UPDATE: Thanks to Middle East Eye for publishing an earlier version of this piece here.
The mass murder yesterday in the offices of the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, in which 10 staff members and two policemen were gunned down, represents a gross failure of so many. Most obviously, it represents a failure of the French security forces who failed miserably in their job. It represents the failure too of Francois Hollande and the nation’s political class, which have done little to address both Islamophobia, anti-immigrant and anti-Semitic sentiments that seethe just beneath the surface of French life.
Now let me say a few controversial things: it represents a failure of the French Muslim community from which the killers sprang. It represents a failure of the French press and public which fostered the puerile satirical farce represented by the magazine’s portrayal of Islam. It represents the failure of the French right which simmered the cauldron of Islamophobia to which the killers, at least in part, responded.
Elaborating on the failures I listed above: one of the mass-murderers served a three-year prison sentence for recruiting French Muslims to join Middle East jihad. It’s now being reported that one of the brothers trained with Al Qaeda in Yemen in 2011. Why didn’t the security services raise his level of threat assessment to the highest one possible? Why wasn’t he monitored and surveilled intensively? Why did they not ensure he didn’t get access to firearms?
Charlie Hebdo was under constant threat from Islamists. Yet the police offered two officers to guard the offices, both of which gave their lives doing their duty (one of the murdered policemen was a Muslim). And is it possible that two men can commit mass murder in broad daylight in France’s capital and manage to get away without any security force (except the two guards) intercepting them?
Remember the same lapses that occurred in the case of the Toulouse Jewish school attacked by a different Islamist gunman. That individual managed two separate attacks which killed both French Jews and soldiers. He too had a history of association with Islamist terror which should have flagged him and drawn much greater attention from the authorities.
As for the failure of the French political class, Angela Merkel last week nationally denounced anti-Muslim and anti-immigrant fever which was gripping her country. She stood up for what was right. What have French politicians done in the face of the surge in racism from the National Front?
No doubt, this attack will draw even stronger support to this Party which thrives on hatred of the Other in French society. The blood of these French men and women fertilizes the soil of racism and hatred on which Marie Le Pen thrives. We shouldn’t forget that Israel’s far right too has made common cause with her in their joint jihad against the “Muslim hordes.”
The statement above in which I noted the failure of the French Muslim community was not made to cast blame on all Muslims. I understand that there are killers in the name of God among all religions and ethnic groups. The acts of the psychopathic few aren’t the fault of the many. But just as I do soul-searching when I read of the murders committed by mad-dog settlers Jews, and mourn their perversion of Judaism as I know it, it becomes more important than ever for the real Muslims to rise against this hate and fight it with every fiber of their being.
Regarding Charlie Hebdo itself…during the Jyllands Posten controversy, I wrote critically about the deliberate provocations of the cartoonists which led to the attack. Not that I dismissed their right to draw what they liked. Not that I dismissed freedom of speech and the press. But both the Danish and Hebdo cartoons were perverse provocation for its own sake.
Political satire through the medium of cartoons is a hallowed tradition, which I both admire and support. Think of the moral, social crusades fostered by such distinguished satirists as Honore Daumier, Thomas Nast and Herblock. And the power and empathy that Art Spiegelman brought to the Holocaust in Maus. But why waste such a sharp instrument on such a dull subject as Hebdo did? Why employ this exalted art in the service of base, degraded sentiments?
For example, there is much in Judaism and especially some of its adherents which I criticize. I regularly display cartoons that ridicule and lampoon not just Israeli policy, but the religious tenets of settlers and their ilk. But why would I attack the founders of my religion: Moses, the Biblical prophets? There are plenty of anti-Semites to do that. Similarly, unless you’re the equivalent of an anti-Semite, why would you debase the founder of Islam and its foundational tenets? Why would you not distinguish between Mohammed and those of his followers who’ve deviated from the right path, unless you hated all Islam and all Muslims? And if you do, what right do you have to the support of the news-consuming public?
Satirize Islamist terror? By all means. Criticize sects of Islam like Wahabism? Certainly. But imagine if Charlie Hebdo drew a big-nosed Moses sitting amid buckets of cash. Does no one understand why if one is wrong the other is as well? In fact, a Hebdo cartoonist derided Nicholas Sarkozy’s son for “doing well” by converting to Judaism to marry a wealthy Jewish heiress. The cartoonist was fired. But cartoonists ridiculing the Prophet are now folk heroes (see Latuff’s cartoon above).
