French press review
In the spotlight: Salman Rushdie stabbed
Audio 04:35
Writer Salman Rushdie on the ground after his assault at the Chautauqua Institute in New York state on Friday, August 12, 2022. © AP / Joshua Goodman
By: Norbert Navarro
3 mins
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The author of the
Satanic Verses
passed to the wire of the sword of Damocles?
For the time being, no certainty about the motivations of his attacker, Salman Rushdie still being hospitalized, on life support, after being stabbed late yesterday morning, when he was about to give a lecture on a stage in New York State.
Wounded in the neck and abdomen by his attacker – who was immediately arrested – Salman Rushdie first received first aid on the spot before being transferred by helicopter to a nearby hospital.
So ?
So inevitably, in France and abroad, following the example, for example, of the Senegalese daily
24 Hours
, the press, without delay, hoisted this aggression which awakens the ghosts of the past.
This is the case of the newspaper
Le Parisien
.
Since the Ayatollah Khomeini, thirty-three years ago, issued a fatwa against him, "
that is to say his religious decree in which he calls on all Muslims to kill him
" for writing a novel,
The Satanic Verses
, deemed blasphemous by the founder of the Iranian revolution, "
he knew he was threatened
", sighs this daily.
Which newspaper recalls that Salman Rushdie is "
a symbol of freedom of expression
".
The knife attack on Salman Rushdie is "
a matter that concerns us
", adds
Le Parisien
, recalling that in France, since the Revolution, and especially since 1881, blasphemy is legal.
However, completes this daily, “
the question divides French society today.
The latest controversy concerns the Mila affair in 2020. This young girl is targeted by death threats after having criticized Islam.
She lives in seclusion.
An unacceptable situation.
The example of Salman Rushdie (…) is enough to make her shudder
”.
Bring me the head of Salman Rushdie
The 1989 fatwa against Salman Rushdie... Even if, for the time being, the motivations of the aggressor are not yet known, the French press does not fail to make the link between this religious decree and the stabbing of the writer yesterday.
As the
Figaro
site puts it , referring to Salman Rushdie, “
Imam Khomeini made it his pet peeve.
A heretic to be killed at all costs
”.
At the time, this newspaper recalls, his fatwa "
inflame the situation.
In Tehran, the Shiite mullahs in power since the overthrow of the Shah 10 years earlier want to impose their voice in the land of Islam and on the international scene.
In addition to the threats, a juicy reward of 3 million dollars is promised to anyone who carries out the order of the ayatollah in the black turban.
Around the world, the message is snowballing, encouraging some zealous fanatics to act "in the name of Allah".
Witness the attempted assassination, in July 1991, of its Italian translator, Ettore Capriolo, who survived his injuries.
His Japanese interpreter, killed by several stab wounds, was unlucky.
Nor the 37 people who, two years later, perished in Turkey in the fire targeting the hotel where Aziz Nesim was staying,
the translator of the Verses in the Turkish language.
The same year, the Norwegian publisher of the book was in turn seriously wounded by three bullets in the back.
".
The fugitive
As for Salman Rushdie, his life since then will never be the same again.
“
Fugitive in spite of himself, escorted by bodyguards, he changed residence 56 times in the first six months following conviction (…).
In 1998, some encouraging signs arrived from Tehran.
Newly elected reformist President Mohammad Khatami promises that Iran will not apply the decree (…).
However, the sword of Damocles is never far away.
In 2005, the supreme guide, Ali Khamenei (successor to Khomeini, after his death in June 1989), reaffirmed loud and clear that killing Salman Rushdie remains authorized by Islam.
Eleven years later, in 2016, the novelist this time bears the brunt of internal political tensions in the Iranian regime when ultra-conservative media decide to add 500
000 dollars to the premium offered for his head
, ”recalls the
Figaro
site .
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