Breaking the Rushdie Taboo: German Writer Wants to Stir Things Up
SPIEGELONLINE INTERNATIONAL: German writer Günter Wallraff wants to stir things up in his hometown of Cologne. He is proposing reading the 'Satanic Verses' in a controversial new mosque. The religious foundation building the mosque says it'll think about it.

Günter Wallraff doesn't think of himself as a provocateur, he justs wants to get a dialogue going and to put the integration of Muslims in German society to the test. His method is somewhat radical. The well known German writer has said he wants to read aloud from "The Satanic Verses" in a Cologne mosque.

Wallraff denies that his proposal to read from a book regarded by many Muslims as blasphemous is a provocation. Rather, he says, he just wanted the Rushdie book to finally be discussed within the Muslim community. German Writer Wants to Read 'Satanic Verses' in Cologne Mosque (more)

Mark Alexander

Al-Qaeda Threatens Britain Again
YAHOO NEWS (UK): DUBAI (Reuters) - Al Qaeda's second-in-command, Ayman al-Zawahri, on Tuesday threatened more attacks on Britain, two weeks after failed bombings in London and Glasgow.

"I say to (Former Prime Minister Tony) Blair's successor that the policy of your predecessor drew catastrophes in Afghanistan and Iraq and even in the centre of London," the Egyptian cleric said in an audio tape posted on the Internet.

"If you did not learn the lesson then we are ready to repeat it, God willing, until we are sure you have fully understood." Zawahri threatens more attacks in UK (more) By Lin Noueihed

Mark Alexander

No Succour for Salman: No Hope of Genie Appearing from This Aladdin’s Lamp!
IRNA – TEHRAN: Head of Majlis National Security and Foreign Policy Commission Alaeddin Boroujerdi said "Late Imam Khomeini's decree on Salman Rushdie is eternal and irrevocable." In a joint press conference here with his Norwegian counterpart Olaf Akselsson, Boroujerdi responding to his Norwegian counterpart's request for cancellation of death fatwa on Salman Rushdie said "Honoring religious sanctities is necessary and all societies must respect this."

He said, "All countries have a red line in their policies. For instance, in spite of freedom of speech a university professor and a political figure loses his job because of denying Holocaust in Europe, insulting Prophet of Islam (PBUH) has caused the late Imam to issue the decree (fatwa) which is irreversible." MP: Imam Khomeini's decree on Salman Rushdie irrevocable (more)

Mark Alexander

Muslim Fanatics Use Internet to Spread Terror in UK
Allowing all these people into the UK has turned
into a nightmare for us. And things will only get
worse as their population swells. Where is all the
money, and manpower, going to come from to
police them and their dangerous activities?

A far better solution would be to kick these
people out. We have to get tough with them. Our
politicians and leaders today seem never to have
learnt the art of being tough. It's no good being
'touchy-feely' when one is dealing with the likes
of these fanatics.

We had better get used to the fact that we are in
a fight to the death with these people: They want
our land, our country, our nation; and they're
going to get it, too, if we go on pussyfooting
around as we have been doing. - ©Mark Alexander
THE TELEGRAPH: It is 11pm on Tuesday and Omar Bakri Mohammed's loyal band of followers hunch over computers and laptops at secret locations across Britain to listen to his defiant message to the west.

Many are hoping that the Muslim cleric, who lives in the Lebanese capital Beirut after being banned from the UK, will spell out his views on the Government's decision to give Salman Rushdie a knighthood. Bakri does not disappoint them.

After listening to Bakri's lecture for more than two hours on a secretive internet chat room, one participant asks in a written question: "Is there a new fatwa against salman and the queen for giving [the knighthood]?"

Speaking with a heavy middle eastern accent, Bakri responds: "Salman Rushdie, no doubt what he did was an apostasy… not because he get knighthood but because he insulted the honour of the prophet Mohammed (with his book The Satanic Verses)… He is murtadd (a traitor for rejecting Islam) anyway so there isn't any need for a new fatwa… People like him deserve to get the capital punishment." Internet spreads terror to Britain (more) By Andrew Alderson and Miles Goslett

Mark Alexander

Reid Stands By Government's Decision to Knight Salman Rushdie

Photo of Sir Salman courtesy of the BBC

BBC: Britain stands by its decision to honour author Salman Rushdie, despite protests by Pakistan and Iran, Home Secretary John Reid has said.

