Before he was stabbed, the author said ‘a lot of people today live with similar threats’ to those made against him
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 Iranian regime has since sought to distance itself from the fatwa, but the price on Rushdie’s head was increased in recent years to more than $3m.
“Look at how many guns there are in America. The existence of all these weapons in itself is scary. I think a lot of people today live with similar threats to the ones I had back then. And the fax machines they used against me is like a bicycle rather than a Ferrari compared with the internet.”Photograph: Anadolu Agency/Getty Images
“There was screening to prevent attendees from bringing in a cup of coffee,” Susko said. He added that “maybe screening for weapons” with wand or walk-through metal detectors “would have been more helpful”. Chautauqua Institution began life as a summer camp for Sunday school teachers and grew into a major hub of cultural exchange and dialogue. Hours after the attack, the institution’s president, Michael Hill, said the site had seen nothing like it in almost 150 years of existence.
Asked whether there should have been beefed-up security with metal detectors present, given the sensitivities around Rushdie, he said: “We are proud of the security we have.”
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