you know that god said to abe him abraham, i give you the promised land of palestine on condition that you circumcise your boys to cut the foreskin of the boy. so that even in one of my books i said what's the relationship between the invasion of palestine and cutting the foreskin of the penis, you know? this didn't make logic to me. [laughter] you know? so that's part of my studies to the holy books. what i would like to say writers, if we writers do not speak up our mind and pay the price, who will do that? who will do it? >> that might be a good question with which to end. [laughter] [applause] thank you very much indeed. [applause] >> this lecture was part of the 2009 pen world voices festival of international literature. for more information visit pen.org. >> the booktv bus traveling the country visiting bookstores, libraries, festivals and authors. here are some of the people and places we've visited. >> we're here with aidan delgado, what does your title, the sutras of abu ghraib mean? >> for me it represents the lessons or teachings of abu ghraib. for me it's something not only