Salman Rushdie has said that the formation of a Palestinian state “right now” would mean a “Taliban-like state” is created.
“Is that what the progressive movements of the western left wish to create? To have another Taliban, another Ayatollah-like state, in the Middle East, right next to Israel?” said the Indian-born British-American author on a podcast run by German broadcaster Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg which was Rushdie said that there has been “student upheaval” at New York University, where he a faculty member. He said that he has mixed opinions on the protests – while students have the right to demonstrate, he said, it is also necessary to ensure that other students don’t feel unsafe as a result. He added that while unleashing armed police on students is not a good idea, neither is occupying and damaging buildings.