Presumption of guilt and had their careers ruined during the era of McCarthyism and the Second Red Scare, or even killed like Julius and Ethel Rosenberg. The McCarthyites 'never produced a single Communist spy whose guilt was proved in court.' In 1989, Ayatollah Khomeini, supreme leader of Iran, pronounced a death sentence by fatwa on Salman Rushdie and anyone assisting publication of his book, "The Satanic Verses"; 'I call on all Muslims wherever they may be in the world to kill them without delay'. the Fatwa was condemned for violating national sovereignty, freedom of speech, and the Muslim principle of fiqh. In the
Knighthood of Salman Rushdie for a mass demonstration outside Blackburn Town Hall on 21 July 2007. The Muslim Council of Britain released a statement saying they were "disturbed at the deliberate political decision to confer a knighthood to Salman Rushdie...[who] caused deep hurt to Muslims everywhere." They characterised the honour as a "deliberate provocation". They offered suggestions to mosques and Islamic groups in the UK urging their fellow Muslims to "face provocation with dignity and wisdom" when protesting the knighthood and "resist efforts by fringe elements in the community to exploit disappointment felt at the award." They wrote "We should not allow the situation