Salman Rushdie

Writer who spent years in hiding after Iranian fatwa was to speak about freedom of expression.

Salman Rushdie, the author of "The Satanic Verses," was brutally attacked just as he was about to speak to an audience at the Chautauqua Institution.

Rushdie was taken by helicopter to a hospital but his condition was not yet known, say New York State Police.

A man rushed to the stage at the Chautauqua Institution in western New York state and attacked Rushdie as he was being introduced, an eye witness said. The Iranian government later backed away from the order and Rushdie has lived relatively openly in recent years. Rushdie was at the Chautauqua Institution to take part in a discussion about the United States serving as asylum for writers and artists in exile and “as a home for freedom of creative expression,” according to the institution’s website.

CHAUTAUQUA, NY: Salman Rushdie, the author whose writing led to death threats from Iran in the 1980s, was attacked and apparently stabbed in the neck Friday ...

The Chautauqua Institution, about 55 miles southwest of Buffalo in a rural corner of New York, has served for more than a century as a place for reflection and spiritual guidance. In 2012, Rushdie published a memoir, "Joseph Anton," about the fatwa. State police said Rushdie was apparently stabbed in the neck and was flown to a hospital. The moderator at the event was also attacked and suffered a minor head injury, police said. The death threats and bounty led Rushdie to go into hiding under a British government protection program, which included a round-the-clock armed guard. An Associated Press reporter witnessed a man confront Rushdie on stage at the Chautauqua Institution and punch or stab him 10 to 15 times as he was being introduced.

Just as the mind recoils at the sight of a single book burned, the spilled blood of an author inspires revulsion.

In some ways, he never stopped fighting the debate that first ignited around the fatwa, with some defending him unreservedly and others arguing that perhaps his perceived insult of Islam was a mistake and a needless provocation on his part. Rushdie himself has become something of an absolutist on the freedom of expression. Rushdie has not been targeted by his own state, of course—after living in hiding for years in London, he has lived openly in New York for the past two decades. The Yiddish poets and writers whom the dictator ordered shot in the basement of the Lubyanka prison. That it was here that Rushdie was struck repeatedly with a knife is a terrible irony. He was about to speak to an audience at the Chautauqua Institution, a cottage community that was founded in the late 19th century as a place for religious learning, and that has since become an oasis of education and discussion every summer.

Salman Rushdie, the author whose writing led to death threats from Iran in the 1980s, was attacked and apparently stabbed in the neck Friday by a man who ...

In 2012, Rushdie published a memoir, “Joseph Anton,” about the fatwa. The death threats and bounty led Rushdie to go into hiding under a British government protection program, including a round-the-clock armed guard. An Associated Press reporter witnessed a man confront Rushdie on stage at the Chautauqua Institution and begin punching or stabbing him 10 to 15 times as he was being introduced. He said the attack lasted about 20 seconds. Amid gasps, spectators were ushered out of the outdoor amphitheater. Salman Rushdie, the author whose writing led to death threats from Iran in the 1980s, was attacked and apparently stabbed in the neck Friday by a man who rushed the stage as he was about to give a lecture in western New York.

Salman Rushdie, the Indian-born novelist who spent years in hiding after Iran urged Muslims to kill him because of his writing, was stabbed in the neck and ...

“I felt like we needed to have more protection there because Salman Rushdie is not a usual writer,” said Anour Rahmani, an Algerian writer and human rights activist who was in the audience. Rushdie published a memoir in 2012 about his cloistered, secretive life under the fatwa called “Joseph Anton,” the pseudonym he used while in British police protection. Fars called Rushdie an apostate who “insulted the prophet” in its report on Friday’s attack. The Iranian government said in 1998 it would no longer back the fatwa, and Rushdie has lived relatively openly in recent years. A doctor in the audience helped tend to Rushdie while emergency services arrived, police said. “The news is not good,” Andrew Wylie, his book agent, wrote in an email.

From The New Yorker's archive: the novelist, who was stabbed on Friday as he was about to deliver a lecture in western New York, recalls the religious death ...

“He realized,” Rushdie writes, “in that footstep-haunted space, that he no longer understood his life, or what it might become.” On Friday morning, the author Salman Rushdie was stabbed in the neck as he stood onstage at the Chautauqua Institution, in western New York, where he was scheduled to give a lecture. An assassination attempt against Rushdie failed later that year, and the writer spent periods in the years that followed in hiding, or under heightened security when he made public appearances.

