Silenced: How Apostasy and Blasphemy Codes Are Choking Freedom Worldwide (90 page)

1
. Lee Keath, “Friday Brings New Prophet Drawing Protests,”
Associated Press (AP
), February 10, 2006,
http://muzi.com/news/ll/english/10003182.shtml
.

2
. “Islam-West Divide ‘Grows Deeper,’ ”
BBC News
, February 10, 2006,
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4699716.stm
.

3
. Sadaqat Jan, “Protestors Rally in Pakistan, Iraq,”
AP
, February 21, 2006.

4
. “Palestinian Children Demonstrate Against Denmark,”
Jerusalem Post
, February 13, 2006.

5
. Riaz Khan, “Cleric Announces $1M Bounty on Cartoonist,”
AP
, February 17, 2006,
http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1P1-118608901.html
. In Morocco, thousands demonstrated, and lawyers in Tangier claimed the cartoons were part of a campaign beginning with “the profanation of the Qur’an in Guantanamo”; see Oumnia Guedda, “Prophet Caricatures,”
Morocco Times
, February 14, 2006. On February 19, tens of thousands demonstrated in Istanbul; see Ali Kotarumalos, “Muslims Assault U.S. Embassy in Indonesia,”
AP
, February 19, 2006,
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11445755/
.

6
. In Bhopal, India, about 10,000 held a silent protest, with some banners stating, “Stop all anti-Islamic activities.” Thousands demonstrated in Gaza and in the capitals of Pakistan and Bangladesh; see “Islam-West divide ‘Grows Deeper.’ ”

7
. Jytte Klausen,
The Cartoons That Shook the World
(New Haven: Yale University Press, 2009), 107.

8
. Henryk M. Broder, “How a Film Triggered a Global Panic,”
Der Spiegel
, March 20, 2008,
http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/0,1518,542255,00.html
; Leander Schaerlackens, “Dutch Film to Slam Islam,”
Washington Times
, February 29, 2008,
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2008/feb/29/dutch-film-to-slam-islam/
;
Ian Traynor, “‘I Don’t Hate Muslims. I Hate Islam,’ Says Holland’s Rising Political Star,”
The Guardian
, February 17, 2008,
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/feb/17/netherlands.islam
.

9
. “UN Chief Condemns Anti-Islam Film,”
BBC News
, March 28, 2008,
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/7319188.stm
; “Muslim, UN Outrage over Dutch MP’s Anti-Islam Film,”
Agence France Presse (AFP
), March 28, 2008; “Arab, Muslim Leaders Denounce Film by Dutch Filmmaker,”
AP
, March 29, 2008,
http://www.wsvn.com/news/articles/local/MI81627/
; see also
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/03/29/2202493.htm?section=justin
.

10
. “Dutch Chief’s Son Killed in Afghanistan for ‘Fitna,’”
AlArabiya
, April 18, 2008,
http://www.alarabiya.net/articles/2008/04/18/48527.html
.

11
. Marcus Eliason, “Khomeini Sanctions Murder of ‘Blasphemous Novelist,’”
AP
, February 14, 1989,
http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=860&dat=19890222&id=CjkQAAAAIBAJ&sjid=G48DAAAAIBAJ&pg=5697,5374875
; Robert Barr, “‘Satanic Verses’ Author Scrubs U.S. Trip; Iranians Announce Bounty,”
AP
, February 15, 1989,
http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1928&dat=19890215&id=SQcgAAAAIBAJ&sjid=6GQFAAAAIBAJ&pg=1452,2808617
.

12
. Daniel Pipes,
The Rushdie Affair
(New Brunswick: Transaction Publishers, 2003), 113–18, notes that the title
The Satanic Verses
caught the attention of many who had not bothered to read the book itself and was frequently misinterpreted, particularly in translation, as meaning that the entire Qur’an was written by the devil.

13
. In addition to the book itself (
The Satanic Verses
[New York: Random House, 2008]), this analysis draws on Lawrence Pollard, “Satanic Verses’ Polarising Untruths,”
BBC News
, February 14, 2009,
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/7889974.stm
, and Pipes,
The Rushdie Affair
, 53–69.

14
. This consists by its own count of fifty-seven Muslim countries (it includes “the State of Palestine” and “Northern Cyprus”), headquartered in Saudi Arabia. See
chapter 11
.

15
. Christopher Walker, “Islamic Leaders Urge Muslim World to Ban ‘Blasphemous Rushdie Book,’ ”
The Times
(London), November 22, 1988.

