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Writer Salman Rushdie at the PEN America Gala in New York City: "Violence must not deter us"

Photo: SARAH YENESEL / EPA

Nine months after a life-threatening knife attack, the writer Salman Rushdie has surprisingly appeared in public again for the first time. The 75-year-old took part in a gala event of the writers' association PEN America at the New York Museum of Natural History on Thursday evening (local time) and was awarded an honorary prize. Rushdie's participation in the event had not been announced.

The British-Indian author with US citizenship, who has been blind in one eye since last August's attack, was first photographed on the red carpet. He was wearing glasses with a black lens over his right eye.

Rushdie then gave an emotional speech to the 700 guests at the gala. "Terrorism should not frighten us," he said, according to a PEN America press release. "Violence must not deter us. The fight continues."

Rushdie was attacked and seriously injured on August 12 at a conference in Chautauqua, New York. Those present were able to overpower the attacker, a US citizen with Lebanese roots. "Without these people, I certainly wouldn't be standing here today," Rushdie said in his speech. "I was the target that day, but they were the heroes. They had all the courage that day. I owe my life to them."

"The attack on books in Florida has never been more dangerous"

At the PEN Gala, Rushdie was honored for his courage. "I thought that if there's a good opportunity to re-enter, it's this – to be part of the book world, the fight against censorship and for human rights," said the writer, whose latest novel, Victory City, was published in April.

"The attack on books, the attack on education, the attack on libraries in -- how shall I put it -- Florida has never been more dangerous. It has never been more important to fight against it," he said. According to CNN, Rushdie praised PEN America, which also promotes literature and free speech, for its recent efforts to curb U.S. politicians who try to ban books on ethnic origin and gender identity. This is, among other things, part of the right-wing culture war agenda of Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.

Recently, the Authors' Association, along with book publisher Penguin Random House and several parents and authors, filed a lawsuit against the Escambia County School District in Florida, which had removed certain books on LGBTQ issues and ethnic origin from school libraries. He was proud when he learned of the lawsuit, said Rushdie, who used to be PEN chairman and is under contract with Penguin Random House. He said: "This is tremendously important, and let's hope we win. We have to win."

Rushdie has been persecuted by religious fanatics for decades and lived for years under strict police protection in ever-changing secret locations. Because of alleged insult to the Prophet Mohammed in his book "The Satanic Verses" from 1988, Iran's then spiritual leader Ayatollah Khomeini had called for the killing of the writer in a fatwa in 1989. Before the August attack, however, Rushdie led a relatively normal life and appeared in public again and again.

jso/AFP/dpa