Let me clear, nothing I’ve written above justifies in any way the murder of ten French journalists. But I am questioning the value, wisdom and quality of their enterprise as they pursued it before this attack.
The final and equally sad failure in this tragedy is that Bibi Netanyahu will, if he hasn’t already done so, release a statement to the French and the world saying: I told you so. He’ll dance a silent hora and thank his lucky stars that carnage like this has been thrown into his electoral campaign.
The real reward for tasteless political exploitation of mass slaughter goes this time to Tzipi Livni, who said this:
“We [Israelis] feel the same anger when terror hits us – and that is why we will not accept any attempt to sue our soldiers in The Hague.”
If you think this is overly cynical, not at all. If you can think that, you don’t understand the way his mind works. After 9/11 he publicly said that that sort of attack was what it would take for the world to understand what Israel faces every day. In a perverse way, he was right. The Israeli right has reaped a bitter harvest from Islamism and the west’s war on terror. It put back the Palestinian cause by years if not decades. Islamist terror is the bitter fruit on which Israeli extremism feeds.
I’ve been noting a significantly different response in progressive circles between the earlier Mohammed cartoon controversy and this one. Back in 2006, I felt like I was one of the few progressives trying to walk a fine line between denouncing the threat to Jyllands Posten while also denouncing the disgusting taste and Islamophobia of the cartoons. As I recall, reaction in some quarters especially among Jews was extremely hostile. But in the aftermath of the Hebdo attack, there have been thoughtful, nuanced pieces written both by cartoonists themselves like Joe Sacco and political journalists like Glenn Greenwald. This piece in The New Yorker is also terrific. That may be because the world has more distance from 9/11 and more sensitivity to the danger of Islamophobia.
Finally, it’s interesting to remember that way back in 2006, in response to an Iranian Holocaust denial cartoon contest, Israeli graphic artist Amitai Sandy created the Anti-Semitic Cartoon Contest. Despite what you might think, it was mostly hilarious and dead-on (with some nasty exceptions of course). It’s worth revisiting it. The point is: there are ways to satirize religious traditions that are sharp, cutting and honest without being gratuitously hateful.
A MUSLIM APOLOGY by Shehzad Ghias
Dear Richard
I am a 54 year Muslim living in London, originally from Bangladesh. You are probably the first person of Jewish origin who has expressed his views with 100% honesty! Whenever I try to start a discussion with my Muslim friends or relatives, I am always forced to shut my mouth. They would not give me any chance to say an iota of positive thing about Israel! I am not an highly educated person but through my little knowledge I think Israel & particularly the Jewish people, must increase & build a close relationship through their commonality. Because the nazism is more scarier than these few brain washed beardos. by some vicious clerics (and off course fueled by the equally vicious Natenyahu and similar gang). Muslim in general, fear God. And this really make an impact and neutralise their mind and to commit horrible crimes. In my opinion, a ‘proper’ religious Muslims are less dangerous than these pseudos like Saudis/Qataris etc.
I am not a 100% practicing religious man but I think these so called free speech moaners must at least leave all prophets & God of all religion beyond this type of vile portrayal. You mentioned the cartoon of prophet Moses. You know that its not only Jewish people but the Muslims will be extremely saddened & heartbroken and who knows they even could resort to violence for this. There are lot of other cartoons which has a religious connotations but not an outright attack on their sacred God or prophets. For example, I saw a cartoon where one bearded figure stopping gun toting queue of martyrs saying : STOP, WE HAVE RUN OUT OF VIRGINS!! I laughed for the entire day. It was hilarious. Anyway, please keep up the good, honest work. Hope for the best for this already screwed up world! Regards.
This article just perfectly points out that it was the publishers own fault. So everybody who makes satire about muslims, christians, jews, fascists or anyone else better watch out!
@ hebdo: This comment just perfectly points out what a jackass you are (my apology to jackasses)!
Just a few moments ago, I watched and listened to the commemoration broadcast from the Grand Synagogue of Paris. As the ceremony ended, Benyamin Natanyahu took center stage and made a speech. He started with a few words in broken French but spoke in Hebrew with a translator at his side. None of the TV channels were prepared and there was no English translation on CNN, BBC and France24. I turned to Al Jazeera which did an adequate job of translating Hebrew to English. The PM spoke quite well in the first 6-8 minutes but then he changed the subject to terror and counterterror. He started with the personal tragedy of the loss of his brother Yoni during the daring raid on Entebbe airport in Uganda. It was a hijacked Air France passenger jet. As he moved along, it became an election speech with the usual propaganda. I had taken some notes, but I won’t bother you with his words.
