Rushdie spent years in hiding with police protection after Iran’s Grand Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini issued a fatwa, or edict, in 1989 calling for his death over the alleged blasphemy of the novel “The Satanic Verses.” It is quite remarkably alarming, and we need to be very aware of it, and to fight against it very hard.”

“The attack on the idea of libraries themselves. “Now I am sitting here in the U.S., I have to look at the extraordinary attack on libraries, and books for children in schools,” he said. He told the awards ceremony that “we live in a moment, I think, at which freedom of expression, freedom to publish has not in my lifetime been under such threat in the countries of the West.” His alleged assailant, Hadi Matar, has pleaded not guilty to charges of assault and attempted murder. He was blinded in his right eye and suffered nerve damage to his hand when he was attacked at a literary festival in New York state in August. Rushdie, 75, looked thinner than before the attack and wore glasses with one tinted lens. Organizers said the honor “acknowledges the determination of authors, publishers and booksellers who take a stand against intolerance, despite the ongoing threats they face.” Rushdie delivered a video message to the British Book Awards, where he was awarded the Freedom to Publish award on Monday evening. LONDON - Writer Salman Rushdie has made a public speech, nine months after being stabbed and seriously injured onstage, warning that freedom of expression in the West is under its most severe threat in his lifetime.

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