For over three and a half decades, Salman Rushdie (76 years old) has faced an unparalleled threat to his life as a writer. In 1988, Ayatollah Rhoulla Khomeini, the then-leader of Iran, issued a fatwa (a religious decree) calling for Rushdie's execution based on Islamic Sharia law, because Rushdie's book, "The Satanic Verses," was perceived as insulting to Islam.
Since then, Rushdie has been unable to live freely, constantly facing the threat of being attacked by Islamist extremists anywhere in the world. In 2022, this threat materialized when a 24-year-old jihadist assailant stabbed him in the US, resulting in the loss of his right eye. He narrowly escaped death. Recently, in Berlin, he presented his new book "Knife," in which he processes the attempted murder.
Despite the ongoing death threats against him, the British-Indian author remains resolute in his determination not to allow his thinking, writing, and speech to be suppressed. In a recent interview, he gave to "rbb24," he commented on the Middle East conflict and the anti-Israeli protests at American and European universities.
"The fact is that any normal person can only be appalled by what is currently happening in Gaza, the extent of innocent deaths," he told the German outlet and added "But I think the protesters could at least mention Hamas too. It all started with them. And Hamas is a terrorist organization, isn't it strange that young progressive students support a fascist terrorist group? because that's what they're doing in a way."
"They call for a free Palestine. I was in favor of an independent Palestinian state for most of my life," Rushdie explained. "But if there was a Palestinian state, it would be led by Hamas and we would have a Taliban-like state. A satellite state of Iran. Is that what the progressive movements of the Western left want to create?"
He also noted that this behavior mainly stems from an "emotional reaction to the deaths in Gaza," rather than thinking deeply about the entire situation. "That's okay. But when it slips into antisemitism and sometimes even support for Hamas, then it becomes problematic."
