Salman Rushdie is off ventilator and able to talk, agent says
Author seriously injured in New York stabbing remains in hospital, as Joe Biden praises his courage and suspect denies attempted murder
In NZ, when we want to destroy art, we sign a petition and allow Patrick Gower to be the Chief Censor, overseas however, they still prefer blood.
The beauty of Salmon Rushdie’s ‘The Satanic Verses‘ asks deep cultural, religious and spiritual questions about Islam.
That he is attacked almost 34 years later after its publication by some Islamic fundamentalist extremist is so fucking ugly.
Any society who makes enemies of writers and artists and performers is sick and not worthy of the name society.
Salmon Rushdie has always been a personal hero of mine, watching him stabbed by religious ignorance is so terribly angering.
But that’s what the religious fuckwits want isn’t it? They want us to ignore the beauty of the art and allow the anger of violence against the artist to eclipse the beauty and the truth they reveal.
True, passionate lovers of art must never allow the violence of extremists to invoke the same blindness to truth and beauty they themselves are blighted by.
I’m going out this week to buy another copy of The Satanic Verses to spite those fuckers.
Solidarity Comrade Rushdie.
Solidarity!
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Would our “power to truth” mavens, our state thought police, even allow The Satanic Verses to be released here today? Yet the Iranian Islamist inspired would be assassins with their Kill Rushdie posters were given free reign, support even, while the great man was forced into hiding. After the Charlie Hebdo folk were gunned down the call went out “Je Suis Charlie”. I am Charlie. How quickly we forget, weren’t we even listening at all.
“The Islamist vengeance that Rushdie has suffered shows us where you end up when you abandon free speech. When giving offence becomes a moral crime. When you say that speech is violence. You end up with violence and unreason and terror. So to all those who have looked at their shoelaces as this poison has built up, it is time to pick a side. Those who believe in freedom and humanity need to speak up for Salman Rushdie – and all the other heretics. And do not even think of saying ‘but…’. The attack on Rushdie is an attack on us all. Let’s make freedom of speech, the cause of his life, the cause of our time.”
Tom Slater, Spiked on line.
100%!
David George ‘In your opinion’
How can you disagree with that, Stephen? Do you think it’s ok to kill people you disagree with?
There should be no tolerance of religious fundamentalists of any flavour who would force the hatred & violence of their respective religions on others. Such organizations should be shut down, their assets stripped & any proponents of violence who aren’t citizens, should be deported.
Violence borne of blind adherence to dogma, be it religious or secular, is still violence and should always be condemned. But to be damning this man for the religious zealotry that drove him to attack Salman Rushdie, while turning a blind eye to the religious zealotry that drives Israel’s killing of Palestinians is Hypocrisy. To sneer at Islam while swallowing the dogma that Israel’s state religion justifies its systematic slaughter of Palestinians is a thousand times more absurd, and makes blind zealots of us all.
Despite your best efforts Malcolm trying to pin this on Israel is a bit of a stretch.
Where does ‘Malcolm Evans’ blame ‘Apratheid Israel’?
Ok fair point – not ‘blame’ Israel but ‘link’ this to Israel then . .
he’s not pinning it on Israel! He’s making a valid comparison to illustrate the vile hypocrisy we countenance to appease religious violence.
James, it is well known that Malcolm would try and blame Israel for a fly-blown sheep in Whangamomona if he thought he could make the connection. Worst of all – some people will actually believe him. As for “blind adherence to dogma” this could equally be applied to the pro-Palestine/anti-Israel set – where the Palestinians can do no wrong and the Israelis can do no good – forever and ever.
Of course Jason you are correct.
It’s amusing really.
What a stretch.
Indeed- Rushdie was closely connected to the genocide of the Palestinians. He even received a major award from the so-called ‘American Jewish Committee’, one of the worst anti-Palestinian organizations, for his betrayal of the Palestinian people.
