Who’s a Charlie? France cracks down on free speech in order to defend it

Ali Abunimah 14 January 2015

An image posted on his official Facebook page shows the French comedian Dieudonné being arrested at his home this morning in connection with comments he made on Facebook.

In grim and supreme irony, French police have fanned out to suppress free speech in order to defend it.

“France ordered prosecutors around the country to crack down on hate speech, anti-Semitism and glorifying terrorism, announcing Wednesday that 54 people had been arrested for those offenses” since last week, the Associated Press reports.

The news of the arrests comes a week after the murders of 17 people at and near the offices of the magazine Charlie Hebdo and at a Jewish supermarket in Paris.

It also comes days after dozens of world leaders, led by French President François Hollande, gathered in Paris to demonstrate in support of free speech and in defiance of the killers who sought to silence it.

The most high-profile arrest is undoubtedly that of the comedian Dieudonné, allegedly on grounds of “justifying terrorism,” for a comment he made on Facebook.

I do not find Dieudonné funny and I find much of what he says offensive. In my reading, he and his supporters deliberately blur a line that must be kept sharp between criticizing Zionism and Israel, on the one hand, and attacking Jews as Jews on the other.

This is something I have always spoken against clearly and therefore I do not see Dieudonné as someone in solidarity with Palestinians.

I also do not find Dieudonné’s defense that his bigotry is just “humor” any more convincing from him than when it comes from Charlie Hebdo.

“Justifying terrorism”

But I do not think that the Facebook comment for which Dieudonné was reportedly arrested can by any stretch be described as “justifying terrorism.” Nor do I think that if the Charlie Hebdo cartoonists who were murdered were held to the same standards that much of their work would be considered any less offensive or racist than Dieudonné’s.

And of course the implications go far beyond the personal situation of Dieudonné.

The French daily Le Figaro reports that Dieudonné was arrested by judicial police at his home near Paris for investigation of “apologie de terrorisme” – justifying or making an apologia for terrorism.

Le Figaro published this screenshot of a posting on Dieudonné’s Facebook page that apparently precipitated the arrest. It is dated 11 January, the day of the Paris march.

It states:

After this historic march, what do I say… Legendary! A magic moment equal to the Big Bang that created the universe … or at least (more local) comparable to the crowning of [Gaulish king] Vercingétorix, I’m finally back home. Know that this evening, as far as I am concerned, I feel like Charlie Coulibaly.

Amedy Coulibaly was the gunman who killed a police officer and then took hostages and killed four people at a Jewish grocery store.

Who’s a “Charlie”?

By creating the term “Charlie Coulibaly,” Dieudonné is obviously mocking the slogan “Je suis Charlie” heard all over the world in recent days. His words might be objectionable, but are they grounds for arrest for justifying terrorism?

Dieudonné’s meaning becomes clear in a letter he sent to French interior minister Bernard Cazeneuve the day after the march.

It begins: “Yesterday we were all Charlie, marching and standing tall for liberties. So that we can all continue to laugh at everything.”

“After coming home from this march I felt quite alone,” Dieudonné writes.

“For a year I have been treated as public enemy number one, even though all I’ve done is try to make people laugh, and to die of laughter, since death is laughing at us, as Charlie knows all too well alas,” Dieudonné states.

He then refers to a “peace” proposal he sent to the government weeks ago to which, he says, he has received no response. And then he says:

“As soon as I speak, you do not try to understand me, you do not want to listen. You look for pretexts to ban me. You consider me to be an Amedy Coulibaly, even though I am no different from Charlie.”

Again, I don’t buy Dieudonné’s line that much of his racist bile is misunderstood satire and humor, but the valid point he is making is that his speech is treated as violence and terrorism and he is treated like a terrorist, while those whose speech is just as disgusting were and are treated like heroes of the republic.

Dieudonné’s arrest this morning ironically vindicates his claim that he is a “Coulibaly” in the eyes of the state.

