“As he defended the book one evening in the early 1980s at the Carnegie Endowment in New York, I knew that some of what he said was true enough, just as some of it was arguably less so. (Edward incautiously dismissed 'speculations about the latest conspiracy to blow up buildings or sabotage commercial airliners' as the feverish product of 'highly exaggerated stereotypes.') Covering Islam took as its point of departure the Iranian revolution, which by then had been fully counter-revolutionized by the forces of the Ayatollah. Yes, it was true that the Western press—which was one half of the pun about 'covering'—had been naïve if not worse about the Pahlavi regime. Yes, it was true that few Middle East 'analysts' had had any concept of the latent power of Shi'ism to create mass mobilization. Yes, it was true that almost every stage of the Iranian drama had come as a complete surprise to the media. But wasn't it also the case that Iranian society was now disappearing into a void of retrogressive piety that had levied war against Iranian Kurdistan and used medieval weaponry such as stoning and amputation against its internal critics, or even against those like unveiled women whose very existence constituted an offense?” WomenMediaNew YorkHuman RightsIranMiddle EastWomens RightsTheocracyAmputationSeptember 11 Attacks1980sEdward SaidKhomeiniIranian RevolutionWomen In IslamStoningWomen And ReligionWomen In IranCarnegie EndowmentCovering IslamIranian KurdistanMohammed Reza PahlaviShiism Book:Hitch 22: A Memoir Source: Hitch 22: A Memoir
“When the Washington Post telephoned me at home on Valentine's Day 1989 to ask my opinion about the Ayatollah Khomeini's fatwah, I felt at once that here was something that completely committed me. It was, if I can phrase it like this, a matter of everything I hated versus everything I loved. In the hate column: dictatorship, religion, stupidity, demagogy, censorship, bullying, and intimidation. In the love column: literature, irony, humor, the individual, and the defense of free expression. Plus, of course, friendship—though I like to think that my reaction would have been the same if I hadn't known Salman at all. To re-state the premise of the argument again: the theocratic head of a foreign despotism offers money in his own name in order to suborn the murder of a civilian citizen of another country, for the offense of writing a work of fiction. No more root-and-branch challenge to the values of the Enlightenment (on the bicentennial of the fall of the Bastille) or to the First Amendment to the Constitution, could be imagined. President George H.W. Bush, when asked to comment, could only say grudgingly that, as far as he could see, no American interests were involved…” LoveHumorReligionHateLiteratureFriendshipPrinciplesUnited StatesAtheismEnlightenmentStupidityIronyIranBullyingFascismIndividualismCensorshipFree SpeechDictatorshipFirst AmendmentIntimidationTheocracyRushdieKhomeiniSatanic VersesBastilleDemagogyFatwaUnited States ConstitutionWashington PostGeorge Hw Bush Book:Hitch 22: A Memoir Source: Hitch 22: A Memoir
“Look at Ayatollah Khomeini's revolution and the slogans that they used: anti-imperialism; anti-colonialism; the struggle of the have-nots against the haves; the state monopoly over economy, which was very much patterned after the Soviet Union. All of these things did not come out of Islam. Islam is not that developed.” LooksStatesUsedStruggleEconomyRevolutionUnionsIslamSovietColonialismSoviet UnionImperialismMonopolySlogansKhomeini Author:Azar Nafisi
“Prior to his takeover of Iran, Ayatollah Khomeini was camping near Paris, giving daily news conferences to a fawning international press corps without a murmur of complaint to France from the United States about the disaster it was coddling in the incredibly naive liberal belief that this extremist cleric would be an improvement over the Shah.” GivingStatesWould BeBeliefUnitedUnited StatesNewsPressesInternationalImprovementDisasterFranceParisIranComplaintsNaiveConferencesExtremistCampingTakeoversDaily NewsKhomeini Author:Alexander Haig
“Those who regarded the revolution, during Imam Khomeini's time, as a deviation, are now [wielding] the tools of terror and oppression” RevolutionToolsTerrorOppressionDeviationKhomeini Author:Mohammad Khatami
