Salman Rushdie stabbed
He was about to give a lecture in upstate New York when a man ran up to the podium and stabbed him many times. We haven’t been told Rushdie’s condition, but apparently he is alive. The attacker is in custody, and we haven’t been told anything about him although we can certainly guess.
When I read the news, my first thought was, “Are we in a time warp?” I thought how long it’s been since the fatwa was issued by Khomeini against Rushdie (33 years), and that if the fatwa was the attacker’s motive – which is the obvious assumption till proven otherwise – how patient those who would carry it out. I wrote at some length in 2015 about the Rushdie fatwa, which had been officially issued in February of 1989 and established a duty on every Muslim to kill him – although the Iranian government has retreated from it in recent years. The fatwa included the requirement to kill anyone related to The Satanic Verses’ publication, as well, and one of Rushdie’s Japanese translators was murdered in 1991 because of it, and two other translators survived murder attempts.
With all of that background, I wonder how the attacker got into the venue with a knife. What kind of security does Rushdie have at this point? Originally he went into hiding for nine years, and in recent years he’s made appearances but I can’t imagine that anyone thought the threat was over. And yet someone was allowed into the lecture venue with a knife of some sort, and also was able to rush the stage. It puts me in mind of the killing of former Japanese prime minister Abe, or the would-be attack on Lee Zeldin, in which the attackers got very close to their targets.
Here’s hoping he survives.
Airlifted to a hospital. There’s a picture of people at the scene holding his feet up, perhaps to increase blood flow to his upper body? I hope he survives.
The likelihood that the attack was made by a Muslim, inspired by Islam, is very high; it is also likely that his identity will be concealed by the authorities for as long as possible, then buried by the mendacious and malicious MSM. Several days ago, the senile buffoon illegitimately installed at 1600 (or his handlers) put out a statement about the killing of four Muslims in NM strongly implying that it resulted from bigotry or hatred (“Islamophobia”, “white supremacy”, “Ultra-MAGA”, etc); when the Muslim culprit (a Sunni, supposedly angry over his daughter’s marriage to a Shia), was apprehended, the story quickly vanished into the Orwellian “memory-hole.”
It’s the Chautauqua Institution, whose summer programs attract a genteel clientele. Chautauqua County itself is a place undone by sectoral shifts against manufacturing in this country, and rather scruffy. That having been said, the smart money says there have been about 30 homicides in the county in the last 20 years and that 90% of them were the issue of domestic disputes in local trailer parks and bar fights in Jamestown and Dunkirk. They did not have much security at the institution because they’ve never needed much of it.
when the Muslim culprit
He’s been accused. No harm in suspending judgment.
Art Deco:
Are you kidding me? Anywhere Rushdie speaks publicly needs good security. That’s elementary. The Chautauqua Institution may not need it for other people, but they are fools if they didn’t realize they needed it for him.
The fanatic could have used a ceramic knife, which wouldn’t show up on any metal detector. That’s if there even was any attempt to screen attendees. I suspect complacency may have been a factor. Enough time passes and caution lessens.
8.11.2022 “Stabbings on rise in NYC during surge in major crime” https://nypost.com/2022/08/11/stabbings-on-rise-in-nyc-amid-surge-in-major-crime/
Knife attacks have been on the rise in NYC since 2008.
“2008, even as gun killings fell, the number of killings committed with knives or other “cutting instruments” rose 50 percent in New York City, the Police Department said: to 125 from 83.”
“Through Sunday, the NYPD had recorded 567 slashing attacks, some 20 percent above the pace set in early 2015.”
Mohammad set the example for devout Muslims when he signed a peace treaty with a Jewish tribe and then broke it ten years later when he decided his followers were strong enough to now beat that tribe. After the Jewish tribe surrendered, he ordered the slaughter of the 600 Jewish males.
George Bush, Cheney, Trump, even Obama, they’re all marked men. Biden has now allowed how many jihadists free entry?