16
. Pipes,
The Rushdie Affair
, 20–24, 134–35; Andrew Morgan, “Muslims Call in for Ban on Rushdie Publishers; Viking-Penguin,”
The Times
(London), January 30, 1989; Sheila Rule, “Khomeini Urges Muslims to Kill Author of Novel,”
New York Times
, February 15, 1989
http://www.nytimes.com/books/99/04/18/specials/rushdie-khomeini.html
.

17
. Eliason, “Khomeini Sanctions Murder of ‘Blasphemous Novelist’ ”; Rule, “Khomeini Urges Muslims to Kill Author of Novel”; “French Firm Suspends Publication of ‘Satanic Verses,’ ”
United Press International
, February 15, 1989; “Waldenbooks: We Never Banned ‘Satanic Verses,’ ”
United Press International
, February 24, 1989; “B. Dalton’s to Return ‘Satanic Verses’ to Shelves,”
AP
, February 23, 1989,
http://www.nytimes.com/1989/02/23/world/b-dalton-to-resume-its-sales-of-satanic-verses.html?pagewanted=1
; Kathleen Maclay, “Bombs Strike Berkeley Bookstores, New York Newspaper,”
AP
, February 28, 1989.

18
. Eliason, “Khomeini Sanctions Murder of ‘Blasphemous Novelist’”; Harvey Morris and Heather Mills, “Rushdie ‘Will Not Be Forgiven,’ ”
The Independent
, February 20, 1989.

19
. Rule, “Khomeini Urges Muslims to Kill Author of Novel”; Morris and Mills, “Rushdie ‘Will Not Be Forgiven’ ”; Mona Ziade, “Iran Severs Relations with Britain over Book,”
AP
, March 7, 1989,
http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2002&dat=19890307&id=urkiAAAAIBAJ&sjid=QLUFAAAAIBAJ&pg=4175,1159671
; “Islamic Conference denounces Rushdie,”
United Press International
, March 16, 1989.

20
. “Thousands of Moslems Clash in Protest Against Salman Rushdie,”
AP
, May 27, 1989,
http://articles.latimes.com/1989-05-28/news/mn-1613_1_london-protest-rushdie-book-blasphemy-law-satanic-verses
; Angella Johnson, “MPs Call for Verses Ban,”
The Guardian
, May 29, 1989.

21
. Daniel Pipes, “Salman Rushdie’s Delusion, and Ours,”
Commentary
, December 1998,
http://www.danielpipes.org/article/301
; Karin Davies, “Moslems Picket British Publisher,”
United Press International
, January 8, 1990.

22
. Karin Davies, “Rushdie: ‘I Don’t Intend to Be Defeated,’”
United Press International
, April 27, 1990; Alexander Macleod, “Britons Link Novel, Hostage Issue,”
Christian Science Monitor
, May 18, 1990.

23
. “Rushdie Apologizes for Offending Muslims,”
The Globe and Mail
, September 28, 1990; Nicholas de Jongh, “It’s Been Hell, Says Contrite Rushdie,”
The Guardian
, September 28, 1990; “Threat to Rushdie ‘Is Not Changed,’ ”
The Times
, September 29, 1990.

24
. “Iranian Minister: Rushdie Death Decree Irrevocable,”
AP
, December 9, 1990,
http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1893&dat=19901210&id=8MYfAAAAIBAJ&sjid=uNgEAAAAIBAJ&pg=3757,5729637
.

25
. Angella Johnson, “Rushdie Makes Peace Overtures,”
The Guardian
, November 27, 1990; Iqbal Wahhab, “British Muslim Urges Iran to Stay Firm on Rushdie Sentence,”
The Independent
, December 4, 1990.

26
. Hugo Young, “Commentary: The Muddle of Rushdie’s Satanic Prose,”
The Guardian
, December 20, 1990.

27
. Robert Barr, “Rushdie Embraces Islamic Faith,”
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
, December 25, 1990; “Rushdie Won’t Seek Paperback Version,”
The News
(Boca Raton), December 25, 1990,
http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1290&dat=19901225&id=5NkPAAAAIBAJ&sjid=KY0DAAAAIBAJ&pg=6399,5366187
.

28
. Pipes,
The Rushdie Affair
, 205, suggested that publishers and editors were particularly vulnerable since they were implicated by the ayatollah’s edict, yet unlike Rushdie they were not under guard.

29
. “Rushdie’s Associates Targeted by Islamic Zealots,”
AP
, February 13, 1994; “Translator Hurt,”
The Independent
, July 4, 1991; “Rushdie, in Rare Public Appearance, Says Hitmen after Him,”
AP
, September 15, 1991,
http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1368&dat=19910916&id=o20WAAAAIBAJ&sjid=9RIEAAAAIBAJ&pg=5405,3600901
.

