Salman Rushdie Attacked Onstage. A 34 Year Death Threat.

[canyonwalker]

Author Salman Rushdie was attacked on a stage last Friday. He was about to give a lecture at the Chautauqua Institution in western New York, before an audience of several hundred people in an outdoor amphitheater, when an assailant ran across the stage and stabbed him in multiple places. At least one other person was injured while trying to help Rushdie before the attacker was subdued. Rushdie, 75, is still in the hospital with a damaged liver, severed nerves in an arm, and likely loss of one eye.

For those of us who've been around awhile, mention of Salman Rushdie turns our thoughts back to 1988. Yes, 34 years ago. That's when this author, who honestly wouldn't have been known outside literary circles except for this, became worldwide news when Ayatollah Khomenei of Iran issued a fatwa calling for Rushdie's assassination over the publication of his book, The Satanic Verses, which the Ayatollah branded offensive to Islam.

Lest you think, "Well, that was a long time ago, it's not relevant today," or, "Religious leaders say intemperate things all the time," consider these Five Things:

1. The Ayatollah is Iran supreme religious leader and dictator. Yes, Iran is actually a totalitarian theocracy despite the presence of "elections" for jobs like president.


2. Subsequent leaders of Iran have reiterated the fatwa.


3. There's a significant bounty for Rushdie's assassination— and Iran's leaders have increased it over time. This isn't just some pronouncement that a religious nutjob issued, it's a) the official policy of Iran (see above) and b) backed by a now $3,000,000 reward.


4. This was not some little-known event from 1988. It received weeks of international news coverage and was one of the biggest news stories of the year.


5. Rushdie, the publishing world, and Western governments took the death threat seriously enough that Rushdie went into hiding for years and traveled with additional security for years after that.

So, was the attacker, Hadi Matar, a 24 year old man from New Jersey, acting under this now 34 year old assassination order from a leader half a world away? I held off on writing about this for a few days in hopes that more information about the attack would be uncovered. The fact is we can't say with certainty yet— at least with the certainty required by criminal law in the US. The attacker has pled not-guilty to charges of attempted second-degree murder and second-degree assault. Authorities continue to investigate.