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Could it be? A show of infidel defiance from none other than the Queen of Great Britain -- the fabled land where “underground” sharia law permeates regions such as Londonistan. After outraging the umma a year ago by announcing that Salman Rushdie -- variously known in the Islamic world as apostate-heretic-blasphemer -- would be knighted, the Brits are actually going through with it. More kudos to them.
"Queen Confers Knighthood on Salman Rushdie," from Associated Press, June 25:
Queen Elizabeth II conferred a knighthood on "The Satanic Verses" author Salman Rushdie on Wednesday, a year after the announcement of the knighthood provoked protests from the Muslim world.Some Muslims accused Rushdie him of blasphemy in the book and Iranian leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini pronounced a death sentence on him in 1989. […]
Rushdie was forced to accept round-the-clock protection after "The Satanic Verses," was published in 1988. The Iranian government withdrew the death sentence in 1998 and Rushdie has gradually returned to public life. [...]
Many Muslims are of the opinion that the only one capable of retracting a fatwa — in this case, the late Khomeini — must be the same one who issued it. In other words, a fatwa issued by a dead Ayatollah is a perpetual fatwa.
He added: "At this stage ,you know, it's certainly not a day to talk about controversy, it's a day for myself and my family to celebrate this."
Though surely not in complete ease and security.
Posted by Raymond at June 25, 2008 2:15 PM
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God save the Queen. And Salman Rushdie.
Posted by: undaunted![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.jihadwatch.org/dhimmiwatch/nav-commenters.gif)
at June 25, 2008 2:38 PM
I don't think much of Lizzie, who bestows the knighthood on all and sundry.The list of mediocre and tacky individuals thus beknighted is long. And many are so desperate for that 'Sir', and thus unworthy in their craven desire for importance. And Rushdie is not such a great writer. There are others more deserving of such a title for their literary contributions.
But anything, anything, to put the barbarians in their place! The more defiance the better. So this is good news and congratulations to Lizzie for not backing down.
at June 25, 2008 3:23 PM
johndoe
The queen doesn't come up with the list - the Prime Minister does.
Posted by: Infidel Pride at June 25, 2008 3:41 PM
Bravo Salman Rushdie for writing "The Satanic Verses," and for living under a "fatwa!"
Posted by: darcy at June 25, 2008 5:00 PM
Infidel Pride is right. We tried to explain it all last time this was discussed. Ho hum.
I am surprised that the government has not chickened out, but maybe they know that no-one worth caring about actually understands how this process works, so that the rage of the easily-provoked will be directed at the Queen and not at them, thus further undermining an institution which is an obstacle both to The Party and to The Religion. Or so they hope.
at June 25, 2008 5:07 PM
M Al.Content: The Queen is not an automaton or zombie robot who just carries out necessary tasks ordained by others. Or is she? Perhaps that's what you like her to be. Not my idea of a monarch. She is a human being who has the power and ability to make responsible choices of her own, but these are not usually forthcoming.
Posted by: johndoe at June 25, 2008 5:55 PM
Last week The Queen signed the royal assent for the UK to become a subject nation of the EU Commission. The Queen is now the State Governor
The only power she ever had was this veto on parliament. I think she can be safely ignored
Posted by: Sebastien at June 25, 2008 5:59 PM
I do disctinctly recall, a year ago when this was announced, that some Muslim bigwig imam person issued a not-so-thinly-veiled threat against Queen Elizabeth if she did indeed go through it. Something like "It would go very badly for you if you do that". Which could be taken one of several ways. So I'm very curious to see what outbursts happen in the next few days now that the knighting is officially accomplished.
And yes, BIG kudos to her!
Posted by: Madame Vengier at June 25, 2008 6:33 PM
Oh, and in honor of the celebration, here are some timely words from Rushdie, from an interview in 2006:
"What I fear most is that, when we look back in 25 years’ time at this moment, what we will have seen is the surrender of the West, without a shot being fired. They’ll say that in the name of tolerance and acceptance, we tied our own hands and slit our own throats."
at June 25, 2008 6:38 PM
"What is freedom of expression? Without the freedom to offend, it doesn't exist." --Salman Rushdie
One of my favorite quotations.
Posted by: darcy at June 25, 2008 6:43 PM
The fact that this would need to be mentioned is sad in itself.. OF COURSE England can Knight whomever THEY please..
Since when do they need *permission*??!!
What da fook..??
Are we *there* already..?
Posted by: Ummah Gummah at June 26, 2008 3:48 AM
I'm staggered that anyone in the Muslim world managed to read enough of "The Satanic Verses" to find the alleged offensive bits.
I tried to read it but gave up after a few pages due to it being incomprehensible twaddle.
Methinks Mr Rushdie benefits from "Emperor's New Clothes Syndrome".
Posted by: watling at June 26, 2008 7:35 AM
And, lest we forget, the UK has withdrawn a Knighthood from Robert Mugabe.
From the Guardian UK:
The award of a knighthood to the author Salman Rushdie justifies suicide attacks, a Pakistani government minister said today.
"This is an occasion for the 1.5 billion Muslims to look at the seriousness of this decision," Mohammed Ijaz ul-Haq, religious affairs minister, told the Pakistani parliament in Islamabad. "The west is accusing Muslims of extremism and terrorism. If someone exploded a bomb on his body he would be right to do so unless the British government apologises and withdraws the 'sir' title."
at June 26, 2008 8:54 AM
"The award of a knighthood to the author Salman Rushdie justifies suicide attacks, a Pakistani government minister said today."
