Talking about censorship in general, the Moroccon author Tahar Ben Jelloun who writes in French, criticized attempts to suppress writers.
"What is bothering censorship is the representation of reality rather than reality," Jelloun said during a discussion on "Maps of Love and Hate: Nationalism and Arab Literature".
"There are times when fiction seems more dangerous than reality. Salman Rushdie was condemned for 'Satanic Verses' by those who had not read it," he added.
Pointing out that the book was fiction, Jelloun commented that "people tremble when you are allowed to laugh. The enemy of religion is the laugh."
Co-panelist Egyptian writer Ahdaf Soueif asked people to understand the role of political opportunism in such attacks on authors.
"Ayatollah Khomeini realized that criticizing the 'Satanic Verses' would serve as a rallying cause at that time. The ones who were incensed had never even read it," she said.
Expanding on the idea, Soueif added, "As responsible citizens, we need to understand what political agenda is playing in opposing works of art."
The organiser of famed Palestine Festival of Literature said, "Arab literature was not written in prison. While more freedom is always desired, the authors are free already."
Besides freedom of speech and expression, themes relating to development of Arab literature and the recent turmoil in that part of the world were also discussed.
"The western world looks at the region either in terms of religion or politics. It is unaware of the tradition of a place that is the cradle of storytelling. In fact, the Arab world is at its most animating in itsart and literature," said Iranian American author Reza Aslan.
Both British Palestinian writer Selma Dabbagh and Jelloun argued against tendency of expecting Arab writers to focus on only certain issues. "It is not as though being of Arab blood is going to be motivation for writing," Dabbagh said.
Jelloun added, "We are allowed to write on everything, not just exile and immigration. Why should we write only about Arab problems?"
Discussing overarching themes in literature, Soueif said, "These themes are about what people are experiencing. For instance from writing about colonialism to social issues of the day during the 80s to talking about women's liberation
