The Tailor of Panama had labelled him anti-Semitic for his portrayal of one of the novel's characters. Rushdie responded that he wished Le Carre had expressed similar feelings after Rushdie was subject to a fatwa for "The Satanic Verses", viewed as anti-Islamic by some Muslims. Rushdie opined that Le Carre was an "illiterate, pompous ass," while Le Carre replied that Rushdie was a "self-canonizing, arrogant colonialist." "Guardian" columnist Mark Lawson claimed the two authors appeared to be 'settling old scores', stating that: "The Collected Guardian Correspondence of Salman Rushdie and John Le Carre is in the great tradition of literary poison pen letters: both
Knighthood of Salman Rushdie the knighthood was seen as a "'provocative act' which angered one and a half billion Muslims worldwide." Adams insisted that "the honour was given for Rushdie's services for literature and should therefore not be regarded as insult." Also on the 19th, Mohammad Reza Bahonar vice speaker of the Majlis of Iran, told the nation's parliament that the knighthood "has hurt the feelings of more than 1.5 billion Muslims" and that "Salman Rushdie has turned into a hated corpse which cannot be resurrected by any action. The action by the British queen in knighting Salman Rushdie, the apostate, is an unwise