While agreeing it was "sensitive", the right to express opinions was "of over-riding value" to society, he said.

Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari said the knighthood was "untimely", but a matter for the British government.

Mr Rushdie went into hiding after an Iranian fatwa ordered his execution, over his 1988 book The Satanic Verses.

Mr Reid told an audience in New York that many Christians had been offended by Monty Python's Life of Brian, while some Jewish people were offended by Mel Gibson's film The Passion of the Christ. Reid defends Rushdie knighthood (more)

Mark Alexander

Our Turkish ‘Friends’
IRNA: Ruling party representative at Turkey's National Parliament Professor Nouzad Yalchin Tash here Friday called British Queen's donation of a knight title to apostate Salman Rushdie an "antagonist move by Britain against Islamic World." Turkish MP says calling Rushdie a knight a move against Islam (more)

Mark Alexander

British Muslims Join In the Protests Against the Knighthood of Salman Rushdie

”This honour will have ramifications here and across the Muslim world”, said Anjem Choudray, protest organiser and former head of the banned radical group, Al-Muhajiroun

MAIL & GUARDIAN ONLINE (SOUTH AFRICA): Muslims angered by Britain's decision to honour author Salman Rushdie with a knighthood were rallying in London on Friday, warning that anger over the award could match the fierce reaction to publication of cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad in Denmark last year.

Organisers of a protest outside Regent's Park Mosque in London claimed several hundred demonstrators planned to denounce the decision to reward Rushdie, whose novel The Satanic Verses led to a death threat from Iran in 1989.

"This knighthood is just another example of [British Prime Minister] Tony Blair and his government's attempts to secularise Muslims and reward apostates," said Anjem Choudray, protest organiser and a former head of the British wing of the banned radical group al-Muhajiroun.

"Rushdie is a hate figure across the Muslim world because of his insults to Islam," Choudray said. "This honour will have ramifications here and across the world" just as with the protests over the Danish cartoon. British Muslims join in global Rushdie protests (more)

Mark Alexander

L’affaire Rushdie
LE FIGARO: La ministre britannique des Affaires étrangères se dit "désolée" pour les personnes qui se sont senties offensées par l'anoblissement de l'écrivain, alors que son confrère de l’Intérieur assure que Londres ne présenterait pas d'excuses.

"Nous sommes évidemment désolés pour les gens qui ont pris très à cœur cet honneur". Margaret Beckett, la ministre britannique des Affaires étrangères, a tenté d’apaiser la colère qui monte au Pakistan et en Iran après l’anoblissement par la reine d’Angleterre de Salman Rushdie, auteur des "Versets sataniques". L’écrivain a été anobli pour son œuvre littéraire. "Les musulmans sont une partie intégrante de notre communauté. Ils sont honorés dans ce pays de la même manière que les autres", a-t-elle ajouté. S'exprimant avec Mme Beckett, le ministre irakien des Affaires étrangères, en déplacement à Londres, a estimé que cette décoration était "inopportune". Cacophonie britannique sur l’affaire Rushdie (suivant)

LE FIGARO:
Lord Ahmed : "Son titre doit lui être retiré"

LE MONDE VIDEO:
Des musulmans pakistanais s'insurgent contre l'anoblissement de Salman Rushdie

Mark Alexander

”Go to Hell, Britain!”
THE TELEGRAPH: Mounting Muslim protests over Salman Rushdie's knighthood led to an embarrassing Cabinet split last night plunging the Government into disarray.

As anger spread across the Islamic world, one hardline Pakistani cleric openly said the author of The Satanic Verses should die, while demonstrators in Malaysia chanted "go to hell, Britain!"