French “war on terror”

Launching the French government’s newly declared (or re-declared) “war on terrorism,” and its crackdown on dissent, Prime Minister Manuel Valls said that “racism, anti-Semitism and justifying terrorism” were “not opinions.”

The arrest of Dieudonné shows that the government will decide what constitutes an “opinion.”

We can be sure that many others whose opinions the state does not like will also be treated as “Coulibaly.” And where France goes, Europe will follow.

France, Germany and other European countries already have “hate speech laws” and it has been much remarked upon how unevenly they are applied.

Why, for example, has a Germany so concerned about “extremism,” and whose leader Angela Merkel marched in Paris, not banned the growing anti-Muslim marches in its own cities?

Europe’s politicians and elites (along with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu) joined hands to celebrate the vile bigotry of Charlie Hebdo, while Dieudonné was taken away in a morning police raid.

Capitalizing on division, pandering to bigotry and fear

If the French state is looking for a way to increase the influence of and sympathy with Dieudonné, it could not have come up with a better strategy.

Meanwhile, former French president Nicolas Sarkozy has been tweeting comments in the wake of the attacks that can only be taken as a dog whistle to the bigots and ultra-nationalists he hopes will put him back in office at the next election: “The questions of immigration and Islam have been clearly posed. They must be asked calmy, involving everyone.”

Sarkozy has proposed a host of repressive measures from arming local police to “expelling any imam who holds views that do not respect the values of the republic.”

Could anyone imagine Sarkozy, or any politician, demanding “expulsion” of French Jewish or French Christian clerics if they espouse views that are antithetical to the republic like believing that Israel should be “Jewish” or that France should be “Muslim-free?”

Sarkozy’s clear implication – although he doesn’t say it – is that every Muslim cleric is always already foreign and has some other place outside France to which they more properly belong.

The government’s crackdown appears to be an effort to pander to this authoritarian sentiment and head off Sarkozy’s challenge.

Crackdown on Palestine solidarity

What will happen next? The French state will solidify its alliance with those who claim that criticism of Israel and solidarity with Palestinians is “anti-Semitism” and therefore “not an opinion.”

It was already on such bogus grounds that France banned rallies during the summer protesting Israel’s massacre in Gaza. And for years, France has been prosecuting activists in the boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement.

There will be many more people who are treated as Coulibalys instead of Charlies for what they say.

It now remains to be seen if those who adopted the slogan “Je suis Charlie” and insisted on republishing Charlie Hebdo’s racially denigrating and satirically worthless cartoons will rush to declare “Je suis Dieudonné” and repost his most vile and objectionable material.

Background on Dieudonné

French courts have banned Dieudonné from performing because the comedian “frequently sprinkles his act with diatribes against Holocaust remembrance,” as The New York Times’ Robert Mackey reported last year.

He has also been put on trial and fined dozens of times for things he has said.

Dieudonné “invented an obscene salute popular with anti-Semites” known as the “quenelle.” As Mackey reported, the comedian “insists” that the quenelle “was not inspired by the Nazis, but is a gesture of obscene disdain for the French establishment.”

However, Mackey adds, “anti-Semites who read his anti-Zionist rhetoric as a kind of code to skirt French laws against inciting racial hatred now frequently do it at Holocaust memorials and other Jewish sites.”

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Comments

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Khadijah davies replied on

Islaam is the only true religion and Allaah ta'ala has promised to protect it until the end of time. The more people see the harm done to innocents and can see the truth they will insha Allaah come to islam. All affairs rest in the hand of Allaah. Ta'ala

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Nihal replied on

Islaam, this is completely besides the point and it's a shame that chauvinists like yourself use this opportunity to behave like missionaries with your divisive opinions.