US police confirm Rushdie suffered an 'apparent stab wound' to the neck but say his condition is not yet known.

The title came from the pseudonym Rushdie had used while in hiding. In 2012, a semi-official Iranian religious foundation raised the reward for Rushdie from $2.8m to $3.3m. The UK knighted him in 2007, which sparked protests in several countries in the Muslim world. An Associated Press news agency reporter witnessed a man storm the stage at the Chautauqua Institution and begin punching or stabbing Rushdie as he was being introduced. “The interviewer suffered a minor head injury. “Nobody knew what to do.

NEW YORK — Salman Rushdie, the Indian-born novelist who spent years in hiding after Iran urged Muslims to kill him because of his writing, was stabbed in.

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SALMAN Rushdie, whose novel “The Satanic Verses” drew death threats from Iran's leader in the 1980s, was stabbed in the neck and abdomen Friday by a man who ...

In 2012, Rushdie published a memoir, “Joseph Anton,” about the fatwa. “Now we’re called to take on fear and the worst of all human traits: hate.” (AP) The death threats and bounty led Rushdie to go into hiding under a British government protection program, which included a round-the-clock armed guard. Rushdie’s 1988 novel was viewed as blasphemous by many Muslims, who saw a character as an insult to the Prophet Muhammad, among other objections. In 1993, the book’s Norwegian publisher was shot three times and survived. He and Rushdie were due to discuss the United States as a refuge for writers and other artists in exile. But after the attack, some longtime visitors to the center questioned why there wasn’t tighter security for the event, given the decades of threats against Rushdie and a bounty on his head offering more than $3 million for anyone who kills him. But it became evident in a few seconds” that it wasn’t, she said. An Associated Press reporter witnessed the attacker confront Rushdie on stage at the Chautauqua Institution and punch or stab him 10 to 15 times as he was being introduced. He said the attack lasted about 20 seconds. Event moderator Henry Reese, 73, a co-founder of an organization that offers residencies to writers facing persecution, was also attacked. Amid gasps, spectators were ushered out of the outdoor amphitheater.

Salman Rushdie, the author whose writing led to death threats from Iran in the 1980s, was attacked Friday as he was about to give a lecture in western New ...

That year, Rushdie published a memoir, “Joseph Anton,” about the fatwa. In 2012, a semi-official Iranian religious foundation raised the bounty for Rushdie from $2.8 million to $3.3 million. An Associated Press reporter witnessed a man storm the stage at the Chautauqua Institution and begin punching or stabbing Rushdie as he was being introduced.

Authors and notable figures condemn the brutal attack on Rushdie, calling it 'appalling,' 'senseless,' and 'utterly shocking'

My thoughts are with Sir Salman and his family.” Thoughts with @SalmanRushdie and his loved ones.” – Rappler.com Our thoughts are with him and his family.” “This attack is shocking and appalling. And it happened at a site that is a place that’s very familiar to me, a very tranquil, rural community known as Chautauqua, Chautauqua institution, where the most preeminent speakers and thought leaders and politicians and justices and everyone come together to have the free expression of thought. “PEN International utterly condemns the brutal attack on Salman Rushdie. Salman is an esteemed and celebrated author and beloved member of the PEN community, who has been facing threats for his work for years. “This appalling attack on my dear friend Salman represents an assault on freedom of thought and speech. Right now my thoughts are with his loved ones. Our thoughts and passions now lie with our dauntless Salman, wishing him a full and speedy recovery.” We are all hoping he is okay.” “Rushdie has paid a high price. Salman Rushdie has been targeted for his words for decades but has never flinched nor faltered.

The Satanic Verses author was stabbed in the neck and abdomen at an event in New York state.

"Salman has been an inspirational defender of persecuted writers and journalists across the world. There has been no reaction from the Iranian government to Mr Rushdie's stabbing. Mr Reese is the co-founder of a non-profit organisation that provides sanctuary to writers exiled under threat of persecution. A doctor in the audience gave Mr Rushdie first aid. A year after the book's release, Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khomeini called for Mr Rushdie's execution. He was taken to a hospital in Erie, Pennsylvania, by helicopter.

As Rushdie prepared to lead a discussion about artistic freedom, hundreds of attendees watched in horror as a New Jersey man rushed on stage to brutally ...

Police said there was no immediate indication of a motive for the attack that left Rushdie severely injured and on a ventilator after surgery. But in recent years, he had lived more freely and insisted he should not be constantly surveilled and protected by security guards. Members of the audience said there were no bag checks, metal detectors, or other security to enter the event in the gated community.