Oh go screw yourselves, Barbarians.
And that's exactly what our "leaders" should be saying.
at June 26, 2008 8:57 AM
That'll show the daft buggers!
Posted by: tanstaafl at June 26, 2008 9:04 AM
Methinks Mr Rushdie benefits from "Emperor's New Clothes Syndrome".
Posted by: watling at June 26, 2008 7:35 AM
What? You mean he's "naked," i.e. no substance to his writing?
Posted by: darcy at June 26, 2008 11:15 AM
That'll show the daft buggers!
Posted by: tanstaafl at June 26, 2008 9:04 AM
Yeah - those words definitely would.
Posted by: darcy at June 26, 2008 11:16 AM
No, darcy. I mean he has a reputation for being a great writer despite the fact that an opinion on his work is purely subjective. I happen to dislike "The Satanic Verses" and couldn't wait to put it down. A veritable "unpickupable" book, if ever there was one.
I wonder how many people bought or borrowed his book from a library purely because they wanted to read the alleged juicy bits, but then neither found them nor finished the book?
Similarly, Nelson Mandela is widely perceived to be a great leader. What is not mentioned in the mainstream press is that he was a terrorist who ordered ANC people to commit atrocities against innocent people.
Posted by: watling at June 26, 2008 12:59 PM
watling,
The subjectivity of awards is common , think the Booker prize or even the Nobel prize. I think the argument is that Rushdie has a body of work , which has critical literary acclaim and he did suffer for his art , and he is almost an establishment figure now. I have never read his work so I cant comment on its appeal , and "The Satanic Verses" sounds a very unappealling read to me even though Rushdie did describe it as a comedy. Of course Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini also didnt read it either ( or his minions) but that didnt stop him from asking for his head and killing translators associated with the work.
I have tried to read Arundhati Roy's Booker prize winning , 'God of Small things ' , but couldnt and came to the conclusion the prize was hopeless politically compromised. Then there's the Noble Peace prize winners , Carter (2002) and Gore (2007) ... say no more. Compared to these I think the Rushdie knighthood is well deserved especially in the message it sends in answer to Islamic intimidation.
Your point about Nelson Mandela is well taken , he was a communist terrorist ...and it was only after the fall of the Soviet empire that he switched to negotiation and reconciliation and the ANC suddenly morphed into a "Democractic" entity. I notce Mandela CANNOT bring himself to critise or comment on Mugabe's police state.
Posted by: David Xavier at June 26, 2008 6:58 PM
You may have missed this bit...Mugabe got his knighthood yanked yesterday.
LOL
at June 26, 2008 8:12 PM
I haven't read 'the satanic verses' but my husband did, to see what all the fuss was about. He finished it, too. He said he quite enjoyed it. But then he's a science fiction fan and a lot of modern science fiction is seriously weird, so he's used to that kind of thing. My husband had read something else by Rushdie, years and years ago - a slim volume of ...science fiction. I kid you not. Rushdie's first literary effort was science fiction.
Posted by: dumbledoresarmy at June 27, 2008 12:34 AM
Madame Vengier makes a good point regarding the rushdie interview, here it is in full from the Independant Newspaper :-
Posted by: DaveMate at June 27, 2008 4:17 AM
A Victory for Anti-Dhimmitude?
...........................
Well, a partial victory, anyway. From the Minneapolis Star-Tribune:
"Rushdie receives knighthood (quietly)
"The investiture of the embattled author of "The Satanic Verses" was not announced in advance
"LONDON--Author Salman Rushdie slipped into Buckingham Palace Wednesday to receive a knighthood from Queen Elizabeth II that had angered many parts of the Muslim world when the honor was announced last year.
"In a break with normal proceedure, the palace did not announce ahead of time that Rushdie would be honored Wednesday.
"A spokeswoman for the queen, who asked not to be identified because of the monarch's policy, said Rushdie was not listed amoung those to be honored because he was a late addition to the investure. She refused to comment on whether his name had been withheld because of security concerns."
Well, I'm certainly glad that the Queen did not withdraw her knighthood from Rushdie due to Muslim "sensitivities". It might have been a bit more rousing, though, if he hadn't been slipped in the back door at the last minute.
Watling wrote:
I'm staggered that anyone in the Muslim world managed to read enough of "The Satanic Verses" to find the alleged offensive bits.
I tried to read it but gave up after a few pages due to it being incomprehensible twaddle.
.......................
To be honest, I had the same experience with the Satanic Verses--which surprised me, since I am a voracious reader. I have enjoyed some of his other work, though.
But the issue is not whether Salman Rushdie is a great author.
I'm sorry, but I think you are entirely missing the point. An author should have the right to write whatever he desires, and people can read his work, or not, as they so desire, without threat to their lives.
It wasn't just Rushdie who was threatened. His publishers, editors, and translators were threatened as well. His Japanese translator was murdered, and his Italian translator severly assaulted.
Bookstores and libraries were threatened if they carried "The Satanic Verses", and several large chains pulled it. Venerable Berkeley bookstore Cody's Books was firebombed for carrying the book, and an unexploded timed device was found by police in the ceiling over the information desk.
The owner called a meeting of all bookstore staff. He said he understood if they were frightened, and asked for their input. All staff stayed on, and they voted to not only continue stocking the book, but put up a large display in the window featuring Rushdie's work.
As a small sad aside, Cody's Books just this week closed after struggling the last few years and closing several sattelite stores. They had been a bastion of free speech since opening in 1956.
Posted by: gravenimage at June 27, 2008 2:34 PM
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