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Philippa replied on

Ali, I wholeheartedly disagree with you on this one. This Dieudonné business started YEARS ago. He was mainstream. Then one night he did a sketch of an armed Jewish settler on late night TV. People on the set found it hilarious. The next morning, he was piloried out of French public life by the lobby. Having been declared an outlaw, he upped the anti, played the part, and yes, sometimes went bonkers. His life had been ruined, he had nothing to lose, and it was all so grotesquely unfair and enfuriating from the point of view of democracy and free speach. So yes, he has at times pushed a bit too hard, but never as hard as Charlie Hebdo (he know they'd lock him up). And he still has moments of brilliance, like his quenelle. Your description of it is ludicrous and does it no justice. It disregards all the poetry of this best known of French dishes. You may as well say that the film Dr Strangelove is antisemitic because of that arm that kept on flying up into the air (no raised arm in the quenelle by the way). That is in fact what you are saying when you judge the quenelle in this manner. I'm pretty sure you'll change your mind on this one, when you start doing original research and stop basing your thoughts on the NYT.

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Ali Abunimah replied on

Thanks for the comments. I certainly did not “rely” on The New York Times and am capable of making my own judgments about Dieudonné (as you can see my French is fluent). I cited the reports of Robert Mackey, a journalist whose work is very transparent and accurate, precisely because they summarize well a reality I’m familiar with. You of course may have your own view of Dieudonné. I have mine.

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Mara replied on

Ali seems to be miffed that freedom of speech laws in France are drawn around European enlightenment values and not Islamic values. Islam does not deserve special protection from criticism or satire, for Ali to compare the murdered satirists to Dieudonne is to slander them. Disgraceful.

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Philippa replied on

Ali, neither you nor Robert Mackey (nor Blumenthal, nor Greenwald, by the way) address the origin of the problem (which is rather like talking about the Middle East without mentioning the Naqba). And the news that you read Dieudonné's letter in the original French is hardly a comfort (no mention of the 80 legal proceedings he's been subjected to? the tax inspections and so forth? really?)
But never mind. Mara saved the day with her unique sense of humour. I think I'll follow her from now on. If we're not going to discuss facts, let's at least be entertained, n'est-ce pas?

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Nihal replied on

Mara, I'm confused. Where does this article suggest that Muslims should have special privileges? And why is it unfair to compare the two when one was never censored and the other is continuously being arrested, in the name of freedom of expression? Even neo-nazi parties are permitted to march in France, while pro-Palestinian demonstrations have been outlawed.

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Mara replied on

The article is suggesting that making fun of Islam/Muhammed should be off limits unlike Christianity, Judaism etc. Dieudonne is not a satirist, his 'quenelle' gesture and his 'comedy' are openly anti-Semitic, Charlie Hebdo's satire poked fun at Islam and Muhammed in the same way they would have poked fun at other religions and prophets. And anti-Israel marches were banned because of the anti-semitic attacks and intimidation associated with them. Extra police and soldiers have been assigned to protect Jewish schools and other buildings because of the danger posed to Jews from Islamists. Europe is rightly sensitive to anti-Semitism given its history regardless of where that anti-Semitism is coming from.

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Philippa replied on

This was revealed in recent research by Dr. Ineke van der Valk of the University of Amsterdam (174 out of 475 mosques). 60% of these agressions were bricks thrown through windows, the rest included firebombing, pigs' or sheeps' heads deposited in front of the door, Islamophobic graffiti and so forth. This does not surprise me as the town of 45,000 people where I live has two mosques: a Morroccan mosque that was attacked once and a Turkish mosque that was attacked twice. The attempted firebombing of the Morroccan mosque was prevented by vigilant mosque-goers who had organized in 24/24 shifts to protect their mosque and quickly called the police when they saw suspicious figures with backpacks sneaking up on them one night (the firebombs were found in the backpacks). The police congratulated the mosque on its excellent work (says one of my neighbours). But the point here is this: mosques are told that there is no manpower to protect them, whereas most Jewish places in the Netherlands are indeed protected with tax-payers' money. Also this: every single case of antisemitic graffiti is reported in the national newspapers, whereas these mosque attacks very rarely are (the three from my town were not). In 99% of cases the police were not able to tracks down the attackers.
So yes, Europe must remain sensitive to antisemitism, but it seems to me that it should also protect other minorities.
And another recent figure from Europe (Europol, the European police force): between 2006 and 2013, 0,7% of all failed, foiled or completed terror attacks were caused by Islamists. The other 99,3% were caused by "others".

