Rushdie’s supporters were especially encouraged by the essay from Egyptian novelist and Nobel laureate Naguib Mahfouz. Mahfouz had never before committed himself unequivocally to Rushdie’s cause. “Now he’s made his mind up firmly in favor of free speech,” says Bedford.
The risks to all the contributors are real. Most of them come from countries where fundamentalism is on the rise. Morocco’s Mohammed Bennis sent a poem; in a theological treatise, Iran’s Ayatollah Djalal Gangjeih outlined why the fatwa “is neither valid nor justified under Islamic law.” In Egypt, charges of blasphemy against writers, printers and publishers have drawn eight-year prison sentences; in Algeria, a dozen secularist intellectuals have been killed in the last six months. in fact, no country is entirely safe for those with links to “The Satanic Verses.” In 1991 Rushdie’s Italian translator was knifed and his Japanese translator was stabbed to death. Last month his Norwegian publisher was shot and seriously injured. The two writers, one Muslim and one Jewish, who edited “For Rushdie” choose to remain anonymous.
Rushdie himself is speaking out more publicly for freedom of expression, visiting (under heavy guard) 13 Western countries in 17 months. “The only answer you can give to terrorists is to show you are not terrorized,” he told NEWSWEEK last month. His new supporters are showing just that.