30
. T. R. Reid, “ ‘Satanic Verses’ Translator Found Slain,”
Washington Post
, July 13, 1991,
http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1P2-1074580.html
; Kevin Sullivan, “Rushdie Translator Stabbed to Death,”
The Guardian
, July 13, 1991; Ashok S. Rai, “Slain ‘Verses’ Translator Revered, Reviled,”
The Nikkei Weekly
, August 3, 1991. Igarashi’s murder remained unsolved when the statute of limitations was reached fifteen years later; “Statute of Limitations to Expire on ‘Satanic Verses’ Murder in Japan,”
Japan Economic Newswire
, July 4, 2006.

31
. Paris: Editions la Découverte, 1993; English translation,
For Rushdie: Essays by Muslim Writers in Defense of Free Speech
(New York: George Braziller, 1994).

32
. Koenraad Elst, postscript to Pipes,
The Rushdie Affair
, 259; “Turkish Paper Publishes ‘Satanic Verses,’ ”
AFP
, May 26, 2003; “Fundamentalists Protest at Satanic Verses,”
AFP
, May 28, 1993; “35 Dead, 60 Injured in Hotel Fire Set by Turkish Fundamentalists,”
AFP
, July 3, 1993; Hugh Pope, “Turkish Zealots Kill 40 in ‘Verses’ Attack,”
The Independent
, July 3, 1993,
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/turkish-zealots-kill-40-in-verses-attack-militants-burn-down-hotel-in-riot-over-rushdies-book-1482639.html
; “Turkey: Writer Aziz Nesin Denies Engaging in Anti-religious Propaganda,” Turkish TV broadcast of July 4, 1993, carried in BBC Summary of World Broadcasts, July 6, 1993; Yalman Onaran, “Burned: An Author Charged with Inciting a Crowd to Kill Him,”
Columbia Journalism Review
, November 1994; Rasit Gurdilek, “Fundamentalist Rampage Leaves 35 Dead, 60 Injured,”
AP
, July 3, 1993; “Rushdie’s Supporters ‘Will Also Face Death,’ ”
The Herald
(Glasgow), July 8, 1993.

33
. Doug Mellgren, “Salman Rushdie’s Norwegian Publisher Shot,”
AP
, April 11, 1993,
http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-969291.html
; Mellgren, “Iran Denies Links to Shooting of Rushdie’s Publisher,”
AP
, October 14, 1993; “Police Hunting Nygaard Gunmen, Iranian Ambassador Called In,”
AFP
, October 21, 1993; “Norway Closes Rushdie Inquiry,”
Washington Post
, April 22, 1995.

34
. “Norway Reopens Satanic Verses Shooting Case,”
CBC News
, November 27, 2010,
http://www.cbc.ca/news/arts/books/story/2010/11/27/norway-publisher-rushdie.html
.

35
. Jamie Wilson and Helen Carter, “Rushdie’s Nightmare Years as a Fugitive,”
The Guardian
, September 23, 1998; Anne McElvoy, “Banned on the Run,”
The Times
, August 26, 1995; Jan
M. Olsen, “Danes Cancel Rushdie Visit, Citing Inadequate Security,”
AP
, October 31, 1996; “Tehran Confirms Fatwa Against Rushdie,”
AFP
, February 15, 2008; David Pallister, “Rushdie Wins Government Pledge to Combat Fatwa,”
The Guardian
, February 17, 1998; “Iran Says It Won’t Execute Rushdie,”
AP
, March 1, 1998; “Senior Iran Cleric Says Rushdie Death Sentence Is Irrevocable,”
AP
, July 24, 1998,
http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1345&dat=19910214&id=LMgSAAAAIBAJ&sjid=CfoDAAAAIBAJ&pg=5057,1778807
.

36
. Pipes,
The Rushdie Affair
, 184–87, describes Iranian state-sponsored assassinations or assassination attempts, particularly against Iranian expatriates in the West, during the 1980s.

37
. “French Journalists Win First EU ‘For Diversity. Against Discrimination’ Award,” EU press release IP/05/512, May 2, 2005,
http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=IP/05/512&format=HTML&aged=0&language=EN&guiLanguage=en
.

38
. Anthony Shadid and Kevin Sullivan, “Anatomy of the Cartoon Protest Movement,”
Washington Post
, February 16, 2006,
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/02/15/AR2006021502865.html
; Paul Marshall, interview with Flemming Rose, Copenhagen, August 6, 2006; Klausen,
Cartoons That Shook the World
, 14–15. Klausen reports that three other cartoonists turned down the assignment, one citing fear and the others unrelated reasons.