COLUMN: I am not Charlie
Following the attack on the French satire magazine Charlie Hebdo, many people have expressed thoughts on free speech and moral content.
Over the course of two days in early January, 12 journalists and one police officer were killed in an attack on the magazine's Paris headquarters carried out by Al-Queda affiliates. Five others were killed in related attacks elsewhere in the Ile-de-France region.
I have sincere sympathy for everyone affected by the attack. It was barbaric and intolerable.
Before we embrace the “Je Suis Charlie” – I Am Charlie – saying that has recently been circulating social media, ask yourself: Do I really want to be Charlie?
In my experience attending Catholic school in Dearborn, which is 40 percent Arab-American, I've seen how Muslims are treated as objects of "satire." I learned how Muslims will passionately defend Islam when Pastor Terry Jones came to town in 2011. I also witnessed "Christians" taunt Muslims with severed pig heads during a 2012 Arab-American Festival.
It goes both ways.
I am not under any circumstance attempting to justify the killing of 17 people in cold blood to avenge the Prophet Mohammed.
When we say "Je Suis Charlie," do we really want to celebrate Charlie Hebdo's offensive content?
France holds western Europe’s largest Muslim minority population – 5 million to be exact – many of whom come from France’s north-African colonies. This population has been restricted to ghettos that have been cultivating in Paris suburbs since about the 1960s, somewhat like Dearborn. Muslims have been religiously attacked by French law which forbids religious garb and praying on the streets.
In a country where Islamic minorities have routinely been satirized by Charlie Hebdo’s content, the magazine acted as a bully picking on one target because they knew everyone would join in laughing.The magazine focused the bulk of its satire on attacking Islam.
Charlie Hebdo has the legal right to publish what they want, about whomever they want. That right should never be compromised. France's law on the Freedom of the Press of 1881 assures that. However, Article R. 624-3 of France's penal code forbids defamation and creating incitement to hate or discriminate against any group.
Great freedoms are accompanied by great responsibilities. Political satire and defaming a minority are two very different things. I support Charlie Hebdo satirists publishing what they believe in. I can mourn the slain satirists and rally to protect freedom of speech. I do not have to support the racist, homophobic and misogynistic Charlie Hebdo and its content.
An image of Jesus Christ in a compromising sexual position would be offensive to many Christians. Bullets ripping through the U.S. Constitution and into the president would be offensive to many Americans. Imagine the offense taken when western media irreverently and repeatedly portrays the prophet of Islam in the same light. Don't forget this is being published in a city with a sensitive 10 percent Muslim minority.
The religion of Islam has unfairly been lumped together with the hostile radicalized sects within it. This is apparent in the 26 French mosques that have been victimized by hate-acts since the attack, including grenades and pig heads being thrown into them.
We all have the responsibility and the power to dispel the prejudices of previous generations before us. If we choose to be Charlie, we also choose to embrace the damaging, hate-inciting and racist content that is Charlie.
Before we cry “Je Suis Charlie” in support of the magazine exercising its essential right to free speech, we ought consider whether Charlie Hebdo is the best ambassador to support such a great freedom.
I am proud to not be Charlie.