He made allowance for ‘normal’ Islam and separated the ‘radical’ Islam of Hamas, Boko Haram, al Nusra, Al Qaeda, Al Shabaab and the Islamic State. In the translation I didn’t hear AQAP or AQIM, nor the mention of Hezbollah and Iran. I will look for a transcript to get the exact speech.
○ Netanyahu speaking at Paris synagogue – ‘Enough with terror’ | JPost |
The attack on the editorial offices of Charlie Hebdo the satirical magazine which won international notoriety for publishing offensive cartoons pertaining to Mohammad, the founder of Islam. Two or three heavily armed men stormed into the building by forcing the woman at the gate to enter the access code of the high security building and fired 37 rounds of ammunition from Ak 47 rifles before making their escape they shot dead a critically injured policeman. That the attack was well planned and meticulously executed can be gleaned from the flawless getaway, escape from the scene into the woods surrounding the Parisian countryside. The French President, Francois Hollande declared that the killers would be hunted down and that the attack on the journalists was an attack on French Laws which guaranteed “freedom of expression”. The French, American and Western media have framed the attack in terms of the opposition between the liberal West which has the civilized approach to life and liberty and the barbaric totalitarian jihadists who kill in the name of religion. This way of framing the issue privileges the superiority of the West which is allegedly governed by “laws” and not “men”.
Charlie Hebdo was known all over the world for its irreverence and indeed hostile caricature of non White/ Western cultures, religions and personalities. It may be pointed out that when one of the early satirical magazine, a predecessor of the contemporary, Charlie Hebdo, published a spoof on Charles de Gaulle way back in 1970, it was banned and all copies of the magazine forfeited and destroyed. It is therefore clear that the French claim that they respect Freedom of expression rings hollow. As long as the target of attack is not European or White then it is OK. This seems to the limits set to freedom of expression in France. Can the right to offend be subsumed under the right to freedom of expression.
The western world has seen the disenchantment of the sacred and in most parts of the world people do regard certain personalities, beliefs and symbols sacred and beyond ridicule. Unfortunately in India where political discourse is derivative and based on the pretentions of the western world there is a tendency to equate the freedom of expression with the right to offend. Nothing can be more disingenuous than this argument. In the west only political and national symbols command allegiance of the people. In India we have a whole menagerie of animals, hosts of symbols, a horde of personalities all of which clamour for attention and respect and notional symbols of a recent transition to nationhood are at best second or third tier allegiances. Hence, there is no use of equating the freedom of expression with the right to offend. Reasonable freedom can exist only within the limits of mutual respect and the attack on Charlie Hebdo only demonstrates that the boundary between freedom and respect has been irrevocably broken or breached.
There is a lesson in this tragedy for France. Even since Nicholas Sarkozy became the President of France it has followed a policy of intervention in the Islamic countries and in this there is a pattern of continuity between what was happening under the rights regime and the present pseudo socialist one. The attack on Libya, Tunisia and the provocations in Syria all anger the Islamic societies and added to that is the cultural arrogance of caricature.
Kosher supermarket attack victims to be laid to rest in Israel
Thank you for link. I am deeply touched by the expressions of personal loss and grieving families.
Secondarily, I read this part:
Sharon Cohen, also took to Facebook to express her grief, “I hardly had time to open my eyes and I realized that you were no longer here. I still do not want to believe it, and yet I have no choice. Yohan, you were an example of kindness and goodness, you were the pride of your family and all your friends! And yesterday your life was torn away from you without scruples.
“01/09/2015 will forever burn in our hearts and we will avenge all those whose lives were torn off by the barbarians, I promise you!”
Quite a difference with the reaction from the brother of Paris policeman Ahmed Merabet:
Don’t avenge Charlie Hebdo deaths, says victim’s family – video
The family of one of the police officers murdered in Wednesday’s assault by Islamic extremists on the offices of Charlie Hebdo in Paris has appealed for the public not to blame all Muslims for the attack.
Ahmed Merabet, himself a Muslim, was one of the 17 victims of a three-day Islamist killing spree that has shaken France to the core. He was killed by Cherif and Said Kouachi as they escaped from the Paris office of Charlie Hebdo magazine after having mowed down 11 people inside.
