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Cat Stevens Returns, Explains Himself
Cat Stevens is back. Well, his name now is Yusuf Islam, and well call him that, but old habits are hard to break, and you know, he was our Cat for a long, long time.Friedman must have hit his head falling off the meterite at mecca Last night he returned to the U.S. and the stage, playing a nice long set at the Allen Room at Jazz at Lincoln Center for invited guests including rocker Patti Smith and a heavy mix of folks from the media like the New York Times pop critic Jon Pareles, filmmaker Albert Maysles, rock impresario David Spero and writer Daphne Merkin. The show, taped for KCRW-FM, was interspersed with a conversation with that radio stations Nic Harcourt. But you know, it wasnt until after the mesmerizing, emotional show that I got to ask Yusuf a tough question: Does he regret denouncing author Salman Rushdie and appearing to endorse the fatwa, or death sentence, leveled at him by Ayatollah Khomeini? You mean calling for Rushdie's murder because he wrote a book? I never said it, he replied, smiling. Bullshit He used his two index fingers to show polar opposites. We were just poles apart. he said of Rushdie. We disagreed. But I never said such a thing. Most in the know Americans will be wondering how this Muslim terrorist funding (Hamas) dirtbag got let back in the country. Who knows maybe the INS thought he was a Mexican. It was 17 years ago, he said, shaking his head. Rushdie had criticized the Muslim religion in his book, "The Satanic Verses. Many in Iran considered it blasphemy. Yusuf said to me, All we want is peace. Well, it was a heady time. All we want is peace. Guess that explains 9-11 Posted by: Icerigger 2006-12-20 |
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