Salman Rushdie Says A Free Palestine Would Be A "Taliban-Like State"
NDTV
The India-born 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.
Author Salman Rushdie has said that if a Palestinian state is established today, it would be a "Taliban-like state" government by Hamas. Mr Rushdie made the comment during a literary festival in Germany where he presented his new book 'Knife', which recounts the stabbing attack on the author in 2022. The novelist also criticised the anti-Israel student protests, saying in an interview with German television programme RBB24 that it was "strange" that progressive youth would support Hamas, which he called a "fascist terrorist group".
Mr Rushdie said he has long supported a Palestinian state but warned it would become an authoritarian regime like Afghanistan.
"Is this what the progressive movements of the Western Left want to create?" he further said.