WASHINGTON/ANKARA – The suspect, who attacked author Salman Rushdie on stage in New York state, was taken into custody, New York State Police said on Friday ...

Rushdie is the author of several novels that won widespread acclaim, including Midnight's Children, which won the Booker Prize in 1981. The author suffered an apparent stab wound to the neck and was transported to a hospital, NY State Police said in a statement, adding that his "condition is not yet known." Footage also posted to social media showed bystanders rushing to the stage in the immediate wake of the incident.

Author Rushdie is on ventilator and could lose an eye following a stabbing attack at a literary event in New York state.

- “A man jumped up on the stage from I don’t know where and started what looked like beating him on the chest, repeated fist strokes into his chest and neck,” said Bradley Fisher, who was in the audience. - Iran’s government has since distanced itself from the decree, but anti-Rushdie sentiment has lingered. Nobody knew how to react. “Nobody knew what to do. - Police confirmed Rushdie was stabbed “at least once in the neck, and at least once in the abdomen” on Friday after an assailant rushed to the stage and lunged at the 75-year-old writer just as he was being introduced to the audience. Author Salman Rushdie, who was stabbed on Friday at a literary event in New York state, is on a ventilator and unable to speak.

Praise for attack on writer targeted by decades-old fatwa comes as some fear incident will leave Iran more isolated.

“As I have already said, this is a bullet for which there is a target. “The decision made about Salman Rushdie is still valid,” Khamenei said in 1989. Staffers there declined to immediately comment, referring questions to an official not in the office. Early on Saturday, Iranian state media made a point of mentioning a man identified as being killed while trying to carry out the fatwa. “This is the fate for anybody who insults sanctities.” “The news is not good.

'Satanic Verses' author may lose one eye as a result of Friday's assault, his agent says.

“Salman has been an inspirational defender of persecuted writers and journalists across the world. As a result of the stabbing, “the nerves in his arm were severed; and his liver was … damaged,” Wylie said. On Saturday French President Emmanuel Macron hailed Rushdie as a person who had “embodied freedom and the fight against obscurantism,” adding the author’s “fight is our fight; it is universal.”

Salman Rushdie, whose novel The Satanic Verses drew death threats from Iran's leader in the 1980s, was stabbed in the neck and abdomen Friday by a man who ...

The Chautauqua Institution, about 55 miles (89 kilometers) southwest of Buffalo in a rural corner of New York, has served for more than a century as a place for reflection and spiritual guidance. In 2012, Rushdie published a memoir, “Joseph Anton,” about the fatwa. “Salman has been an inspirational defender of persecuted writers and journalists across the world,” McEwan said in a statement. The death threats and bounty led Rushdie to go into hiding under a British government protection program, which included a round-the-clock armed guard. He and Rushdie had planned to discuss the United States as a refuge for writers and other artists in exile. But after the attack, some longtime visitors to the center questioned why there wasn’t tighter security for the event, given the decades of threats against Rushdie and a bounty on his head offering more than $3 million to anyone who killed him. Iran’s current supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, never issued a fatwa of his own withdrawing the edict, though Iran in recent years hasn’t focused on the writer. In 1993, the book’s Norwegian publisher was shot three times and survived. “This act of violence is appalling,” Sullivan said in a statement. An AP reporter witnessed the attacker confront Rushdie on stage and stab or punch him 10 to 15 times as the author was being introduced. A bloodied Rushdie, 75, was flown to a hospital and underwent surgery. Event moderator Henry Reese, 73, a co-founder of an organization that offers residencies to writers facing persecution, was also attacked.

The venue where renowned author Salman Rushdie -- whose controversial work has triggered death threats -- was stabbed Friday had rejected previous ...

Staff and audience members rushed to the attacker and put him on the ground before a state trooper took him into custody, police said. "He came in the left side and leapt across the stage and just lunged at him. Also injured Friday was Henry Reese, co-founder of the Pittsburgh nonprofit City of Asylum, who was scheduled to join Rushdie in a discussion, police said. "We will assess for each of the events at the Institution what we think the appropriate level of security is and that's an ongoing process that we work in concert with local law enforcement on." "The nerves in his arm were severed; and his liver was stabbed and damaged. Authorities have not disclosed the type of weapon that was used in the attack.

The author was set to deliver a lecture at the Chautauqua Institution when an assailant rushed at him.

