(AFP) — Author Salman Rushdie on Friday urged a “cessation” in fighting between Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas, saying he was filled with “horror” and “foreboding”.
Hamas carried out a deadly attack on Israel from the Gaza Strip on October 7, killing at least 1,200 people, mostly civilians who were shot, mutilated, or burned to death, according to Israeli officials.
In response, Israel launched a relentless bombing campaign on Gaza. At least 3,785 Palestinians, mostly civilians, have been killed, according to the latest toll from the Hamas-run health ministry.
Making a rare public appearance since a near-fatal stabbing attack in the United States last year, Rushdie said he was “filled with horror” at the escalating conflict.
“I am filled with horror about the attack by Hamas,” he told a press conference at the Frankfurt Book Fair, the world’s biggest publishing trade event.
“I’m filled with foreboding about what (Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu might do in return. I just hope that there can be a cessation in hostilities at the earliest point.”
Rushdie lost sight in one eye after the attack by a knife-wielding assailant who jumped on stage at an arts event in New York state in August 2022.
The author, a naturalised American based in New York, has faced death threats since his 1988 novel “The Satanic Verses” was declared blasphemous by Iran’s supreme leader.
Wearing glasses with a black lens over his right eye, Rushdie said Friday that “it’s obviously been a difficult year.
“But I’m happy to be back in reasonable health,” added the author, who is to receive the prestigious Peace Prize of the German Book Trade on Sunday.
The attack “was a pretty harsh and sharp reminder” of the fatwa issued against him, he went on.
He added that it was “somewhat surprising” as “the temperature had cooled off.”
“I’m just happy to still be here to say so — it was a close thing.”
Rushdie, 76, was stabbed multiple times in the neck and abdomen at a literary conference, before attendees and guards subdued the assailant.
Earlier this month, Rushdie’s publishers announced he will next April release a memoir about the attack entitled “Knife: Meditations After an Attempted Murder”.
Asked about the new work, he said it seemed “impossible to write anything else”.
“It would seem kind of absurd to write something else, until I had dealt with this subject.”
Editor’s Note: This story was updated to reflect a revised number on the death toll from the October 7 Hamas attack in Israel. The Israeli government estimate of 1,400 was revised to around 1,200, according to Reuters.