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Mara replied on

Other minorities are protected in the same way that all Dutch/French/European residents are, Mosques have gotten extra protection, there are attacks against Mosques and Muslims, however there is not the same level of threat as there is to European Jews. Jews have been targeted in Paris, Toulouse, Brussels, Bulgaria and other places recently with fatalities in each case. Islamist terrorism is by far the most serious terrorist threat facing Europe today (that does not mean that other terrorists do not also pose a threat e.g the likes of Brevik), Madrid, London, Paris and Brussels have all seen deadly Islamist attacks against innocent civilians in recent years and the constant threat of mass casualty attacks comes from Islamists not other groups.

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Je suis Kevin replied on

Absolute hogwash Jewish people are not under any threat of attack in Europe. This is a fabrication to justify the persecution of the Palestinians who are facing genocide by Israeli fascist / Zionist. The term anti-semitism is a carte blanche defence, to obliterate any Israeli opposition. It's time this term was removed from the lexicon, as prejudices are not exclusive to people of Jewish ancestry. In fact it could be argued that the Jewish population of Europe and the U.S. have enjoyed a considerable amount of privileges if we're to base that on their community size and ratio to national populations. Please stop this victim culture, I find it very distasteful and self serving.

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Mara replied on

It is not 'Hogwash', there is an undeniable rise in anti-Semitism in Europe in recent years and there have been several deadly attacks on Jews because of their religion/ethnicity. Pointing out growing anti-Semitism in Europe has nothing to do with Palestinians who are not "facing genocide". Anti-Semitism is used to mean prejudice or hatred against Jews not Semites in general, legitimate criticism of Israel is not anti-semitic but that does not mean that anti-Semitism does not often play a role in anti-Israel sentiment. Jews do not "enjoy privileges" compared to other groups and there is no "victim culture" when terrorists attack Kosher grocery stores, a Jewish school and a museum causing multiple fatalities. Anti-Semitism is a far more serious problem in Europe today than any (largely imaginary) 'islamophobia'.

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Je suis Kevin replied on

It's still Hogwash even with your flacid beratings. I have many Jewish friends and some relatives and none of the speak of an increase in anti semitism. None of them have been attacked or insulted. This is nothing more than hysteria and baloney. Continue shouting victim and people will simply ignore your calls. You cannot deny the data, and still claim to be credible. This misinformation is circulated to support an agenda of aggression against Palestine, and until Israel practices what it preaches I refuse to accept they are also victims.

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Mara replied on

No, it is still 'Hogwash' I'm afraid. I don't know where you live but here in Europe anti-Semitism is certainly on the rise. Just because you 'know some Jews and they haven't been attacked' does not mean that there is no anti-Semitism. You seem to think that attacks on Jews is made Ok because of what Israel does, I presume that's what you mean by 'they' 'also' being victims. This has nothing to do with the Palestinians, Islamic anti-Semitism is a fact, no amount of denial will change that.

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Je suis Kevin replied on

As you are so adamant that Jewish people face an imminent threat, please provide the evidence. A single attack doesn't constitute a consensus or trend. I doubt you can provide a single shred of evidence to support your hysterical claims. Look at this video, and show me one Jewish person who is being persecuted. http://youtu.be/rVyCfJ5cOOA

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Mara replied on

You need to read a bit more. This is not just a 'single attack', look up Ilan Halimi, the Toulouse-Montalban shootings, the Brussels Jewish museum attack, Google 'anti-Semitism in Europe' and you will get plenty of articles with plenty of statistics.
There's nothing 'hysterical' about my 'claims', just because your hatred for Israel blinds you to anti-Semitism does not mean that it does not exist.