Since then, Mr. Rushdie has published eight novels and a 2012 memoir, “ Joseph Anton,” about the fatwa. Mr. Rushdie seemed perfectly comfortable out in the world, he said. Mr. Koch said that several people worked to separate the assailant from Mr. Rushdie, and were able to do so before a uniformed officer arrived and placed the attacker in handcuffs. But the fatwa remains in place, reportedly with a bounty attached from an Iranian religious foundation of some $3.3 million as of 2012. He was barred from the country for more than a decade. The attack was decried by literary figures and public officials. Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the Supreme Leader of Iran after the 1979 Iranian Revolution, issued a religious edict known as a fatwa on Feb. 14, 1989, ordering Muslims to kill Mr. Rushdie. A price was put on his head of several million dollars. Mary Newsom, who attended the lecture, said that some people thought at first that it might be a stunt. On Friday morning, any sense that threats to his life were a thing of the past was dispelled when an attacker rushed the stage of Chautauqua Institution here in Western New York, where Mr. Rushdie was scheduled to give a talk about the United States as a safe haven for exiled writers. “The news is not good,” Mr. Wylie said in an email. The brazen attack on Mr. Rushdie shook the literary world. Mr. Rushdie’s agent, Andrew Wylie, said Friday evening that Mr. Rushdie was on a ventilator and could not speak.

As author remains on a ventilator, messages of support champion free speech and talk of his 'extraordinary resilience'

Poster of The Moor’s Last Sigh had place on my (pretentious) student bedroom wall. We are all hoping he is OK,” he added. Sunak described the novelist as “a champion of free speech and artistic freedom”, adding that he was “in our thoughts”. The comedian and author David Baddiel described the incident as “appalling”. “It’s also appalling that there are people who will think he brought it on himself or somehow deserved it,” he added. The novelist Lisa Appignanesi, the former president of English PEN and a campaigner for free expression, praised Rushdie’s “extraordinary resilience and his deep, deep courage” in the face of threats to his life. Writers and politicians have condemned the attack on Salman Rushdie as the novelist remains on a ventilator in the US.

Messages of outrage and support are pouring in from all corners of the globe after writer Salman Rushdie was stabbed at an upstate New York venue where he ...

"He has devoted tireless energy to assisting others who are vulnerable and menaced." "Devastated by the news about @SalmanRushdie. He was the first writer I ever met and his determination to defend his freedom (and that of others) in the face of religious extremism has been a constant inspiration. He has just been the victim of a cowardly attack by the forces of hatred and barbarism. American writers and organizations have also been left reeling from the attack. Bravo to the warrior and dutiful man who attacked the Apostate and wicked Salman Rushdie. The hand of the warrior must be kissed. "Appalled that Sir Salman Rushdie has been stabbed while exercising a right we should never cease to defend.

The stabbing attack came after years of Islamist death threats against the Indian-born novelist over The Satanic Verses, published in 1988. Fellow authors such ...

"He has also supported other writers across the world who have been suffering from other sorts of pressures. "Salman has been an inspirational defender of persecuted writers and journalists across the world. He is a fiery and generous spirit, a man of immense talent and courage and he will not be deterred," he added.

A 24-year-old New Jersey man was charged with attempted murder in Friday's attack, which occurred in Chautauqua, N.Y. The author underwent surgery and was ...

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But in Pakistan, an Islamic republic, there was a deep silence from celebrated writers and politicians following the attack on the author, while in India, where ...

India was the first country to impose a ban on The Satanic Verses in 1988. Mehr Tarar, a writer, said in a tweet: “Salman Rushdie, excl Satanic Verses, is one of the greatest writers of all time. In this environment, few activists or writers dare to speak even in the narrowest and most cautious of ways,” said Almeida. Taseer had called for reforms to the blasphemy legislation and promised to help Asia Bibi, a Christian woman who was accused of blasphemy after an argument with a Muslim woman. The Congress party was in power when the book came out and quickly decided to ban it. Veengas, a journalist and founder of a non-profit news organisation the Rise News, tweeted: “Some are still thinking about whether to tweet on #SalmanRushdie – you call yourself an author, journalist, and activist but have no courage to condemn the violent action.

Suspect, 24, from Fairview, New Jersey remanded without bail over alleged attack on author in New York.