“I am now telling all racists, Islamophobes and anti-Semites that one must not confuse extremists with Muslims,” his brother, Malek Merabet, said in an emotional press conference Saturday in Livry-Gargan (Seine-Saint-Denis).
Quite a difference, indeed.
Great!! Oui found a quote about a cousin talking about ‘avenge… barbarians’ while reminding us a Muslim saved the life of 5 people (assuming an Israeli be shock to read that???).
Why overlook all the talk about peace and love in the article? I did NOT attack Muslims or Islam and your comment seem to be an invitation for quotation contest (which RS is likely to shut down pretty quick) in which nobody can win as there are extremists on both sides.
“A time to be silent and a time to speak” (Koheleth 3:7)
@ Ariel:
You & I both know this brave act wasn’t important because he saved the lives of “people” (which would be fine enough), but a Muslim saved the lives of Jews. Can you tell me the last time an Israeli Jew saved the life of a Palestinian threatened by an act of terror?
@Richard “…last time an Israeli Jew saved the life of a Palestinian threatened by an act of terror?” – Are we really going down this road? With all the talking about islamophobia, I am surprised you even brought it up. I would expect nothing less from a Muslim, equally to what I would expect from a Jew, Quacker, Mormon or anyone else. Those are extremists who terrorize and the normal people help each where they can.
When is the last time an Israeli Civilian Jew extremist held Muslims as hostages at gunpoint? But here is something I found after a minute link to news.walla.co.il.
@ Ariel: So your answer to my question is that you cannot find an incident in which an Israel Jew saved the life of a Palestinian threatened by terror? As I suspected. You made light of the brave act of heroism of the Muslim shop assistant but can find no corresponding act by Israeli Jews. That’s quite instructive. And you said you’d expect nothing less of an Israeli Jew in the midst of an act of terror but still can’t manage to find one who’s saved Palestinian lives.
Israeli Jewish terrorists kill and maim Palestinians and destroy their property on a regular basis. And they always do it fully armed conforming to your definition “at gunpoint.”
@Richard – I specifically attached a link to my previous post, an article from last year. You couldn’t bear the stupidity of my comment and didn’t reach the end? link to news.walla.co.il
link to bbc.com (Turkish, yet…)
You accusations of Jewish terrorism is preposterous and are a different topic. I am not saying there is no violence from settlers but the type of circumstances at the kosher market have never been the similar in Israel or anywhere else where Israelis were the one one with the finger on the trigger (as far as I can remember).
Always the people going about their daily lives that suffer from warfare. You are right, it’should not be a contest about extreme voices. I made it clear, I have no fear of media voicing propaganda. The article in Ynet News, the journalist writing the article has a choice to make. I shudder to think how devastating each precious loss of an innocent life is and the meaning for their loved ones, relatives and friends. This should be respected from all sides. I found the statement about revenge and barberians misplaced. Same for the political hey-day for PM Netanyahu, calling for all French nationals with Jewish roots to come home to Israel. Provocative and inapproptiate. I’m glad the politicians were kept in the shadow of the massive protests on the boulevards of the City of Lights, Paris. A great demonstration of unity for the Republic.
○ Lassana Bathily, Muslim worker at Paris kosher shop, hid 5 people from gunman, incl. baby – BFMtv video
Chris Ladd who has been described as a “centre-right political pundit” and an “older style Rockefeller Republican” came up with some opinions on a Washington Times blog of which the common sense would have been worthy of Burke himself. His post was written after the Boston Marathon murders but it is equally relevant today:
“The Boston Marathon attacks have revived old claims that Islam is inherently violent and all Muslims should face heightened scrutiny. When a Lutheran kid shoots up a movie theater or a Norwegian fundamentalist describing himself as a “modern-day crusader” slaughters kids at a summer camp, we take it in stride. When someone with a connection to Islam commits a crime, every Muslim faces suspicion.
Perhaps this is a good time to investigate the question: Which religion is the most violent?
The analysis presents some challenges. Should the answer be based purely on a body count? Professor Juan Cole casually estimates that Christians chalked up roughly 50 times more violent deaths than Muslims across the past century. That, however, doesn’t necessarily prove that Christianity is more violent. It just demonstrates a high level of efficiency. To answer the question we need more than a raw death toll.
