Is the Queen making a statement against the Islamization of Britain? Will Sir Salman, Sir Paul and Sir Mick lead a new band of merry men against the jihadists?
"Rushdie knighted in honours list," from the BBC, with thanks to Leon:
Salman Rushdie, who went into hiding under threat of death after an Iranian fatwa, has been knighted by the Queen.His book The Satanic Verses offended Muslims worldwide and a bounty was placed on his head in 1989.
But since the Indian-born author return to public life in 1999, he has not shied away from controversy.
A devout secularist, he backed Commons Leader Jack Straw over comments on Muslim women and veils and has warned against Islamic "totalitarianism"....
His fourth book - The Satanic Verses in 1988 - describes a cosmic battle between good and evil and combines fantasy, philosophy and farce.
It was immediately condemned by the Islamic world because of its perceived blasphemous depiction of the prophet Muhammad.
It was banned in many countries with large Muslim communities and in 1989, Ayatollah Khomeini, Iran's spiritual leader, issued a fatwa, ordering Sir Salman's execution. It was not formally lifted until 1998.
Despite living as a virtual prisoner, with full police protection, Sir Salman continued to write and produced several novels and essays during his confinement.
His re-emergence has not been without controversy.
In backing Jack Straw over his comments on Muslim women wearing veils, Sir Salman said veils "suck" as they were a symbol of the "limitation of women".
He also weighed into the furore surrounding the Danish cartoons, which satirised the Prophet Muhammad, warning against Islamic "totalitarianism".
As mentioned in a previous thread, not only was Rushdie rewarded in the honours list (though I'm still trying to think what for, exactly), but also those twits Shami Shakrabarti and Christane Amanpour.
Her Majesty bestows these honours, but the choosing as to who gets honoured is far from her sole preserve. Most of those in receipt of honours are 'usually' evidently deserving of them. There are however many honoured who would not be if it were entirely up to Her Majesty and political tinkering were not involved.
Cash for Honours, anyone?
Hurrah for Sir Salman (and the Queen)! The fatwa against Rushdie in the late eighties (?) was the first thing to set alarm bells ringing in this country about the true nature of Islam. Pity many apparently still haven't learnt the lesson.
(I wish Rushdie hadn't use the phrase "sucks", though, in connection with the veils business. It makes niqab-wearing sound like a lapse of good taste.)
I'm open for a knighthood Ma'am.
Never fear, there's never been a swathe, like the swathe I'd make through the enemies of the realm.
Why do the Dhimmi BBC refer to "The Prophet Mohammed". He's only a prophet in islamic theology. Nothing else. I can't see muslim news channels referring to Jesus as "The Son of God".
If I could opt out of the BBC poll tax, I'd do it in an instant.
"Why do the Dhimmi BBC refer to "The Prophet Mohammed"?"
Yes, it always irritates me as well. But maybe since every other Muslim these days seems to be named "Mohammed", they have to distinguish -- but if so, I would prefer "prophet" in lower-case, "the prophet Mohammed". The capital "P" affords him undeserved respect from Infidels.
To Celsius and Jfgr, we could just refer to the great anointed mohammed as pro mo or mo fo. May he fry like crispy cream doughnuts on a hot summers day.
How about "the pedophile slaveholding warlord Mohammad"?
Or does that still cover too many current Mohammads?
O.K. I was on a tangent. I think it's great that the Queen knighted Salman Rushdie. Someones got the wherewithal. Thank you Queen. If your government won't do it, someone has to.
He is out of hiding? I am surprised. Did not the head honcho in Iran re-affirm his death penalty fatwa. I read where Iran has signed up 42000 suicide bomber's who were given three choices as target's. US interest's, Isreali interests, or Saloman Rushdie. I bet nearly all of them will opt to bomb him because he is a soft target, and oh so worthy...
This act of the Queen is not going to sound good to Prince Charles of Arabia
Look on the bright side. Of course it is an offense to literature. But such offenses are nothing new, and occur often, when a Nobel or a Pulitzer or a Booker or a Goncourt are awarded -- not every time, but often.
On the other hand, the offense to literary merit may be rank, but that offense is easily outweighted by the offense to Muslims. And that's not to be sneezed at.