A helicopter crew flew Rushdie to a hospital in nearby Erie, Pennsylvania, where he underwent surgery. He suffered a relatively minor facial wound during the attack. The crime, under New York law, can carry up to 25 years in prison upon conviction. Rushdie suffered three stab wounds to the right front of his neck, another four to his stomach, one each to his right eye and chest, and a cut to his right thigh, Schmidt said on Saturday. Investigators had earlier booked Matar, of Fairview, New Jersey, with one count of attempted second-degree murder in Rushdie’s stabbing and one count of second-degree assault on a man who shared a stage with the author at the time of the attack on Friday, according to a statement from authorities. The man suspected of stabbing the novelist Salman Rushdie at a literary festival in western New York pleaded not guilty to charges of attempted murder and assault at a court appearance on Saturday.

After the author Salman Rushdie was stabbed on Friday at the Chautauqua Institution in western New York, state and federal investigators were trying to ...

The novel’s Norwegian publisher was shot three times in 1993 outside his home in Oslo and was seriously injured. A spokeswoman for a hospital in Erie, Pa., where Mr. Rushdie is being treated, said it would not provide information on patient conditions. A woman in a gray Jeep Rubicon in the driveway kept her windows up, waving off reporters as she sped away. In court, prosecutors said that the attack on the author was premeditated and targeted. Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, who led Iran after its 1979 revolution, issued an edict known as a fatwa on Feb. 14, 1989. When Mr. Matar, a United States citizen, was arrested, he was carrying two fake IDs, according to a law enforcement official. People started to congregate in the aisles. Mr. Rushdie, who had been living relatively openly after years of a semi-clandestine existence, had just taken a seat to give a talk when a man attacked him. A video on TikTok that was subsequently taken down showed the chaotic scene moments after the attacker had jumped onto the stage at the normally placid institution. Security at the Chautauqua Institution is minimal. A crowd of people immediately rushed to where the author lay on the stage to offer aid. Nathaniel Barone, a public defender, entered a plea of not guilty on his behalf.

Hadi Matar, 24, is accused of attacking the author at event in New York state and is being held without bond.

According to NBC New York, he was carrying a fake licence on him at the time of the arrest. Event moderator Henry Reese, 73, was also attacked. He was also likely to lose an injured eye, Wylie said.

NEW YORK CITY: United Kingdom novelist Salman Rushdie, who spent years in hiding after an Iranian fatwa ordered his killing, was on a ventilator and could ...

We hope and believe fervently that his essential voice cannot and will not be silenced," she added. A doctor in the audience administered medical care until emergency first responders arrived. He was granted police protection by the government in the UK, where he was at school and where he made his home, following the murder or attempted murder of his translators and publishers. LeVan, a Chautauqua regular, said the suspect "was trying to stab him as many times as possible before he was subdued," adding that he believed the man "was trying to kill" Rushdie. "What many of us witnessed today was a violent expression of hate that shook us to our core," the institution said in a statement. His agent said in a statement obtained by The New York Times that "the news is not good."

Jill and I were shocked and saddened to learn of the vicious attack on Salman Rushdie yesterday in New York. We, together with all Americans and.

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. Jill and I were shocked and saddened to learn of the vicious attack on Salman Rushdie yesterday in New York. We, together with all Americans and people around the world, are praying for his health and recovery. And today, we reaffirm our commitment to those deeply American values in solidarity with Rushdie and all those who stand for freedom of expression.

Aug 13 (Reuters) - Acclaimed author Salman Rushdie remained hospitalized on Saturday with serious injuries a day after he was repeatedly stabbed at a public ...

Ali Tehfe, mayor of Yaroun in southern Lebanon, said Matar was the son of a man from the town. In 1989, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, then Iran's supreme leader, pronounced a fatwa, or religious edict, calling on Muslims to kill the author and anyone involved in the book's publication for blasphemy. Matar was born in California and recently moved to New Jersey, the NBC New York report said, adding that he had a fake driver's license on him. There was no visible police presence on Saturday at the house, a two-story brick-and-mortar home in a largely Spanish-speaking neighborhood. Rushdie was stabbed 10 times, prosecutors said during Matar's arraignment, according to the New York Times. In a statement on Saturday, President Joe Biden commended the "universal ideals" that Rushdie and his work embody.

Indian-born British author Salman Rushdie was brutally attacked this week. He has been the subject of death threats since his book The Satanic Verses was ...

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Matar, 24, was arrested on Friday after allegedly storming the stage of a literary event in New York and stabbing Rushdie as he prepared to speak. Rushdie's ...