Abdul Rashid Ghazi, one of two brothers who run a mosque in Islamabad, said: "Salman Rushdie deserves to be killed and anyone who has the power must kill him." Cabinet split over Rushdie knighthood (more) By Brenda Carlin, Political correspondent

TIMESONLINE:
Blog: Faith Central

NZZ:
Neue Proteste gegen Rushdies Ritterschlag

Mark Alexander

Great Britain Will Not Apologize for the Knighthood for Salman Rushdie
THE JESUSALEM POST: Britain will not apologize for its decision to bestow a knighthood on writer Salman Rushdie, UK Home Secretary John Reid said Wednesday, highlighting the need to protect freedom of expression in literature and politics.

"We have a set of values that accrues people honors for their contribution to literature even when they don't agree with our point of view," Reid said in response to a question after a speech to US business leaders in New York.

"We have a right to express opinions and a tolerance of other people's point of view, and we don't apologize for that," Reid said. Britain defends Salman Rushdie knighthood (more)

Mark Alexander

Salman Rushdie, überzeugter Atheist
DIE ZEIT: Am 19. Juni wurde der Schriftsteller Salman Rushdie 60 Jahre alt. Die Queen schlug ihn kurz davor zum Ritter, was den Hass einiger muslimischer Extremisten gegen ihn wieder auflodern ließ

So viel er auch geschrieben hat, Salman Rushdie wird wohl immer mit seinem vor fast 20 Jahren erschienenen Werk Die Satanischen Verse identifiziert werden. Auch heute noch wird der Schriftsteller wegen dieses vielfach ausgezeichneten Buches verfolgt. Der Ritterschlag von Queen Elizabeth II. brachte dem britisch-indischen Autor kurz vor seinem 60. Geburtstag an diesem Dienstag die Vergangenheit wieder in bittere Erinnerung. »Eine der meistgehassten Personen der islamischen Welt auszuzeichnen, zeigt Großbritanniens Feindschaft gegenüber dem Islam«, sagte Mohammad-Ali Hosseini, Sprecher des iranischen Außenministeriums, am Sonntag. Auch das pakistanische Parlament verurteilte am Montag die Ehrung. Ein Himmel ohne Jungfrauen

Mark Alexander

Destroy Salman Rushdie! Destroy Britain! Hardliners Chant in Protest in Malaysia
INTERNATIONAL HERALD TRIBUNE – KUALA LUMPUR: Protests against the award of a British knighthood to Salman Rushdie, whose novel "The Satanic Verses" outraged Muslims, spread from Pakistan, Iran and the Taliban movement to Malaysia on Wednesday.

Supporters of Malaysia's hard-line Islamic party protested near the British Embassy, chanting "Destroy Salman Rushdie" and "Destroy Britain."

Some 30 members of the opposition Parti Islam se-Malaysia urged Britain to withdraw the honor or risk the consequences.
"This has tainted the whole knighthood, the whole hall of fame of the British system," Hatta Ramli, the party treasurer, said after the group handed a protest note to embassy officials.

"The British government must be responsible because it has created a sudden feeling of anger not just on Salman Rushdie but on the British government," he said. "They have to bear the consequences." Protests spread to Malaysia over knighthood for Salman Rushdie (more)

NDTV.COM:
Bounty of 80,000 pounds on Rushdie's head

Mark Alexander

For Christ’s Sake, Shut Up!
BBC: Iran has stepped up its protest over the knighthood awarded by Britain to Salman Rushdie, whose 1988 novel The Satanic Verses outraged many Muslims.

Iran's foreign ministry summoned the UK ambassador in Tehran and said the knighthood was a "provocative act".

Pakistan voiced similar protests, telling the UK envoy in Islamabad the honour showed the British government's "utter lack of sensitivity".

Britain denied that the award was intended to insult Islam. Rushdie diplomatic row escalates (more)

Mark Alexander

UK Tries to Assuage Muslim World’s Anger over Knighthood for Sir Salman

Photo of Sir Salman courtesy of the BBC

BBC: The UK's envoy to Pakistan has expressed "deep concern" over comments by a Pakistani minister about Sir Salman Rushdie's knighthood.

Religious Affairs Minister Mohammad Ejaz ul-Haq had said the honour meant a risk of suicide attacks because Muslims believed Sir Salman had insulted Islam.