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Philippa replied on

Which is not to say that Jews are not. But the attacks on Jews which you mention are are well known. How come we don't hear as much about the numerous attacks on Muslims? (of which just two entirely random examples below) The death of a Muslim attracts so little attention that it can take European law enforcement authorities years to realize that they are dealing with an organized murderous gang.

Also Muslim entities in Europe do NOT receive as much protection as Jewish ones. That is simply not true.

http://www.foxnews.com/world/2...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S...

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Oz replied on

I've noticed a common theme in your comments. You have exposed yourself as being intellectually dishonest. You offer canned and fallacious arguments, heavily laced with generic Zionist propaganda. I suggest more subtlety in your attempts to preserve the deceptive narrative of "we need free speech for some but it's dangerous if we give it to others". Anybody who uses excuses to justify the suppression of freedom of speech because it does not suit their agenda has lost all credibility through blatant hypocrisy.

Hebdo's comics were certainly not "equal opportunity offenders". CH was intent on provoking and humiliating Islam in order to elicit a reaction. It served no other purpose. The attack was not a surprise and the artist admitted that he expected to lose his life given his relentless pursuit. While I condemn the (suspicious) attacks as a brutal act of barbarism it is disingenuous to claim that Judaism was criticized equally. This horse was flogged a while ago and there is no argument left on that one. You're using old material.

Any criticism towards Israeli policy or even satire towards Jews is immediately and conveniently condemned as "anti-semitic" or "hate speech" etc. The double standard is astronomical and the fact that you defend it by distorting/obfuscating the facts and using fear mongering "oh all Jews are under attack in Europe, we need to keep criticizing Islam but the Jews are off limits because of the Holocaust" is a testament to how desperate your movement has become. It is an embarrassing and pathetic argument. That may work with the cognitively deficient but the 4 million march in Paris has now shone a very bright light on the hypocritical climate of "free speech" - you can't have it both ways.

Finally, in reference to your misinformation regarding the banning of pro-Palestine demonstrations last summer. I suggest you read the following article:

http://muftah.org/debunking-fr...

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cmgomariz replied on

Netanyahu leading a rally against terrorism illustrates French "enlightenment values"? Zionism does not deserve special protection from satire, my dear, and nor do you.

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Mara replied on

Netanyahu is the Prime Minister of the only Jewish majority state in the world and the Jews killed all had connections to Israel, why would Israel not be represented there? I fully agree that Zionism does not deserve protection from satire (and I never claimed it did) but Dieudonne's 'comedy' was not satire, you think creating a gesture that people use outside Jewish (not Zionist) institutions is 'satire'? Is doing an anti-Semitic inverted Nazi salute outside of the school where Mohammed Merah murdered Jews including children 'satire' to you? The mischaracterisation of Israel and Israelis as 'evil' is feeding anti-Semitism in Europe and elsewhere.

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Jane Zacher replied on

Ali, I will always stand with you, because you were the first person, who had the stones, to put the journalistic truth on the internet, which is always monitored, across the world. As far as the back and forth, accurate tit for tat, "keyboard thuggin" behavior, I will ignore you, or ask that you disagree with me in a more respectful manner, than some of the other posts. I find that in this age of electronic communication, what a person would not have the stones to say to a person's face, is usually done via this form of communication. If you would like to correct his journalism, do it in a journalistic manner, especially concerning citation, which at 44, has found to be problematic, as a returning and recent college graduate. When I was younger, information, had to be from only texts, now a majority of institutions, not only allow, but encourage online sources, which is a problem. This is a public forum for discourse, not a gladiator ring, and I find the tone of some of these postings aggressive, as well as offensive. Please be kind to each other.
Thank-you,
Jane Zacher