“But it became evident in a few seconds that it wasn’t.” Matar, 24, was arrested on Friday after allegedly storming the stage of a literary event in New York and stabbing Rushdie as he prepared to speak. Threats to the author’s life saw him placed under armed guard for nearly a decade.

The terrorist assault on Salman Rushdie on Friday morning, in western New York, was triply horrific to contemplate. First in its sheer brutality and cruelty ...

(Nor was he unwilling to be self-deprecatingly comic in order to assist a social occasion; I recall him once doing a karaoke version of Gloria Gaynor’s “I Will Survive” at a party in London.) In the thirty years or so that I have known him—far from intimately but steadily and always pleasurably—I was always impressed by the effortless equanimity with which, in public at least, he dealt with his strange fate. Finally, if more locally, it was horrific because it had seemed to those who knew him that the fatwa had faded in significance and threat, that it had become the subject for retrospective memoir, as in his fine one, “ Joseph Anton,” and even for actual comedy. This is a doubly despicable viewpoint, not only because there was no actual insult offered but also because the right to be insulting about other people’s religions—or their absence of one—is a fundamental right, part of the inheritance of the human spirit. What makes the story so tragic, and the comic-television moment so illustrative of his nature, is that Salman, to those who knew him—no, know him—as a friend, was the most amiable of men, the least narrowly contentious, the most rational and reasonable guy they would ever meet. He was a writer, with a writer’s pastimes and a writer’s rights. For the next decade, Rushdie was under protection and, though far from disappearing from the world—for the most part, he went where he wanted—it was always under guard.

Chautauqua, N.Y. (AP) -- Salman Rushdie, whose novel “The Satanic Verses” drew death threats from Iran's leader in the 1980s, was stabbed in the neck and ...

Acclaimed author Salman Rushdie remained hospitalized on Saturday with serious injuries a day after he was repeatedly stabbed at a public appearance in New ...

Ali Tehfe, mayor of Yaroun in southern Lebanon, said Matar was the son of a man from the town. There was no visible police presence on Saturday at the house, a two-story brick-and-mortar home in a largely Spanish-speaking neighborhood. In 1989, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, then Iran’s supreme leader, pronounced a fatwa, or religious edict, calling on Muslims to kill the author and anyone involved in the book’s publication for blasphemy. Matar was born in California and recently moved to New Jersey, the NBC New York report said, adding that he had a fake driver’s license on him. Rushdie was stabbed 10 times, prosecutors said during Matar’s arraignment, according to the New York Times. In a statement on Saturday, President Joe Biden commended the “universal ideals” that Rushdie and his work embody.

Author seriously injured in New York stabbing remains in hospital, as Joe Biden praises his courage and suspect denies attempted murder.

A motive for the attack appears to be unclear. As of Saturday afternoon, the novel ranked No 13 on Amazon.com. Iran’s theocratic government and its state-run media assigned no motive for the attack. Authors, activists and government officials cited Rushdie’s courage and longtime advocacy of free speech despite the risks to his own safety. And today, we reaffirm our commitment to those deeply American values in solidarity with Rushdie and all those who stand for freedom of expression,” the president said in a statement. European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell “strongly” condemned the attack on Saturday night.

MAYVILLE, N.Y.— The man accused in the stabbing attack on Salman Rushdie pleaded not guilty Saturday to attempted murder and assault charges in what a ...

The death threats and bounty led Rushdie to go into hiding under a British government protection program, which included an around-the-clock armed guard. But afterward some longtime visitors to the center questioned why there wasn’t tighter security given the threats against Rushdie and a bounty of more than $3 million on his head. “The Satanic Verses” drew death threats after it was published in 1988, with many Muslims regarding as blasphemy a dream sequence based on the life of the Prophet Muhammad, among other objections. In 1993, the book’s Norwegian publisher was shot three times and survived. He and Rushdie had planned to discuss the United States as a refuge for writers and other artists in exile. As of Saturday afternoon, the novel ranked No. 13 on Amazon.com. Iran’s theocratic government and its state-run media assigned no motive for the attack. Khomeini died that same year, but the fatwa remains in effect. Authors, activists and government officials cited Rushdie's courage and longtime advocacy of free speech despite the risks to his own safety. “Truth. Courage. Resilience. The ability to share ideas without fear. Rushdie was likely to lose the injured eye. “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,” the statement read.

Berkeley bomb squad officers detonate a charge a suspected pipe bomb harmless at Cody's Bookstore in Berkeley in February 1989. The officer on the left uses a ...

