The writer was attacked with a knife during a performance on Friday and suffered life-threatening injuries.
(Photo: Reuters)
new York There were no metal detectors and no police officers to be seen when Salman Rushdie entered the main stage at the Chautauqua Institution in northwest New York on Friday. Founded in 1874 by Methodists, the institution serves as a retreat for writers and artists. In the amphitheater, Rushdie is to give a talk about the United States as a safe haven for exiled writers.
While he was still preparing, 24-year-old Hadi M. from New Jersey, of Lebanese origin, stormed onto the stage and stabbed the Indian-British author around ten times in the head and stomach. Shortly thereafter, some viewers manage to overpower him, as reported by the “New York Times”.
Hadi M. was brought before the magistrate on Saturday and pleaded not guilty. In social networks, he was noticed, among other things, as a supporter of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards. Rushdie, who has been threatened with death since 1989 by a fatwa issued by then-Iranian revolutionary leader Ayatollah Khomeini, was responsive on Sunday and no longer on a ventilator, his agent Andrew Wylie said.
Since the crime, there has been renewed discussion, especially in the USA, about the safety of authors in the face of religious and extremist fanaticism.
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On the one hand, this applies specifically to institutions that offer persecuted authors a stage. Chautauqua President Michael Hill dismissed the criticism that Rushdie’s safety was not adequately ensured: “The only way to guarantee that nothing ever happens in Chautauqua is to cordon off the compound and make it a police state.”
Iranian media praise the assassination attempt
On the other hand, Washington registered exactly how official Iran reacted to the assassination attempt. The front page of the pro-government newspaper Keyhan, whose editor-in-chief will be appointed by Iran’s leader Ali Khamenei, reported on Sunday that Rushdie had received “divine revenge”. Ex-President Donald Trump and ex-Secretary of State Mike Pompeo are “next”.
The newspaper “Chorasan” carried the headline: “Satan on the way to hell”. The government in Tehran has not yet commented. Israeli Prime Minister Jair Lapid blamed Iran for the knife attack. The incident was “the result of decades of incitement led by the extremist regime in Tehran”.
US President Joe Biden said Rushdie “stands for essential, universal ideals”. A Japanese translator of Rushdie’s The Satanic Verses, after which the fatwa was published, was murdered in 1991.
British “Harry Potter” author Joanne K. Rowling was herself threatened after the attack and called the police. She had expressed her horror at the attempted murder. One user replied, “Don’t worry, you’re next.”
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