New in PJ Media:
Salman Rushdie, who is still on the hit list of the Islamic Republic of Iran, popped up again Wednesday to give an address via video to the National First Amendment Summit in Philadelphia. It was a fitting forum for the author of “The Satanic Verses,” since it was governments that uphold the First Amendment right of the freedom of speech that protected Rushdie all the decades since he first became the recipient of a death fatwa. Yet in an astonishing display of ingratitude and incomprehension, the celebrated novelist used his address to denounce Britain and the United States, the two countries to which he owes his very life.
Imagine if Rushdie had been living in any majority-Muslim country on Feb. 14, 1989, when the Ayatollah Khomeini first declared that he must be killed because of the supposed blasphemy against Islam contained in “The Satanic Verses.” There is little doubt that in that case, the bounty on his head would long ago have been collected, and he would now be a dim memory, forgotten aside from occasional literary retrospectives about prominent novelists of the late twentieth century.
Rushdie, however, was not living in Iran, but in Britain, where he immediately received protection from the government. He lived in hiding, at taxpayer expense, for many years. Rushdie was extended this protection because the British government considered it of cardinal importance to demonstrate that the United Kingdom would uphold the freedom of expression and defend those who practiced it.
The protection Rushdie received was so effective that he began to relax. The New York Times reported in Aug. 2022, when he was severely wounded as he was preparing to speak at a Chautauqua event, that “in recent years, Mr. Rushdie has enjoyed a more public life in New York City.” Ayad Akhtar of PEN America “said he never saw Mr. Rushdie bring along any kind of security detail, whether at a theater, out to dinner or at a public event.”
Clearly, Rushdie was underestimating the threat that he was facing, but that was due in large part to the fact that he had grown complacent after so many years of top-quality protection in both Britain and the United States. But on Wednesday, after pandering to the leftist crowd by denouncing Trump as an authoritarian and completely ignoring the Biden regime’s repeated demonstration of disdain for the freedom of expression, Rushdie savaged both of the countries that had kept him alive long enough to address the National First Amendment Summit.
There is more. Read the rest here.
Eva says
Typical moslem.
We all should have let iran have him.
࿗Infidel࿘ says
Precisely! Actually, he’s ex-muslim, but not all ex-muslims are saints: some are downright leftist frauds. Now I’m regretting that the Azeri assassin didn’t get him
Treereen says
I always think there is something very suspect in a culture that has single-word names for complex concepts of how to lie to, deceive and attack all those not like them.
Jayell1 says
Is there really such a thing as an ‘ex-muslim’? I’ve been getting the impression that either islam is a kind of virus that stays in the system for life once infected, or/and there’s something in the DNA of certain groups that promotes a predisposition to produce it, and therefore never be rid of it. Either that or islam is some kind of sanctified original sin to which certain kinds of human of no resistance. In short, once a muslim, always a muslim, unfortunately.
somehistory says
compare and contrast. Would he say that women in the U.S. have it better or worse than the women…and little girls….have life in pakistan, afghanistan, or uran?
How about someone in authority, take away his ‘freedom’ to be here. Order him to pack his bags and hit the air.
crown says
I always knew there was something fishy about Salman. ?
But seriously… GFY Rushdie. You’re dead to me now.
Wathier says
Interesting
nicholas tesdorf says
Ironically, Salman Rushdie is really only a poor and even sub-standard writer who would have remained rather unknown except for his controversial book ‘Satanic Verses’. His fame from that has gone to his head, making him forget that it was Western Civilisation that was protecting him from the Fatwa for all these years. He allowed his guard to drop and he suffered the consequences. Now he sees fit to bite the hand that protected him all these years.
Alex Lund says
Send him back.
But best would be:
Send them ALL back! And then close the border.
PRCS says
Not to be mean, but that ain’t f***ing going to happen.
Game plan B?
OLD GUY says
Typical muslim/islamic follower, I’ll be your friend as long as it benefits me.