He was taken off a ventilator and able to talk Saturday, but he remained hospitalized with serious injuries and may lose the eye, reports said. On the night Cody’s was attacked, someone also hurled a brick and a Molotov cocktail into a nearby Waldenbooks store. Still, Ross acknowledged he might remember the vote as foolhardy, rather than principled and heroic, had people died in a subsequent bomb attack. No one was hurt, though the bomb charred a bookshelf and the firefighters who responded left significant damage, Ross said. Undeterred, Ross opted to keep “The Satanic Verses” in stock, hoping to sidestep controversy if he left it out of the front window display. While nobody left a threat or came forward later, Ross and investigators saw the bombings as retaliation for his decision to sell the book.

Renowned author Salman Rushdie remains hospitalized after being repeatedly stabbed during an on-stage attack in western New York that left him at risk of ...

"We will assess for each of the events at the Institution what we think the appropriate level of security is and that's an ongoing process that we work in concert with local law enforcement on." The book, which sparked demonstrations, was banned in multiple countries. CNN exclusively spoke with State of Fitness Boxing Club owner Desmond Boyle, who said Matar enrolled at the gym in North Bergen, New Jersey in April. He was taken to hospital in an ambulance and later released with a facial injury. He came in every day like that," Boyle told CNN on Saturday. "He lunged onto Mr. Rushdie and started pummeling him with his hand, very quickly," Davies said.

The author would like to be known for more than the Satanic Verses controversy. We can do something about that.

Ground ends, by the way, with a suddenly resonant observation by the narrator: “The mayhem continues, I don’t deny it, but we’re capable also of this.” Published in 1999, the novel is a funny and violent and demanding reworking of the myth of Orpheus featuring two rock-and-roll stars. We can more readily demonstrate our solidarity with him and advance the principles he embodies by committing to literary works bold and ambitious enough to make the very acts of writing, publishing, and reading once more daringly world-changing, even, if must be, dangerous. Indeed, the criticism voiced by some about a possible lapse of security at Chautauqua is at odds with Rushdie’s sense of his work and himself. Like other interlocutors of his around the world, I suspect, I received two requests from him before the events we did together: first, that if security had to be present, then it should not be a visible or dominant presence; second, that whatever we were to talk about when it was showtime, please let it be something other than the fatwa. Of course I would appear onstage with Rushdie: My own commitments to freedom of expression and to the higher goods of literature matter more to me than any concern for my personal safety—and appearing with Rushdie, of all people, was about as clear and assured a sign of this as one could give. They must negotiate the publishing industry’s sensitivity readers, then hope to find actual readers, and still hold onto an idea of themselves as artists rather than algorithmically regulated identarian protagonists (or antagonists). Lamenting all of that is, admittedly, easier than following Rushdie’s model. And it elicited comments of outrage and sympathy from a spectrum of public figures—in the U.K., Prime Minister Boris Johnson and the novelist Ian McEwan; in the U.S., New York Governor Kathy Hochul and PEN America President Ayad Akhtar. This is a rare chorus. Many of my midwestern in-laws—not your typical Salman Rushdie readers—knew all about him, his famous book, and what had happened after its publication. And more than three decades have passed since Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Khomeini, issued a fatwa, a religious edict, calling for Rushdie’s death because of the novelist’s representations of the Prophet Muhammad and Islam. Dire enough consequences followed in the fatwa’s early years: Deadly riots and bookstore bombings occurred around the world; several of Rushdie’s publishers and translators were attacked, including the Japanese professor Hitoshi Igarashi, who was stabbed to death. He has shown punchy humor and great élan in recent appearances—such as his cameo in a 2017 episode of Larry David’s Curb Your Enthusiasm, with Lin-Manuel Miranda, a send-up of the fatwa itself. He has wounds to his neck, stomach, and liver; severed nerves in one of his arms; and, according to his literary agent, Andrew Wylie, will probably lose an eye.

On Friday, author Salman Rushdie was attacked during a presentation, perhaps following through on a 33-year-old death threat.

I think about that and I feel a rekindling of that helpless sensation on the street all those years ago, that things can came out of the blue — out of a window, out of the subway platform, out of the audience — and change your life forever. Is this who we are now? We are resentful. We are bitter. We are beet red with rage. We are wound too tightly. To this day, I remember the feeling I had all afternoon, and for the rest of my life whenever I walked past that building. A different woman in that same city died instantly when she was pushed in front of an oncoming subway by an unknown attacker. In Portland, an 82-year-old man was punched and stomped without provocation by a 29-year-old assailant. Earlier this year, an Asian woman in New York City was attacked from behind by a man with a box cutter. We froze. We looked up.