When measuring violence, should grievances count as mitigating factors? When a Christian Lebanese militia spent two days in a besieged Palestinian refugee camp raping and slaughtering civilians under Israeli supervision, ought they be excused by the previous Muslim slaughter that inspired it? And should the Muslim slaughter be excused by the Christian slaughter that inspired it? Who is guiltier, the chicken or the egg?
…
And Atheists have no room to gloat. Pol Pot, Joseph Stalin, and Mao Tse Tung tallied tens of millions of kills between them in the 20th Century alone. The absence of a religion is no more protection against fanatical rampages than blind faith.
. Your culture’s violent rampages are representative of your faith. My culture’s violent rampages are committed by lunatics and outliers who represent no one.
The most violent religion on Earth is any that have people in them. Those who are trying to win elections or ratings by telling us scary Muslim stories are playing a dangerous game. They are calling into question the basic humanity of others, making it easier for us to tolerate their persecution. They’ll get as far as our ignorance and cowardice will allow.
No matter what a religion teaches, some bloody-minded believers will twist it to justify their own dark urges. Religion does what people tell it to do. There is a clear connection between religion and violence – human beings.
Read more: link to communities.washingtontimes.com
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Ahmed and the Values of the French Republic
Don’t avenge Charlie Hebdo deaths, says victim’s family – video
The family of one of the police officers murdered in Wednesday’s assault by Islamic extremists on the offices of Charlie Hebdo in Paris has appealed for the public not to blame all Muslims for the attack.
Ahmed Merabet, himself a Muslim, was one of the 17 victims of a three-day Islamist killing spree that has shaken France to the core. He was killed by Cherif and Said Kouachi as they escaped from the Paris office of Charlie Hebdo magazine after having mowed down 11 people inside.
“I am now telling all racists, Islamophobes and anti-Semites that one must not confuse extremists with Muslims,” his brother, Malek Merabet, said in an emotional press conference Saturday in Livry-Gargan (Seine-Saint-Denis).
○ Lassana Bathily, Muslim worker at Paris kosher shop, hid 5 people from gunman, incl. baby – BFMtv video
RE: “Charlie Hebdo was under constant threat from Islamists. Yet the police offered two officers to guard the offices, both of which gave their lives doing their duty (one of the murdered policemen was a Muslim).” ~ R.S.
AND YET:
SOURCE – link to news.yahoo.com
P.S. I’m very confused. Charlie Hebdo was under constant threat, yet they brought their children there? As “human shields”?
My predominant sentiment about this all is anger. Anger at the blind and ruthless murderers who have not only caused so much personal suffering but have set back community relations in large parts of Europe, and indeed the Palestinian cause, for many years. Anger at the unscrupulous Israeli and European politicians who try to use this tragedy for their own nefarious political ends. Anger also at the popular reaction “je suis Charlie” elicited among people who have little notion of the real character of this journal which has little to do with “freedom of speech” (in Holland, where there is a centuries old tradition of that freedom, they might nevertheless have been taken to court on the basis of the “sowing hatred” articles of the Duch criminal code for which Geert Wilders has been on trial several times and will be summoned to court again this year).
[comment deleted: I don’t recall anyone asking what you thought of Oui’s comments. Make your own substantive & directly related to the post.]
A student of Schwarzkopf?
Well Arie, my husband said to me yesterday: “If you have to die for something it had better be something worthwhile”. If I look at some of these cartoons I just find them vulgar and a waste of talent. This whole affair is a tragedy without any redeeming aspects.
Richard wrote:
The real reward for tasteless political exploitation of mass slaughter goes this time to Tzipi Livni, who said this:
“We [Israelis] feel the same anger when terror hits us – and that is why we will not accept any attempt to sue our soldiers in The Hague.”
Tzipi Livni blithely forgets Israel’s and, indeed, her family’s past in this holier than thou attitude. Sir Gerald Kaufmann thought fit to remind her of these on an earlier occasion:
“The Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni asserts that her Government will have no dealings with Hamas, because they are terrorists. Tzipi Livni’s father was Eitan Livni, chief operations officer of the terrorist Irgun Zvai Leumi, who organised the blowing-up of the King David hotel in Jerusalem, in which 91 victims were killed, including four Jews.
Israel was born out of Jewish terrorism. Jewish terrorists hanged two British sergeants and booby-trapped their corpses. Irgun, together with the terrorist Stern gang, massacred 254 Palestinians in 1948 in the village of Deir Yassin.”
Read or listen to his whole speech you hasbarists and hang your heads in shame
link to publications.parliament.uk