The British-American writer and Booker Prize winner Salman Rushdie said in an interview with RBB that he no longer supports the creation of a Palestinian state.
"I supported it for most of my life, since the 1980s. But if there were a Palestinian state now, it would be run by Hamas and we would have a Taliban-like state. A satellite state of Iran. Is this what the progressive movements of the Western Left want to create?" he said.
Rushdie also commented on the numerous demonstrations in support of Gaza. "I wish the protesters would remember the role of Hamas. It's strange that people who call themselves 'progressive' support a fascist terrorist group," he said, noting that these demonstrations often slide into antisemitism.
Rushdie has been the victim of repeated death threats and attempts on his life since the publication of his 1988 novel "The Satanic Verses," which was declared blasphemous by Ayatollah Khomeini. Iran's supreme leader had issued a fatwa – a religious edict – calling for Rushdie's death over that book, which was critical of Islam.
In 2022, Rushdie lost sight in one eye after being repeatedly stabbed on stage while speaking at an arts center in New York. The attacker, a 24-year-old Shi'ite Muslim American from New Jersey, was arrested at the scene and is standing trial for attempted murder.
