Iranian Newspapers Laud Salman Rushdie’s Attacker [with VIDEO]

Ayatollah Khomeini’s fatwa against the author bears fruit decades after issue

Salman Rushdie, the famous Indian-born British-American author, was stabbed Friday morning while being introduced as a speaker at the Chautauqua Institution, an iconic center for educational, cultural, religious, and recreational programs in Chautauqua, New York, 55 miles southwest of Buffalo. Rushdie was to speak about artistic freedom and the US as a haven for exiled writers.

Rushdie was airlifted to UPMC Hamot Surgery Center in Erie, Pennsylvania, where he has regained consciousness. He suffered severed nerves to an arm, damage to his liver, and will likely lose an eye.

The attacker, who stabbed Rushdie several times in the neck and torso, was identified as 24-year-old Hadi Matar, a California-born man who most recently resided in New Jersey. He was remanded to the Chautauqua County Jail in Mayville, New York, and pleaded not guilty after being charged on Saturday with attempted murder. Prosecutors say he stabbed Rushdie around 10 times.

Matar’s parents immigrated to the US from Yaroun, a village in southern Lebanon located on the border with Israel. The village is largely influenced by the Iranian-backed Hizbullah terrorist organization. The Shi’ite movement has declined to comment on the attack.

Law enforcement sources said Matar’s social media expressed support for the Iranian government and that he carried a fake driver’s license showing his family name as “Mughniyeh,” the name of three brothers prominent in Hizbullah who were killed in attacks widely attributed to the US and Israel.

I think Salman Rushdie is a symbol of free speech since people have tried to silence him for his writing on Islam. Free speech is about being able to say or write what you believe without fear of retribution.

Sam Peters, an eyewitness to the stabbing, told The Media Line the atmosphere at the event before the attack was calm as people sat quietly and listened to Rushdie being introduced.

“I think Salman Rushdie is a symbol of free speech since people have tried to silence him for his writing on Islam,” he said. “Free speech is about being able to say or write what you believe without fear of retribution.”

Peters added that freedom of speech has become more important than ever in his eyes.

“What shocked me was the vigor and the speed of the attack. The attacker jumped on stage, ran up behind Rushdie, and from where I was sitting it looked like he stabbed or hit Rushdie in the shoulder and neck, the face, and the stomach,” he said.

“Rushdie then fell out of his chair. The attacker then jumped on top of him. I saw blood on Rushdie’s hand, and then people from the audience ran up and tackled the attacker. The whole thing lasted probably about 20 seconds. It was incredibly violent,” Peters said.

Onlookers respond after Salman Rushdie is stabbed at the Chautauqua Institution in Chautauqua, New York, Aug. 12, 2022. (Courtesy Sam Peters)

Rushdie, 75, is the author of prize-winning novels. His fourth novel, The Satanic Verses, published in September 1988 and a Booker Prize finalist the same year, sparked controversy among Muslims, who accused the author of blasphemy and mocking Islam.

The following year, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, then the supreme leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran, issued a fatwa commanding Muslims to kill Rushdie and anyone who publishes or promotes the book. A bounty was offered to anyone who killed Rushdie, who lived in hiding under police protection in London for several years, under the pseudonym Joseph Anton. In March 1989, the UK and Iran severed diplomatic relations over the affair.

In 1989, 12 people were killed at an anti-Rushdie riot in Mumbai, India. Five Pakistanis died in Islamabad under similar circumstances.

The fatwa led to the murder of the book’s Japanese translator in 1991. The same year, the book’s Italian translator was stabbed. Two years later, the book’s Turkish translator was the target of an arson attack on a hotel. He escaped but 37 others died. A few months later, the book’s Norwegian publisher was shot three times.

After the issuance of the fatwa, sales of the book skyrocketed. Later, Rushdie moved to the US and lived openly and under his own name, becoming a US citizen in 2016.

US President Joe Biden said in a statement on Saturday, “Salman Rushdie − with his insight into humanity, with his unmatched sense for story, with his refusal to be intimidated or silenced − stands for essential, universal ideals. Truth. Courage. Resilience. The ability to share ideas without fear. These are the building blocks of any free and open society.”

The Iranian government has not issued an official reaction. However, the bounty offered by foundations in the Islamic Republic for killing Rushdie has stood at $3.3 million since 2012.

The hand of the man who tore the neck of God’s enemy must be kissed

Iranian newspapers praised the attack.

“A thousand bravos … to the brave and dutiful person who attacked the apostate and evil Salman Rushdie in New York. The hand of the man who tore the neck of God’s enemy must be kissed,” wrote Kayhan, a hard-line, Tehran-based newspaper whose editor-in-chief is appointed by the country’s supreme leader.

The Iranian opposition in exile condemned the attack and blamed it on Khomeini’s fatwa.

“Whether today’s assassination attempt was ordered directly by Tehran or not, it is almost certainly the result of 30 years of the regime’s incitement to violence against this celebrated author,” the Washington-based National Union for Democracy in Iran said.

Individual targets, especially those thought to have a clear connection to ideological positions, may represent a viable option in the mind of attackers whose operational and logistical capabilities don’t allow for larger-scale actions

Marco Arnaboldi is a security professional based in the Middle East and an expert on militant Islamism. He told The Media Line that the possibility of the stabbing inspiring additional attacks cannot be ruled out.

However, he added, “I believe the main takeaway here is that individual targets, especially those thought to have a clear connection to ideological positions, may represent a viable option in the mind of attackers whose operational and logistical capabilities don’t allow for larger-scale actions.”

He suggested that a reasonable level of security at open events with public figures needs to be considered a necessary requirement.

“Attendees might be asked to go through proper screening (such as metal detectors), and preferably controls are to be enforced on the working personnel as well. Ideally, a unit of medical and security staff should always be on site, for immediate emergency response,” Arnaboldi said.