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Salman Rushdie, the author whose writing led to death threats from Iran in the 1980s, was attacked and apparently stabbed in the neck Friday (Saturday morning AEST) by a man who rushed the stage as he was about to give a lecture in western New York.
A bloodied Rushdie, 75, was flown to a hospital. His condition was not immediately known. His agent, Andrew Wylie, said the writer was undergoing surgery, but he had no other details.
An Associated Press reporter witnessed a man confront Rushdie on stage at the Chautauqua Institution and begin punching or stabbing him 10 to 15 times as he was being introduced. The 75-year-old author was pushed or fell to the floor and a state trooper at the scene took the suspect into custody, New York police said.
Authorities did not immediately identify the attacker or offer any information on his motive.
State police said Rushdie was apparently stabbed in the neck. New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said later that he was alive and "getting the care he needs".
Dr. Martin Haskell, a physician who was among those who rushed to help, described Rushdie's wounds as "serious but recoverable".
Event moderator Henry Reese, a co-founder of an organisation that offers residencies to writers facing persecution, was also attacked and suffered a minor head injury, police said.
Rabbi Charles Savenor was among the roughly 2,500 people in the audience. Amid gasps, spectators were ushered out of the outdoor amphitheater.
The assailant ran onto the platform "and started pounding on Mr. Rushdie. At first you're like, 'What's going on?' And then it became abundantly clear in a few seconds that he was being beaten," Savenor said. He said the attack lasted about 20 seconds.
Another spectator, Kathleen Jones, said the attacker was dressed in black, with a black mask.
"We thought perhaps it was part of a stunt to show that there's still a lot of controversy around this author. But it became evident in a few seconds" that it wasn't, she said.
Another witness told CNN there were no security searches or metal detectors at the event. The witness said the attacker "walked quickly" down an aisle and jumped on stage, approaching the author and "making a stabbing motion with his hand repeatedly."
Following the attack, some longtime visitors to the center questioned why there wasn't tighter security for the event, given the decades of threats against Rushdie and a bounty on his head in the Muslim world offering more than $US3 million ($4.22 million) for anyone who kills him.
A bloodied Rushdie was quickly surrounded by a small group of people who held up his legs, presumably to send more blood to his chest.
In a statement the non-profit education center and summer resort said it is "coordinating with law enforcement and emergency officials on a public response following today's attack of Salman Rushdie on the Chautauqua Amphitheater stage".
Writers such as Stephen King and JK Rowling expressed well wishes for Rushdie via Twitter.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson tweeted that he was "appalled" that Rushdie has been stabbed "while exercising a right we should never cease to defend".
Rushdie has been a prominent spokesman for free expression and liberal causes. He is a former president of PEN America, which said it was "reeling from shock and horror" at the attack.
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"We can think of no comparable incident of a public violent attack on a literary writer on American soil," CEO Suzanne Nossel said in a statement.
"Salman Rushdie has been targeted for his words for decades but has never flinched nor faltered," she added.
Rushdie's 1988 novel The Satanic Verses was viewed as blasphemous by many Muslims, who saw a character as an insult to the Prophet Muhammad, among other objections. Across the Muslim world, often-violent protests erupted against Rushdie, who was born in India to a Muslim family.
At least 45 people were killed in riots over the book, including 12 people in Rushdie's hometown of Mumbai. In 1991, a Japanese translator of the book was stabbed to death and an Italian translator survived a knife attack. In 1993, the book's Norwegian publisher was shot three times and survived.
The novel was banned in Iran, where the late leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini issued a 1989 fatwa, or edict, calling for Rushdie's death. Khomeini died that same year.
Iran's current Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has never issued a fatwa of his own withdrawing the edict, though Iran in recent years hasn't focused on the writer.
Iran's mission to the United Nations did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Friday's attack.
A bounty of more than $US3 million ($4.22 million) has also been offered for anyone who kills Rushdie.
The death threats and bounty led Rushdie to go into hiding under a British government protection program, including a round-the-clock armed guard. Rushdie emerged after nine years of seclusion and cautiously resumed more public appearances, maintaining his outspoken criticism of religious extremism overall.
He has said he is proud of his fight for freedom of expression, saying in a 2012 talk in New York that terrorism is really the art of fear.
"The only way you can defeat it is by deciding not to be afraid," he said.
Iran's government has long since distanced itself from Khomeini's decree, but anti-Rushdie sentiment has lingered. The Index on Censorship, an organisation promoting free expression, said money was raised to boost the reward for his killing as recently as 2016, underscoring that the fatwa for his death still stands.
In 2012, Rushdie published a memoir, Joseph Anton, about the fatwa. The title came from the pseudonym Rushdie had used while in hiding.
Rushdie rose to prominence with his Booker Prize-winning 1981 novel Midnight's Children, but his name became known around the world after The Satanic Verses.
The Chautauqua Institution, about 120 kilometres southwest of Buffalo in a rural corner of New York, has served for more than a century as a place for reflection and spiritual guidance.
Visitors don't pass through metal detectors or undergo bag checks. Most people leave the doors to their century-old cottages unlocked at night.
Police said a state trooper was assigned to Rushdie's lecture.
The Chautauqua center is known for its summertime lecture series, where Rushdie has spoken before. Speakers address a different topic each week.
Rushdie and moderator Henry Reese were set to discuss "the United States as asylum for writers and other artists in exile and as a home for freedom of creative expression".
Source: 9News
