Excerpt:
Sir Salman Rushdie spoke at Montreal's Jewish Public Library last week. We were two of an estimated 700-strong (mostly Jewish) audience.
Rushdie's insightful and entertaining address on "literature and politics in the modern world" was excellent, but the evening's most noteworthy moment arrived with the Q&A, when, inevitably, his response was solicited regarding Quebec's new Bill 62, which bans face coverings in the realm of public services. Rushdie gracefully sidestepped any comment on the law itself, but did express a robust opinion on the niqab.
His own family, Rushdie said, ranged from atheism to full Islamic practice, but "Not even the religious members would accept wearing a veil. They would say it is an instrument of oppression." My husband and I applauded loudly, but few others did.