The novelist, who remained in hospital on Saturday, was stabbed multiple times, including in the neck and abdomen. His agent, Andrew Wylie, said his liver had been damaged and he was likely to lose an eye. His alleged assailant, 24-year-old Hadi Matar, was charged with attempted murder and assault. Rushdie, 75, had been speaking at a literary festival at the Chautauqua Foundation in western New York state about the importance of America providing asylum to exiled writers when he was attacked. Matar, who had bought a ticket, allegedly rushed the stage and stabbed Rushdie before being tackled by spectators, institution staff and two local law enforcement officers providing security. Rushdie has been under a fatwa calling for his death since 1989, when the late Iranian leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini issued it in response to the Indian-born author’s controversial novel The Satanic Verses. The Iranian regime has since tried to distance itself from the fatwa, but the price on Rushdie’s head has risen in recent years to more than $3 million. Many Muslims considered Rushdie’s book blasphemous because – among other things – it included a character they interpreted as an insult to the prophet Muhammad, the founder of their faith. The Satanic Verses was published a decade before Matar was born to parents who immigrated from Lebanon. But his social media activity reportedly suggests an admiration for Iran and an attraction to Shiite extremism. Just a fortnight ago, Rushdie had spoken to the German news magazine Stern about his safety. The author said his life would have been in far greater danger if social media had existed at the time he wrote The Satanic Verses: “More dangerous, infinitely more dangerous.” “The fatwa is a serious matter. Luckily we didn’t have internet then. The Iranians had faxed the fatwa to the mosques. All this was a long time ago. Today my life is very normal again.” Asked what made him afraid now, Rushdie said: “In the past I would have said religious fanaticism. I don’t say that anymore. The greatest danger we face right now is losing our democracy. Since the supreme court abortion verdict, I am seriously worried that the US will not handle it. That the problems are irreparable and the country will fall apart. The biggest danger we face today is the kind of crypto-fascism we see in America and elsewhere. “Oh, we live in scary times. This is true, even though I always tell people: don’t be afraid. But the bad thing is that death threats have become more normal. It’s not just politicians who get them, even American teachers who remove certain books from the syllabus. “Look at how many guns there are in America. The existence of all these weapons alone is terrifying. I think a lot of people today live with similar threats that I had back then. And the fax machines they used against me are more like a bicycle than a Ferrari compared to the Internet.” Police and FBI search suspect’s home after Rushdie’s stabbing. Photo: Anadolu Agency/Getty Images He said he was glad his books were reviewed in the arts pages rather than the political sections of newspapers. Stern asked him what his advice was for people who are scared about where the world is going: “I think something really good is happening with the younger generation: they’re much more inclined toward activism. We are seeing a generation growing up that we urgently need right now, a fighter. We need people who can organize and people who are ready to fight. Fighters. For a society worth living. Instead of hoping that things will get better. As a writer, I also notice that young writers are becoming role models again – instead of the way it used to be, which was only the dead.” Questions were raised yesterday about how Matar gained access to the event. Paul Susko, a lawyer based in Erie – the Pennsylvania city where Rushdie is now on a ventilator at UPMC Hamot Hospital – said attendees could not bring food and drink into the room, but that was all. “There was a check to prevent attendees from bringing in a cup of coffee,” Susko said. He added that “perhaps checking for weapons” with a wand or metal detectors “would be more helpful.” Susko, who came to the event with his son, was in the front row at the side of the stage where Matar lunged at the author. “There was no security preventing us from getting to the stage,” Susko said. “There was no visible security around the scene at the time of the attack.” Several in the audience said Matar was dressed in black and wearing a mask. “We thought maybe it was part of a ploy to show that there’s still a lot of controversy surrounding this author,” said witness Kathleen Jones. “But it became apparent within seconds that it wasn’t.” The Chautauqua Foundation began life as a summer camp for Sunday teachers and has grown into an important center of cultural exchange and dialogue. Hours after the attack, foundation president Michael Hill said the site had not seen anything like it in its nearly 150 years of existence. He said: “We were founded to bring people together in community, to learn and create solutions, to develop empathy and to tackle intractable problems. Today, we are called to take on fear and the worst of all human traits: hate.” Hill confirmed that Matar had a ticket to the event “just like any other patron would have”. He emphasized that the foundation is open to anyone, as part of its mission of inclusion. Asked if security should have been beefed up with metal detectors present, given the sensitivities surrounding Rushdie, he said: “We’re proud of the security we have.” Discussions were held before Friday’s debate between state and local police and the foundation, and two police officers – a state trooper and a local deputy – were assigned. Eugene Staniszewski of the New York State Police said at a news conference that law enforcement had been in talks with the facility at the start of the season. “There were some high-profile events that had called for some law enforcement presence there, and fortunately they were,” he said. New York State Governor Kathy Hochul praised the trooper for his actions. “It was a state trooper who stood up and saved his life, protected him as well as the coordinator who was attacked,” he said. Rushdie had no insurance of his own. When asked if organizers should have made efforts to screen attendees entering the facility, Hill strongly disagreed. “Our mission is to build bridges across difference,” he said. “Mr Rushdie is known as one of the most important champions of free speech. One of the worst things Chautauqua could do is to stray from its mission.”
