Salman Rushdie Stabbing May Spark Copycat Attacks on Jews, Experts Warn

Rushdie’s stabbing may not be the last lone wolf attack inspired by Iranian rhetoric.

By Pesach Benson, United with Israel

Jewish security experts warned the Jewish Chronicle on Thursday that the stabbing of author Salman Rushdie may spark copycat attacks on Jews around the world.

“The Iranian regime has now inspired a lone wolf attack for the first time. It wasn’t directed by Tehran, it was carried out by an individual with a knife, inspired by its rhetoric,” said David Patrikarakos to the JC.

Patrikarakos, a British Jewish journalist, is the author of “Nuclear Iran: Birth of An Atomic State,” and “War in 140 Characters: How Social Media Is Reshaping Conflict in the Twenty-First Century.”

Mark Gardner, Chief Executive of the Community Security Trust (CST), Britain’s antisemitism watchdog, told the JC, “Any terror atrocity that attracts global attention carries a risk of copycat attacks. And we can take it for granted that any jihadi terrorist is going to be motivated by antisemitism.”

Gardner added, “That is exactly why the CST always insists that community security must not be turned on and off like a tap. It has to be constantly in place because these threats are real and constant.”

In 1989, Iran’s then-Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini issued a fatwa (religious ruling) calling for Rushdie’s death over the author’s book, “Satanic Verses.” According to Khomeini, the book was blasphemous.

Rushdie, now 75, was stabbed during a speaking appearance in Chautauqua, upstate New York, in mid-August. Hadi Matar, a 24-year-old American of Lebanese descent, was filmed attacking the author and being subdued.

Matar’s social media accounts included praise for Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC). In a jailhouse interview with the New York Post, Matar declined to answer a question about the fatwa on his lawyer’s advice, saying only, “I respect the ayatollah. I think he’s a great person. That’s as far as I will say about that.”

Fears of copycat attacks have risen in recent days following the leak of an unverified screengrab of a WhatsApp conversation between a user identified as Matar and a friend.

Asked about getting past bodyguards to attack Rushdie, Matar appeared to reply, “It’s not easy. But I mean I was thinking to have faith in Allah. Allah helped Imam Ali lift Khaybar. Maybe he can help a momin [believer] get through bodyguards. Bodyguards are not impossible.”

The name Khaybar refers to the Battle of Khaybar in 628 C.E. An army of Muslims led by Mohammed overran the Khaybar oasis in the Arabian peninsula inhabited by Jews and defended by a network of forts. Scholars suggest that the terms of surrender set a precedent in Islamic law for the status of dhimmis, non-Muslims living under Muslim rule.

According to the JC, the screengrab was traced by Iran analyst Holly Dagres of the Atlantic Council think tank to a Twitter account purportedly belonging to one of Matar’s friends. The tweet has since been deleted.

The JCC added that screengrab was also seen on a Telegram channel belonging to the IRGC.

Commenting on the screengrab, Patrikarakos told the JC that Tehran’s regime “has a pathological hatred of Israel and indulges in naked Holocaust denial and antisemitism. This fans the flames of hatred in its sympathisers all over the world.”

According to Rushdie’s agent, the writer is suffering damage to his liver and nerves in his arm, and will likely lose his eye.