“systematic slaughter of Palestinians”
I’ve no idea where you got that from – or how you can ignore the thousands of rockets regularly fired into Israel from people bent on their destruction. Tellingly, people allied, via Iran, with Rushdie’s attacker.
And your mate Jeffrey Epstein was an innocent man persecuted by antisemites, I’m sure.
It’s not Palestine, it’s Israel. Its the land occupied by the Jewish people continuously at least a 1000 years before islam. The Jewish settlers arriving prior to the creation of the modern state, helped the indigenous Jewish people rid themselves of the colonial oppression of the Arabs.
terry of course the fact that both sides are ‘semitic’ makes the ‘who was there’ argument nonsense and your left with which bunch of arab shepherds got religion first.
MK you have now destroyed any credibility you may have had.
Please!!
How many people have been killed by Muslims since 1948? How many people have been killed by Israel since 1948?
100% Martyn
I enjoyed reading Salman Rushdie’s books, but they are a mission. I believe the authors biggest mistake in satanic verses was to ridicule a certain Ayatollah and to expose him as a vain man. The part where the verses in question are mentioned, and the cause of the so called offence is misunderstood at best by his critics. At worst it is being used disingenuously.
“They are us” art? Come on…
never dug rusdies work magic realism isn’t my thing but you have to admire the way he stood up to bigotry…if only our elected leaders had the same intestinal fortitude.
as a sidebar and I may be wrong on this but wasn’t the fatwa revoked by khomenis successor?
never been revoked.
The Iranian government, in an attempt to gain diplomatic favour, claimed they no longer supported Ruhdie’s murder. However Khomeini’s successor, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has repeatedly stated that the fatwa will not—indeed, cannot—be lifted, even if Rushdie “repents and becomes the most pious Muslim on Earth.” Just three years ago, the Supreme Leader’s Twitter account was briefly locked after it posted the following tweet: [copied from Twitter]
“Imam Khomeini’s verdict regarding Salman Rushdie is based on divine verses and just like divine verses it is solid and irrevocable.”
shona and dave ta, obviously a brain fart on my part
The moment you declare a set of ideas to be immune from criticism, satire, derision, or contempt, freedom of thought becomes impossible.
No irony from the chuckleheads who brought us their oh so clever phrase, “FreeDUMB”.
Touché Tom
or the dickheads we brought us ‘libtard’ tom, funny how the right are the ones who cry and sob like snowflakes innit?
Before having yet another knee-jerk-hits-glass-jaw-and-neurons-fire you need to take a deep breath…
… and jettison the hatch.
Khomeini. He shoots! And he scores!
What’s that saying, it goes like something about playing with fire?
Did he deserve it. Of course not. But he did know what he was getting into eh?
If he didn’t, he should have and or his mates should have told him of the dangers and possible risk(s) involved.
Freedom of speech does have consequences eh?
Freedom of speech does have consequences eh?
Murder! The ultimate heckler’s veto.
You think this is all pretty funny eh? Nobody should be killed for writing a book
A book that those who are offended have never read including the Ayatollah?
No, by his own admission Rushdie did not know what he was getting into. Hence the apology and appeasement to the outraged.
Not a lot of understanding of irony and subtlety here in response to Tane.
I have the book Salman wrote about his time under threat. He would have thought it was all over now – is it 30 years on? But remember how murderous feelings can rise up in our so-civilised breasts – the Christchurch mosque murderer got aroused by the bloody Crusades back in the 11th? century.
Funny how commenters can go off about the writing of a few sentences, in a way they think unsatisfactory. A few degrees hotter and they might be declaring it hate speech or something.
Good quotes:
“Nothing complements a fast mind better than a slow tongue. And nothing aggravates a slow mind better than a fast tongue.”
― Mokokoma Mokhonoana
“Some people avoid thinking deeply in public, only because they are afraid of coming across as suicidal.”
