Salman Rushdie, the Indian-born American Booker Prize winning author, said if the Palestinian state is created imminently then it would resemble a “Taliban-like state” is created.
Rushdie said that he has batted for a Palestinian state for most of his life but if there would be a Palestinian state now it would be run by Hamas and would be a client state of Iran.
“(I have) argued for a Palestinian state for most of my life – since the 1980s, probably – right now, if there was a Palestinian state, it would be run by Hamas, and that would make it a Taliban-like state, and it would be a client state of Iran,” Rushdie said while speaking on a podcast run by German broadcaster Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg, released last week.
“Is that what the progressive movements of the western left wish to create? To have another Taliban, another Ayatollah-like state, in the Middle East, right next to Israel?,” he further added.
Students and others have set up tent encampments on campuses around the country to press colleges to cut financial ties with Israel. Tensions over the war have been high on campuses since the fall but demonstrations spread quickly following an April 18 police crackdown on an encampment at Columbia University.
More than 3,000 people have been arrested on US campuses over the past month. Campuses have been calmer recently, with fewer arrests, as students leave for summer break. Still, colleges have been vigilant for disruptions to commencement ceremonies.
Rushdie said the protests should at least mention Hamas. He said that it is strange to see students who are progressive support a fascist terrorist group. “The fact is that I think any human being right now has to be distressed by what is happening in Gaza because of the quantity of innocent death. I would just like some of the protests to mention Hamas. Because that’s where this started, and Hamas is a terrorist organisation. It’s very strange for young, progressive student politics to kind of support a fascist terrorist group,” Rushdie further added.
Student protests also rocked New York University where Salman Rushdie is a faculty member. He did, however, mention that police action on students is not a good idea but also criticised student group occupying buildings and damaging university property.
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