one of the reddest states in the union recently learned what “progress through cooperation” really means: Sit down, shut up, and stop objecting to porn for kids.

Teri Hubbard, a Sioux Center, Iowa, library board member, was the only vote to remove the book “Icebreaker” — which contains a six-page, graphic sex scene — from the shelves. Her reward? A gentle nudge from City Manager Scott Wynja suggesting she resign.

If these people can’t be trusted to protect children from graphic sex scenes, they can’t be trusted with anything else.

“As our motto with the city states, ‘progress through cooperation,’ I would ask that you work in a spirit of cooperation for the best interest of all,” Wynja wrote, after the board voted 8-1 to keep the book available to everyone, including minors. “If you feel you are unable to serve in that capacity ... we can consider going another direction.”

So let’s take a moment to appreciate what “progress,” “cooperation,” and “best interest of all” apparently sound like in Sioux Center. They sound like a passage that opens with: “Don’t be gentle. F**k me like you hate me.”

Wholesome stuff, truly. Norman Rockwell could never.

In fact, I’m shocked Wynja doesn’t put that line on a welcome sign, right under “Population: Proudly Confused.” And why not? I’m sure the eight board members — Tara Berkenpas, Angeles Bahena, Andrew Geleynse, Logan Kaskie, Brian Van Der Vliet, Lynn Van Beek, Lisa Dykstra, and Ruth Clark — would approve. They voted to keep the book, so the public deserves to know their names.

Clark even made the motion to retain it. And here’s the plot twist: She’s a Christian schoolteacher! Apparently, the gospel is no match for the mystical powers of library director Becky Bilby, who seems to think the First Amendment collapses into dust if 13-year-olds don’t get unlimited access to graphic sex scenes.

When Hubbard asked whether the concerned parents could attend the library board meeting — as they had requested — Bilby shut it down immediately.

“Becky made it clear this was a very bad idea,” Hubbard wrote to Wynja, “and that we do not want the public at board meetings because that would lead to media at board meetings, and that would be disastrous.”

Yes, you read that correctly. Public board meetings should avoid the public. The threat of transparency is far more frightening than distributing smut to minors.

Naturally, the usual cast of local intellectuals showed up to defend the cause. Kim Van Es, former chair of the Sioux County Democrats, solemnly warned that “excluding certain authors or certain views leads to authoritarianism, as it did in Nazi Germany.” She then offered a hypothetical about a majority-Muslim town imposing beliefs on Christians — because when you’re out of arguments, you go straight to Hitler and a thought experiment.

But she’s a Democrat. This is exactly the level of analysis we have come to expect.

RELATED:Australia BANS key social media apps for kids under 16 — and platforms must enforce the rule

Photo Illustration by Algi Febri Sugita/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

Then Northwestern College theology professor Jason Lief stepped up in “hold my beer” fashion.

“I’m afraid the Bible’s going to be pulled off the shelf,” he said. “I mean, if we go by kind of lewd, sexual stuff. I don’t know if you’ve read the Bible. The Judah-Tamar story ...”

This is the profound insight he brought “on behalf of the Bible.”

Has Lief ever read Romans 12:9: “Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good”? Doesn’t seem like it.

For those in Sioux Center and at Northwestern College who have read it, here’s a modest proposal: Demand everyone on the board except Hubbard resign immediately. Then fire Wynja, Bilby, and Lief. They all had the easiest job in America — don’t give kids access to pornography — and failed spectacularly.

If they can’t be trusted to protect children from graphic sex scenes, they can’t be trusted with anything else.

Naval Academy Removes Hundreds Of Books That Push DEI

Nearly 400 books containing diversity, equity and inclusion content

Don’t Let The Camo Hat Distract You From Tim Walz’s Radical Record

[rebelmouse-proxy-image https://thefederalist.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Tim_Walz_—_Virginia_MN_2021-1200x675.jpg crop_info="%7B%22image%22%3A%20%22https%3A//thefederalist.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Tim_Walz_%5Cu2014_Virginia_MN_2021-1200x675.jpg%22%7D" expand=1]Tim Walz’s record as governor of Minnesota is every bit as bad as that of the Biden-Harris administration, if not worse.

Wall Street Journal Embraces ‘Book Ban’ Hoax

The Wall Street Journal hopped on the Democrat conspiracy train by pushing the baseless claim that conservatives are 'banning' books.

How To Save Your Local Library From Cultural Marxists

After discovering pornographic material in the children's section, a small group of parents took on the entire city council and won.

‘60 Minutes’ Wages Propaganda War On Moms For Liberty With ‘Book Ban’ Lies

[rebelmouse-proxy-image https://thefederalist.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Screenshot-2024-03-06-at-4.02.35 PM-1200x675.png crop_info="%7B%22image%22%3A%20%22https%3A//thefederalist.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Screenshot-2024-03-06-at-4.02.35%5Cu202fPM-1200x675.png%22%7D" expand=1]CBS News aired a version of an interview with the founders of Moms for Liberty that was shamelessly edited to push a leftist narrative.

Drag Queen-Backed ‘Rainbow Book Bus’ Begins National Tour Giving Explicit Books To Kids

'Sharing LGBTQ+ literature with those who need it most! 🌈📚🚌'