Lydia Strohl is an award-winning freelance writer based in Washington, DC. She has just completed her first novel, "Where I Left Them.

I begin to re-read Rushdie's writing, seeing the ways he seeks to prove that our differences do not define us, a thread through my own work. Hours later, Rushdie is still in surgery. , the author went into hiding, but continued to write his intricate and zany books. "Is it true?" But the ghoul is already here, I decide. "What is freedom of expression? That is part of the charm, but in the days to come, we will surely grapple with that. The attacker is finally subdued, and the police dog stands over him. I realize Rushdie will be seated with his back to me, so I move to get a better view, starting down the middle aisle to an empty seat in the third row just as the two take their seats. I am astounded and relieved that he survived. A man runs by me, filming the chaos on his phone. I wonder if it's ghoulish to take a picture of the stage at this moment.

The novelist remains hospitalised with serious injuries, but is now off the ventilator and able to talk, says his agent.

In a statement on Saturday, President Joe Biden commended the “universal ideals” that Rushdie and his work embody. He was likely to lose the injured eye. The novelist suffered a damaged liver and severed nerves in an arm and an eye, Wylie said on Friday evening. Earlier in the day, the man accused of attacking him on Friday at the Chautauqua Institution, a nonprofit education and retreat centre, pleaded not guilty to attempted murder and assault charges in what a prosecutor called a “preplanned” crime. Salman Rushdie has been taken off a ventilator and is now able to talk, a friend and his agent said, a day after the acclaimed novelist was stabbed as he prepared to give a lecture in New York. Rushdie, 75, remained hospitalised with serious injuries on Saturday, but fellow author Aatish Taseer tweeted in the evening that he was “off the ventilator and talking (and joking)”.

The Satanic Verses author was repeatedly stabbed while on stage at a US literary event on Friday.

Mr Rushdie was born in Bombay, India in 1947. Many Muslims reacted with fury to it, arguing that the portrayal of the Prophet Muhammad was a grave insult to their faith. Henry Reese, who had been due to interview Mr Rushdie at the event, suffered a minor head injury.

Before he was stabbed, the author said 'a lot of people today live with similar threats' to those made against him.

Eugene Staniszewski of the New York state police told a press conference that law enforcement had talks with the institution at the start of the season. One of the worst things that Chautauqua could do is back away from its mission.” “Mr Rushdie is known as one of the most significant champions for freedom of speech. Several people in the audience said that Matar was dressed in black and wearing a mask. Today, we are called to take on fear and the worst of all human traits: hate.” “There was screening to prevent attendees from bringing in a cup of coffee,” Susko said. “There was no security stopping us from getting to the stage,” Susko said. “There were some high-profile events they had requested some law enforcement presence be there, and luckily they were,” he said. And the fax machines they used against me is like a bicycle rather than a Ferrari compared with the internet.” As an author I also notice that young authors are becoming role models again – instead of the way it used to be, namely just the dead ones.” Just a fortnight ago, Rushdie had talked to the German news magazine Stern about his safety. His agent, Andrew Wylie, said his liver had been damaged and that he was likely to lose an eye.

"The Satanic Verses" author Salman Rushdie was taken off a ventilator and able to talk Saturday, a day after he was stabbed in upstate New York.

He and Rushdie had planned to discuss the United States as a refuge for writers and other artists in exile. But afterward some longtime visitors to the Chautauqua Institution questioned why there wasn't tighter security given the threats against Rushdie and a bounty of more than $3 million on his head. As of Saturday afternoon, the novel ranked No. 13 on Amazon.com. It looked like it was the worst day of his life," Boyle said. After nine years of seclusion, Rushdie cautiously resumed more public appearances. "The Satanic Verses" drew death threats after it was published in 1988, with many Muslims regarding as blasphemy a dream sequence based on the life of the Prophet Muhammad, among other objections. Iran's theocratic government and its state-run media assigned no motive for the attack. He said Matar resisted attempts by him and others to welcome and engage him. Khomeini died that same year, but the fatwa remains in effect. "His resources don't matter to me. These are the building blocks of any free and open society." Authors, activists and government officials cited Rushdie's courage and longtime advocacy of free speech despite the risks to his own safety.