Salman Rushdie Has Opinion On Book Burning

Author Salman Rushdie, whose novel "The Satanic Verses" has been burned at demonstrations and earned him a fatwa, gave his opinion on the now-deflated threats to burn the Koran by Florida Pastor Terry Jones. His thoughts? "I'm not in favor of burning books." Surprising! At the Brooklyn Book festival yesterday, he also chimed in on the Park 51 drama, coming out in favor of the plan. He said, "It's just a stupid argument. Of course they should be able to build a mosque there." And now the controversy can be over and done with, right?

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By Jaya Saxena in News on September 13, 2010 4:25 PM

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John L

I thought they were going to kill this guy?

Potty Boy

Unlike Joe Pistone, there's still a contract over Salman's head. Alas, he's not banging Padma anymore. He's got all of the downside and none of the upside of fame.

sofaman

Sorry Jaya, you're late to the party. The argument was over when this statement was made. . . by a religios leader. . . a muslim. . . who explains how the mosque fails to meet the standards laid down by the Qur'an.

"If a step taken by an individual causes disharmony then it is ‘fitna.’ [The mosque] has caused so much pain. There are many mosques already in New York … if there is opposition to a mosque on grounds of hatred I would be the first to confront it. But over here [Ground Zero] it is a matter of sensitivity."

-- Tarek Fatah

Tarek Fatah is the founder of the Muslim Canadian Congress

Sulayman

You're not quoting the entire thing. At the time, he thought the mosque was "meant to be a deliberate provocation," and on that issue he's wrong. Fortunately he is not representative of the Muslims in Canada nor the ones in America, nor the 1500+ Muslims who live in Lower Manhattan (that figure does not include the thousands who commute in as well)