“The freedom-lovers of the world mourn the sad demise of Imam Khomeini.” WorldLoversMournDemiseKhomeini Author:Ruhollah Khomeini
“Khomeini has offered us the opportunity to regain our frail religion ... faith in the power of words.” OpportunityPower Of WordsFrailKhomeini Author:Norman Mailer
“Since Khomeini's death, the popular appeal of an Islamic state - and of fundamentalism - has surely dimmed. Thinkers still debate and warriors kill, but no country seems prepared to emulate Iran. Perhaps revolutions happen only under majestic leaders, and no one like Khomeini has since appeared.” StillsCountryStatesSeemsHappensLeaderRevolutionPreparedDebateWarriorAppealsIslamicIranThinkerFundamentalismEmulateMajesticIslamic StateKhomeini Author:Ruhollah Khomeini
“The Islamic Revolution of Iran is honourable for it is the cry which has its origin in Ayatollah Khomeini's conscience.” CryRevolutionConscienceIslamicIranKhomeiniIslamic Revolution Author:Ruhollah Khomeini
“The leaders of the Pahlavi regime, in an attempt to forestall the rising tide of the Islamic revolutionary movement, were hard at work to cast doubt on the question of the Imam Khomeini's position as a Marja'a (a top religious authority) and in this way, undermine public faith in his academic, political and religious competence.” WayHardPoliticalReligiousLeaderDoubtMovementPositionAuthorityCastsRevolutionaryRisingIslamicRegimesAcademicTidesCompetenceKhomeini Author:Yousef Saanei
“If you look at the discourse before the revolution, whether it is the left communist, whether it is the right secularist...the entirety of this discourse was such that it encouraged the kind of ascendancy for a man like Ayatollah Khomeini.” IfsMenLooksKindLeftRevolutionCommunistDiscourseEntiretyAscendancyKhomeini Author:Akbar Ganji
“Khomeini obviously had many problems, but he had one clever side to him. He never made economic promises to people and as a result, he never led to dissatisfaction in this perspective. Because they need to get votes, they use misleading slogans. And this leads to rising expectations. I had a personal experience.” PeopleNeedsMadeUseProblemSidesResultsEconomicPerspectivePromiseExpectationsVoteCleverRisingSlogansMisleadPersonal ExperiencesDissatisfactionKhomeini Author:Akbar Ganji
“The only thing worse than a bad review from the Ayatollah Khomeini would be a good review from the Ayatollah Khomeini.” Would BeReviewsBad ReviewsKhomeini Author:Salman Rushdie
“They have no business administering government policies in a country that favors freedom and equality. ... Can you imagine having the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini as defense minister, or Mahatma Gandhi as minister of health, education, and welfare The Hindu and Buddhist idea of karma and the Muslim idea of kismet, or fate condemn the poor and the disabled to their suffering. ... It's the will of Allah. These beliefs are nothing but abject fatalism, and they would devastate the social gains this nation has made if they were ever put into practice.” IfsMadeIdeasCountryGovernmentSufferingBeliefNationsSocialPoorPracticeFateImaginePolicyGainsDefenseFavorsKarmaBuddhistMinistersWelfareHinduismDisabledFatalismGovernment PolicyHealth EducationFreedom And EqualityKismetKhomeini Author:Pat Robertson
“I remain faithful to the ideals of Imam Khomeini and the Islamic Revolution of 1357.” RevolutionIdealsFaithfulIslamicKhomeiniIslamic Revolution Author:Mehdi Karroubi
“The name of Khomeini will always remain in the new chapter of Iranian history.” NamesChaptersIranianKhomeini Author:Erich Honecker
“I consider Khomeini's position dangerous. He does not have the right to pass judgment-that is not the Islamic way.” WayDoeDangerousPositionJudgmentIslamicAggravationKhomeini Author:Naguib Mahfouz
“Without Khomeini, we would not be where we are. What a pity that, when pregnant with him, his mother did not choose to have an abortion.” MotherPityAbortionPregnancyPregnantKhomeini Author:Oriana Fallaci
“Khomeini was not a puppet like Arafat or Qaddafi or the many other dictators I met in the Islamic world. He was a sort of Pope, a sort of king - a real leader.” WorldRealLeaderKingsMetsIslamicDictatorPopePuppetsArafatKhomeini Author:Oriana Fallaci