Watch the video: Salman Rushdie awarded the German book trade’s Peace Prize
STORY: The Peace Prize of the German Book Trade was awarded in Frankfurt’s Paulskirche on Sunday. A peace prize – in times of crisis, for a very special author. The Indian-British writer Salman Rushdie receives the award “for his indomitability and his affirmation of life,” as the certificate states. The 76-year-old accepted the award to great applause – and in his acceptance speech showed his view of times of crisis. “We are gathered here to talk about peace while a war rages not far away. A war born of one man’s tyranny and greed for power and conquest. A sad tale that will not seem unfamiliar to a German audience And another bitter conflict has broken out in Israel and the Gaza Strip. Peace seems like a pipe dream to me at the moment. Born in intoxication, smoked in a pipe.” “What do we do with freedom of speech when it is so frequently abused? The answer is that we should still do with renewed vigor what we have always had to do. Bad speech – answer with better speech, false narratives with better narratives confront, answer hate with love and believe that the truth can still be successful even in an age of lies.” Rushdie barely survived a knife attack last year. In 1989, Iran’s then Supreme Leader issued a religious edict calling on Muslims to kill him. Rushdie, who was born in India to a Muslim family, then lived under British police protection for nine years. The fatwa was never officially repealed.