Alex Gibney Tells the Story of the Attack on Salman Rushdie
The 2022 attack on Salman Rushdie at the Chautauqua Institution made international headlines, but many people weren’t aware of the decades-long history leading up to it. Here’s a quick recap: In 1989, Iran’s Ayatollah Khomeini issued a call for Rushdie’s assassination, and the deaths of anyone involved in publishing his novel, The Satanic Verses. This wasn’t just an empty threat. Following the declaration, bookstores and newspaper offices were attacked, and several people connected to the book were violently targeted. Rushdie’s Japanese translator was killed, his Italian translator was stabbed, and his Norwegian publisher was shot. Tragically, a hotel in Turkey was set ablaze during a conference where Rushdie’s Turkish translator, the renowned author Aziz Nesin, was scheduled to speak, resulting in the deaths of thirty-seven people, primarily artists and intellectuals. (I recall watching these events unfold vividly; I was in Turkey at the time, admired Rushdie’s work, and was surprised to find some friends who felt the attack had some justification.)
