Queen Elizabeth proved to the world that Great Britain was still great Saturday by bestowing a knighthood honor on author Salman Rushdie, whose 1989 book, The Satanic Verses
, was viewed as blasphemous in nations such as Iran and Pakistan---despite the fact that the book has never been translated into the native languages of those countries.I guess they just looked at the pictures in the book at the local Barnes & Nobles. Wait, no....they couldn't have done that because none of Rushdie's books are available there.
But the very existence of The Satanic Verses is just too much for some crazies to handle. And Rushdie, who has to live by looking over his shoulder just to make sure there is not an assassin behind him, is a hot target now that he is Sir Salman Rushdie.
Iranian foreign minister spokesman, Mohammad Ali Hosseini, said "Knighting one of the most hated figures in the Islamic world is a clear sign of Islamophobia among high-ranking British officials."
Pakistani Religious Affairs Minister Ijaz-ul-Haq, took things much further, saying "If somebody has to attack by strapping bombs to his body to protect the honour of the Prophet, then it is justified."
Meanwhile there were no protests or death threats coming from Israel, despite the continuing sales of the pre-revolution Russian anti-Semitic fraud, The Protocols of the Elders of Zion. That book is very popular in Iran, Pakistan, and throughout the Muslim world--and yes, that book is available in the local languages.
Back in England, The Times' David Finkelstein has an online petion in support of Rushdie's knighthood, but Finkelstein is asking that only British residents sign it.
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