The queen is a piece I recognize, and so is the knight, but what, scacchically, is a "rushdie" and how does it move on the board?
Hooray!
Hugh,
Just what does "scacchically" mean??? As others have mentioned, you regularly send us to the dictionary to decipher words you use (a good thing), but this one I cannot find anywhere. Even playing around with the spelling a bit doesn't help.
Did you mean "squirarchially", perhaps?
And look what the good Prince Charles has been underwriting lately:
'God will be invoked in Arabic in Westminster Cathedral on June 19, with the first performance of Sir John Tavener's The Beautiful Names. Sir John's work, commissioned by the Prince of Wales,...
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/main.jhtml?xml=/opinion/2007/06/09/do0910.xml
I first read about this in an article published in tomorrow's edition of the NYTimes (early portions of which are distributed in the metro area). This Tavener seems to be a head-in-the-clouds (sand?)artist; totally clueless about the Allah of which he writes,a shown by this exchange with the interviewer.
'"All I can say is, it's a wonderful text - basically a list of names, some of majesty, som of mercy = that I've set as theophanies: as soundings-forth on the nature of the divine, with music that reflect their meaning. The Beneficient, the Opener, the Subtle..."
And the Dangerous?
"Yes, that's one of the names. The Koran can be quite forceful at times. Not that I've read it all, or in the original Arabic. That's beyond me. But I have a brother who a Sufi, and he finds God in the Koran in ways he can't in the Bible. A loving God. That's there as well."'
[Article not available to link to on-line yet; probably tomorrow.]
I never thought, as an American, I'd be saying "Long Live the Queen", but I am now!
Vee-
"Scacchic" means "pertaining to chess" (a sound like "schak" in many ancient tongues).
Hugh-
The "Rushdie" is the little horse ridden by the "Knight", often overlooked for the rider.
It tends to have a hobby, like advertising.
(I have an old 45 rpm record with jingle lyrics written by Salman for a tuneful savings institution in England, circa 1975-80... with a disco music beat. Cheesy as gorgonzola. I'd love to show up at the knighting ceremony and ask him to sign the picture sleeve, but don't think I have any spare garters.)
i have never been a big fan of Sir Salman, he has brought too much trouble to my country for that. (I used to think that i really should read 'Midnight's Children', but eventually i got over it).
However, i do think the knighthood is a timely gesture, of a V-shaped kind, to the Islamists, and i hope that their inevitable outrage will stop stop them from enjoying their supper.
Perhaps we can now put Sir Salman into the lists against Sir Iqbal Sicranie (aka The Keeper of the Queen's Fanatics), so they can do a bit of jousting ?
Get Sir Sean Connery and Kevin to reprise King Richard and Robin and i think the show could run and run.....
"As mentioned in a previous thread, not only was Rushdie rewarded in the honours list (though I'm still trying to think what for, exactly), but also those twits Shami Shakrabarti and Christane Amanpour.
Her Majesty bestows these honours, but the choosing as to who gets honoured is far from her sole preserve. Most of those in receipt of honours are 'usually' evidently deserving of them. There are however many honoured who would not be if it were entirely up to Her Majesty and political tinkering were not involved.
Cash for Honours, anyone?"
Well...if you want to talk about Political Tinkering... Amanpour is no twit and she spent part of her childhood in Iran, he father is Persian, and her family fled the country when the Islamic Revolution was cemented. Interesting that she be honoured the same time Salman Rushdie has been as well. Maybe it's just a coincidence, maybe it's not...
Thanks, profitsbeard, for the explanation of scacchic. I didn't think to just Google the word itself; old habits (use of a dictionary) die hard.
I, for one, welcome Rushdie into the Peerage.
Rushdie didn't just do advertisements for gorgonzola. He did a book-length one for the Sandinistas. It is called "The Jaguar's Smile."
Vee ,
"Yes, that's one of the names. The Koran can be quite forceful at times. Not that I've read it all, or in the original Arabic. That's beyond me. But I have a brother who a Sufi, and he finds God in the Koran in ways he can't in the Bible. A loving God. That's there as well."'
A loving god? Oh yeah, that 3%, Lol.