Saturday 13 August 2022 02:55 PM JK Rowling gets DEATH THREAT from Islamist after Salman Rushdie attack trends now
British author JK Rowling has received a death threat from an Islamist extremist based in Pakistan who appears to have praised Salman Rushdie's suspected attacker, pledged allegiance to Iran's theocratic dictator Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and branded Israel, Ukraine and India 'terrorist states'.
The Harry Potter writer and free speech campaigner - who has been pilloried by trans activists for her beliefs on gender - had expressed her horror at the sickening attempt on Rushdie's life in upstate New York when she was issued the chilling threat on Twitter.
Meer Asif Aziz, who describes himself on Twitter as a 'student, social activist, political activist and research activist' based in Karachi, has made tasteless 'jokes' about how to destroy Israel and branded it and Putin-savaged Ukraine - as well as Pakistan's chief geopolitical rival India - 'terrorist states'.
Aziz also appears to support the Supreme Leader of Iran, Khamenei, who frequently rants about Israel in deranged, genocidal tweets. In one of Khamenei's posts about the 'oppressive Yazidis', for instance, Aziz responded with a heart emoji.
And responding to another tweet from the Iranian dictator, Aziz gushed : 'Dear leader your struggle for Islamic world will not be wasted until we young generation are with you'.
Rowling, 57, had posted last night about Rushdie's stabbing: 'Horrifying news. Feeling very sick right now. Let him be ok'.
Aziz, who had described Rushdie's alleged attacker Hadi Matar, 24, as a 'revolutionary Shia fighter', then threatened: 'Don't worry you are next'.
In a bid to get Aziz booted off Twitter, Rowling this afternoon posted: '@TwitterSupport any chance of some support?'. Critics have accused the social media giant of 'double standards' over which accounts it chooses to kick off the site. Twitter dramatically chose to shut down Donald Trump's account over his role in the invasion of the US Capitol by a mob wearing MAGA caps on January 6 last year - but still allows Khamenei to make threats against Israel.
Rowling also confirmed that police are involved, telling her followers: 'To all sending supportive messages: thank you. Police are involved (were already involved on other threats).'
She and horror writer Stephen King are among the authors and notable faces voicing their disbelief after Rushdie, 75, was stabbed up to 15 times - including once in the neck - in upstate New York at a lecture about free speech. The Indian-born British author, whose writing led to unprecedented death threats from Iran in the 1980s, was to deliver a lecture at the Chautauqua Institution when the incident occurred, leaving him with an apparent stab wound to the neck.
British author JK Rowling has condemned the 'horrifying' attempt on Salman Rushdie's life in upstate New York
Meer Asif Aziz describes as a 'student, social activist, political activist and research activist' based in Karachi
The Harry Potter writer said on Twitter last night: 'Horrifying news. Feeling very sick right now. Let him be ok'. She received the chilling reply: 'Don't worry you are next'
Aziz has made tasteless 'jokes' about how to destroy Israel and branded it and Putin-savaged Ukraine - as well as Pakistan's chief geopolitical rival India - 'terrorist states'. He also appears to support the Supreme Leader of Iran, who frequently rants about Israel in genocidal tweets. In one of Khamenei's posts about the 'oppressive Yazidis', Aziz responded with a heart emoji
On stage at the lecture theatre: Sir Salman Rushdie is seen on the left at the the Chautauqua Institution
As he was transported to hospital by helicopter, with his condition unclear, a number of authors took to social media to speak of their shock following the 'horrific' incident.
Renowned American author of horror and fantasy novels King added: 'I hope Salman Rushdie is okay.'
Prime Minister Boris Johnson tweeted: 'Appalled that Sir Salman Rushdie has been stabbed while exercising a right we should never cease to defend. Right now my thoughts are with his loved ones. We are all hoping he is okay.'
The fake driver's license that was found on 24-year-old Hadi Mater bore the name Hassan Mughniyah. Both, the first and second names are linked to infamous terrorist organization Hezbollah
The man accused of stabbing author Salman Rushdie held a fake driver's license bearing the surname of an infamous Hezbollah commander, it has been claimed.
That driver's license, which was was found on 24-year-old Hadi Mater bore the name Hassan Mughniyah. Both the first and second names are linked to infamous terrorist organization Hezbollah. The group's current leader is named Hassan Nasrallah. While one of the group's most notorious figures was Imad Mughniyeh, who was killed in a CIA-linked assassination in Syria in 2008.
NBC New York reports that Mater's social media accounts showed that he was sympathetic to Shia causes, including supporting the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps.
Since the 1980s, the IRGC have been linked to Hezbollah, offering training and funding to the primarily Lebanon-based terrorist organization. Hezbollah's logo is based on the IRGC's.
According to the Council on Foreign Relation's profile on Hezbollah: 'The Iran-backed group is driven by its opposition to Israel and its resistance to Western influence in the Middle East.'
Witnesses to the stabbing say that the suspect wore black clothing and a black mask during the attack on The Satanic Verses author in Buffalo on Friday.
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Nick Barley, director of Edinburgh International Book Festival, encouraged authors to read from Sir Salman's books at their events this year, adding: 'As we open this year's Edinburgh International Book Festival, we send love and best wishes to Salman Rushdie.
'Salman visited us last in 2019 and joined us online last year. We are inspired by his courage and are thinking of him at this difficult time. This tragedy is a painful reminder of the fragility of things we hold dear and a call to action: we won't be intimidated by those who would use violence rather than words.
'As a gesture of support and solidarity we are inviting all authors appearing in the adult programme to read a sentence from one of Salman's books at the beginning of their book festival event.'
Journalist and author of Empireland, Sathnam Sanghera, tweeted: 'Passage from Midnight's Children in my last ever exam. Poster of The Moor's Last Sigh had place on my (pretentious) student bedroom wall. Quote from Satanic Verses opens Empireland.
'Lots of British Asian writers wouldn't be writers
