As I wrote in a published article in Britain at the time of the issuing of the fatwa against Salman Rushdie, and repeat now with unchanged conviction, we must defend him, accept the obligation to keep him guarded, proclaim his right to say whatever he wants to say. But (I added) it is regrettable that our principled obligation is to such a man with such opinions as he has aired. (For instance, that Prime Minister Thatcher was likely to establish concentration camps! I could give a reference to his own words then, but no longer have it.)
Yes, too bad he’s a leftist, but he still should be protected. They’re still trying to kill him.
Flashback: the Hitchens brothers on Question Time arguing with Shirley Williams on Rushdie’s knighthood:
A now former PM makes an appearance pretending to care about freedom of speech.
More news about Salman Rushdie:
I like Boris Johnson’s comments best, while much appreciating Christopher Hitchens’s splendidly belligerent attack on pinko Shirley Williams.
Yes Johnson was good at talking the talk. I wonder what he will do next, perhaps he will write a book about how they laughed as they got drunk ignoring their own lockdown rules. I rather suspect he will get a well-paid job at some big investment firm next, doing rather little for his high salary, and giving speeches about the importance of combatting climate change, another cause which he also doesn’t believe in. Worst case scenario I suppose he will become another Blair, accumulating millions somehow without really doing any work, starting dodgy think-tanks and so forth, and constantly appearing in the corrupt news media. I hope it’s not the latter because that would really make me sick. 
Plus there’s also this:
Yes, he’s another Bush - a Rino!
But he’s right about Rushdie’s horrible books.
So at least he was honest at the time!