“Knife attacks have been on the rise …”
I carry a fairly hefty pocket knife these days. I’m old, retired and not much of a brawler. I only want to have that heft in my pocket to remind me … even subconsciously … that I (and all of us) need to be alert. On my game. Ready for unexpected events.
I don’t expect to have to defend myself in a knife fight but I do want to be aware and I do want to have *something*.
Could have been a ceramic knife, but these days, I’d imagine a 3-d printed knife would be quite easy to get through most security checks
Are you kidding me?
No, I’m not. The institution is an unincorporated village in the Town of Chautauqua. There are towns like Chautauqua in New York that have had one homicide in 200 years.
Art Deco:
This isn’t about the town.
This is about anywhere Rushdie goes where it is known he will be. This was a scheduled address.
JimNorCal,
I also carry a fairly hefty pocket knife these days. As I too am getting old, as well as retired and am no longer the martial artist I once was, though anyone can foot strike to the knee, punch to the solar plexus and throat and gouge the eyes.
I recommend acquiring a “Fast Strike Self Defense Tool” https://www.faststrikedefense.com/
It fits nicely in my back pocket.
As avoiding a fight in the first place is the best preventative, I do my shopping in the morning, when thugs are sleeping it off. Being unprepared is not an option.
The University of Pittsburgh Medical Center now has a satellite campus in Erie, Pa. They medivac’ed him there. Much closer than the level I hospitals in Buffalo. About 1/2 the distance.
He starred in a “Curb Your Enthusiasm” episode making light of the fatwa. he episode painted the fatwa as an advantage to scoring with women.
He was out and about with less concern and more safe than a Trump supporter with MAGA hat leaving a Trump rally.
Probably a Muslim. That being said, there are crazies and a-holes in every category, black, white, yellow, brown, old, young, men, women, dogs, cats, etc.
When there is news of drive by, or party, or club shooting, generally brown or black. School shooting, generally young and white.
Muslims carry a grudge a long time. For 700 years, since the beginning of Islam, they prayed for the conquest of Rome. They finally achieved it in 1453 with the the capture of Constantinople. Osama bin Laden was a champ at this. He whined about the loss of al Andalus, Spain, to Ferdinand and Isabela in 1492. He chose September 11 to commemorate the destruction of the Caliph’s army at the Gates of Vienna by the Jan Sobieski, King of Poland, on that day in 1683.
Update on Rushdie’s condition as of 5:29 DST: “The 75-year-old author was stabbed at least once in the neck and once in the abdomen and is still in surgery, officials said during a Friday evening press conference.
Hadi Matar, 24, of Fairview, New Jersey, was identified as the suspect in the stabbing, Major Eugene J. Staniszewski of the New York State Police told reporters. He had a pass to access the grounds, just like the others who were in the audience, officials said. . . . Officials said a doctor who was in the audience helped care for Rushdie while they waited for EMTs to arrive. . . . Staniszewski said that the suspect also attacked another speaker, who suffered a minor face injury. He was taken to a hospital and has been released, Staniszewski said.”
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/salman-rushdie-attacked-stage-new-york/
Hadi Matar doesn’t exactly sound like a WASP name. Can anyone identify the other speaker who was attacked?
Matar, the New York Post reports, has “sympathies toward the Iranian government.” But the NY State Police say the motive is unclear. Oh.
https://nypost.com/2022/08/12/nj-man-matar-hadi-with-sympathies-toward-iran-arrested-in-stabbing-of-salman-rushdie/
@ Paul in Boston – you might find this podcast interesting.
https://pjmedia.com/columns/raymond-ibrahim/2022/08/11/victor-davis-hanson-takes-a-deep-dive-into-the-historic-conflict-between-muslims-and-christians-n1620351
You can’t make this stuff up.
https://accordingtohoyt.com/2022/08/12/authenticity/#comment-868231
No link, but I wouldn’t be surprised.
However, Greg Lukianoff & Robert Shibley had this to say.
https://currently.att.yahoo.com/att/salman-rushdie-stabbing-shows-danger-221230063.html
Robert Shibley is Executive Director of the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression. Greg Lukianoff is FIRE’s President and CEO.