― Mokokoma Mokhonoana
https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/tag/thinkers
And would we still be rebuked if Tane’s comments were verisimilar irony Greywarbler? Which, given western appeasement since 1988, they could very well be.
Sadly in woke NZ they would probably ban The Satanic Verses as being hate speech (aka causing alarm/offence to a religious group) rather than help spreed freedom of speech and expression.
Not the only person in the arts being attacked, now even comedians are attacked with knives on stage if they have offended some group.
The onus needs to go back onto people controlling their violent behaviours as being the hate crime, NOT government trying to stop freedom of expression.
The mixed up message is causing more public attacks on people as the woke are enabling those to take offence and then plan violent attacks on people they don’t know due to some book/joke/belief they don’t agree with.
All the best to Salman Rushdie after this attempt on his life.
Salman Rushdie had started to believe his ‘life was normal again
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2022/aug/13/salman-rushdie-had-started-to-believe-his-life-was-normal-again
“Asked what made him afraid now, Rushdie said: “In the past I would have said religious fanaticism. I no longer say that. The biggest danger facing us right now is that we lose our democracy. Since the supreme court abortion verdict I have been seriously concerned that the US won’t manage that. That the problems are irreparable and the country will break apart. Today’s greatest danger facing us is this kind of cryptofascism that we see in America and elsewhere.”
Making an absolute mockery of the argument that this is about freedom of speech, New Zealand media systematically refuses to publish any news reports on world affairs that run counter to that decreed acceptable by the US State Department. So that, for instance, we get endless tear-jerking coverage of civilian casualties in Ukraine, but absolutely no mention of the 15 children killed last week in Gaza by the Israelis.
What the fuck does that have to do with anything Malcolm? Why do you keep deflecting on this issue?
Because Freda, the media coverage we get directly influences our perception of events, in this instance highlighting an incident of Islamist terrorism, while totally ignoring the systematic Zionist terrorism which in the same week killed 15 children in Gaza. We are being played for fools to serve US imperialism, and I think people have a right to know that truth.
At least 12 of the kids were killed by misfired jihadist rockets, as were a full 20% of the total casualties. Sovereign armies don’t do terrorism. Islamic jihadist fascists do. Israel is the world’s BIGGEST victim of terrorism.
This ‘Zionist terrorism” you speak of is fundamentally different from Islamic terrorism. The Israelis are fighting a war against the Palestinians. Both sides commit atrocities. (I’m not defending either side as I have no interest in that long, bitter conflict.)
Islamic terrorism, on the other hand, consists of religious zealots who murder people for writing books and publishing cartoons which they disagree with.
If you think both of those things are morally equivalent then you have no morals
God I hate the comment system on this site. I don’t even know if my response was logged. I’ll reply later if it doesn’t show up
This “Zionist terrorism” you speak of is fundamentally different from Islamic Terrorism. The Israelis are fighting a war with the Palestinians. Both sides commit atrocities.
The Islamic terrorists murder people who write books and publish cartoons which offend them.
If you think these are morally equivalent then you have no morals
the religion of peace – I support your rights to your beliefs but don’t expect me to stop laughing at you and telling you you’re delusional. eff religion and anyone who believes in it. akin to a mental illness IMO.
big tick biilid
Love those quotes from old commie, Scott Hamilton. In the wake of them I have to wonder if he feels any gratitude for Great Britain protecting his backside all these years. Seems like a bit of an Imperial policy to me. Iran would agree.
Perhaps it’s better to throw Rushdie to the four winds and let him find his own protection than asking Great Britain to further sully and besmirch itself. Give him to France, Russia or perhaps Nigeria; they have no problems with their imperial pasts.
Cripes mate, don’t the usual suspects flood out when there’s a good holy war on the cards.
It’s worth noting that Rushdie, due to his zionist financial backers, openly supported an attack on Iraq as a “A war of liberation”. A war that killed more than a million Iraqis and immiserated and displaced millions more, and led to the establishment of ISIS.
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