I have many thoughts about this but I dunno if I wanna share them on a public forum. Too many thoughts, yes, too many, can't share here, not enough space, yes...
outerspace02.12.10 - 2:14 pm
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For those of you that haven't followed the story, that's the same Salman Rushdie that had threats against his life made by Muslim leaders upon publication of his book "The Satanic Verses".
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salman_Rushdie#The_Satanic_Verses_and_the_fatw.C4.81
"On 14 February 1989, a fatwā requiring Rushdie's execution was proclaimed on Radio Tehran by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the spiritual leader of Iran at the time, calling the book "blasphemous against Islam" (chapter IV of the book depicts the character of an Imam in exile who returns to incite revolt from the people of his country with no regard for their safety). A bounty was offered for Rushdie's death, and he was thus forced to live under police protection for years afterward. On 7 March 1989, the United Kingdom and Iran broke diplomatic relations over the Rushdie controversy.
The publication of the book and the fatwā sparked violence around the world, with bookstores being firebombed. Muslim communities in several nations in the West held public rallies in which copies of the book were burned. Several people associated with translating or publishing the book were attacked, seriously injured, and even killed.[22] Many more people died in riots in Third World countries.
On 24 September 1998, as a precondition to the restoration of diplomatic relations with Britain, the Iranian government, then headed by Mohammad Khatami, gave a public commitment that it would "neither support nor hinder assassination operations on Rushdie."[23][24]
Hardliners in Iran have continued to reaffirm the death sentence.[25] In early 2005, Khomeini's fatwā was reaffirmed by Iran's spiritual leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in a message to Muslim pilgrims making the annual pilgrimage to Mecca.[26] Additionally, the Revolutionary Guards have declared that the death sentence on him is still valid.[27] Iran has rejected requests to withdraw the fatwā on the basis that only the person who issued it may withdraw it,[26] and the person who issued it - Ayatollah Khomeini - has been dead since 1989.
Rushdie has reported that he still receives a "sort of Valentine's card" from Iran each year on 14 February letting him know the country has not forgotten the vow to kill him. He said, "It's reached the point where it's a piece of rhetoric rather than a real threat."[28] Despite the threats on Rushdie, he has publicly said that his family has never been threatened and that his mother (who lived in Pakistan during the later years of her life) even received outpourings of support.[29]"
JB02.12.10 - 4:57 pm
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Ridazz Roulette!