But High Commissioner Robert Brinkley said it was untrue that the knighthood was intended to insult Islam. UK’s ‘deep concern’ over Rushdie (more)

Mark Alexander

Union Jack and Effigy of the Queen Burnt in Pakistan

Mobs in Pakistan burn effigy of the Queen and the Union Jack. Photo courtesy of Yahoo News (UK)

Flag-makers in the Middle East and Pakistan must be making a mint!

YAHOO NEWS: ISLAMABAD (AFP) - Islamic hardliners in Pakistan burned an effigy of Queen Elizabeth as senators Tuesday joined mounting calls for London to withdraw Salman Rushdie's knighthood.

The senate approved a unanimous resolution demanding London axe the honour bestowed Saturday to the controversial author of the "blasphemous" book "The Satanic Verses."

It came a day after Religious Affairs Minister Ijaz-ul-Haq said the award for Rushdie justified suicide attacks, although he later withdrew the remarks, saying he meant it could increase terrorism.

The senate resolution carried by the official Associated Press of Pakistan "demands that the knighthood conferred on Salman Rushdie be withdrawn."

It said the chamber "expressed its annoyance over blatant disregard for the sentiments of the Muslims by the British government by awarding (a) knighthood to Salman Rushdie, who committed blasphemy against the Holy Prophet." Pakistani mob burns queen's effigy in Rushdie protest (more) By Danny Kemp

Le Figaro:
Rushdie : Londres proteste auprès d'Islamabad

Mark Alexander

Muslim World Inflamed Yet Again! Calls for the Death of Sir Salman Are Renewed by Hardline Adherents of the 'Religion of Love and Peace and Tolerance'
TIMESONLINE: Sir Salman Rushdie celebrates his 60th birthday today in familiar circumstances: he is once again the subject of death threats across the Islamic world.

Eighteen years after the Ayatollah Khomeini issued a fatwa calling on Muslims to kill him, a government minister in Pakistan said yesterday that Rushdie’s recent knighthood justified suicide bombing.

The question of blasphemy in The Satanic Verses, Rushdie’s 1988 tale of a prophet misled by the devil, remains a deeply sensitive issue in much of the Muslim world and the author’s inclusion in the Queen’s Birthday Honours last week has inflamed anti-British sentiment.

Gerald Butt, editor of the authoritative Middle East Economic Survey, told The Times: “It will be interpreted as an action calculated to goad Muslims at a time when the atmosphere is already very tense and Britain’s standing in the region is very low because of its involvement in Iraq and its lack of action in tackling the Palestine issue.”

Hardliners in Iran revived calls for his murder yesterday. Mehdi Kuchakzadeh, a Tehran MP, declared: “Rushdie died the moment the late Imam [Ayatollah Khomeini] issued the fatwa.”

The Organisation to Commemorate Martyrs of the Muslim World, a fringe hardline group, offered a reward of $150,000 (£75,000) to any successful assassin. Muslim world inflamed by Rushdie knighthood (more) By Ben Hoyle

THE DAILY MAIL:
Muslim fury grows over Rushdie knighthood

Mark Alexander

Salman Rushdie




BUY: Shalimar the Clown

WATCH BBC VIDEO:
Rushdie knighthood condemned

Mark Alexander

Muslim World All Het Up Over Knighthood for Salman Rushdie

Photo of religious students burning effigies of the Queen and Salman Rushdie courtesy of Times Online

TIMESONLINE: Salman Rushdie should be denied his knighthood because it is an insult to “the sentiments of Muslims across the world” and is creating religious hatred, the Pakistani parliament said today.

Muslim hardliners burnt effigies of the Queen and Rushdie and shouted “Kill him, kill him”, when news of a knighthood for the author of ‘The Satanic Verses’ in the Queen’s Birthday Honours reached the Pakistani city of Multan.

Iran - which forced the writer into a decade in hiding after issuing a fatwa against him in 1989 - has also condemned the honour. Strip Rushdie of his honour, demands Pakistan (more)

THE GUARDIAN:
Rushdie knighthood ‘justifies suicide attacks’

Mark Alexander