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karen replied on

so, now France is the "zionist AND democratic state" too?
I just saw the story about the UK's MP David Ward. Hilarious that the truth is not free speech, but racism is. But then, this whole hebdo march was never about speech, just racism. The interesting part of the Ward story is the text of the comments by the Israeli ambassador. A mere "Je suis Palestinian" is the same as to "justify acts of terror" and insulting to all the "Jews of France"? and ironically the ambassador also accuses Ward of "politicizing suffering" in a letter that uses the suffering of Palestinians by the bloodthirsty Netanyahu to attempt to threaten the position of a party member in a parliament of a foreign country... not to mention the whole hijacking of the hebdo incident into a thing about Israel (it wasn't).

In the meantime, it is fascinating to see these events - the Netanyahu performance with the other power addicts - being played out and moving things further toward extremism while illuminating some really ugly truths.
Some really good people will be persecuted no doubt, but it isn't going to silence us.

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Fozia replied on

if Charlie Hebode moked other religion
It is freedom of speech.

What about this guy now why you are harrassing him - it is not freedom of speech???? Stop Hypocrisy

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Greg Thrasher replied on

Interesting commentary on the politics of hypocrisy. France reveals itself to be a nation of intellectual cowards .

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karen replied on

the inevitable is happening:
AlJazeera reports "Responding to the Paris attacks, David Cameron said there should be no means of communication which the government cannot read."
surprise, surprise.
However, it has nothing to do with "security". After shooting victims and two days later holing up in a print shop, the shooters did NOT kill anyone, and in fact, the owner of the print shop made them coffee and was let go. So.... what new spying would have helped Paris know that Hebdo was a target (and no one else was)? Nothing. They did not have to spy on EVERYONE to know that. It was not secret.
And here where I live, victims die every day from racist attacks, all these years, and no one says "we need to spy on all Americans to keep blacks from getting killed all the time". Really, all they have to do is jail the killer cops. They won't.

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Gitta replied on

I think the whole fuss and frenzy made over this issue in France is totally rediculous and I felt like throwing up every time I switched on the news!

Heck, more than 2000 innocent children and civilians were killed in Gaza and where was all the so called Unity and Human Rights - some 'condemned' like US and then sent more ammunition to kill more children. But to me US is aka Israel, they are one and should only have ONE voting right in everything!

People are getting killed everywhere. Two guys decide to kill some people in France. Suddenly they are "ex Al Queda" etc. Who says? Initially they were only guys born and bred in France and touched on Islam but quoted themselves as being 'bad moslems" because they drank alcolhol to excess. Suddenly a whole Al Queda background is invented for them - or wait, the info comes from USA intelligence. Yea, we know how good that is. They invaded a whole country on the basis of their false "intelligence".
We are also told Al Queda claims complicity in it. Also USA "intelligence"!
People seem to be totally stupid and do no research and believe all they are told!
And to see Netanjahu in that Group in the Unity march made me sick sick sick,
and btw I am a German and Mormon living in Australia!!

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Jane a jew who rejects zionism Zacher replied on

For a class assignment here in the States, I had a very cool Psychology Teacher with a P.H.D., who wanted us to do a paper on bullying mentality. From time to time, we would have discussions outside of class, and I told him about my anti-Israelis' views. He was very supportive, and told me to watch a documentary about Al-Qaeda on PBS, which I am sure was somewhat sanitized. However, it stated that we, the U.S., created Al-Qaeda, and used them by proxy to beat the Russians in Afghanistan. My very cool teacher also, made a comment in class, VERY BRIEFLY, but I picked up on it about the way we learned about Weapons Of Mass Destruction, when there were none. It was at a Community College, so most of the kids were texting in class, but I heard it, and it firmed my stance against Zionism. He stated that the Israeli's plucked a man off the streets and tortured him until he admitted there were Weapons of Mass Destruction, when in fact, there were not. I can remember my teachers outrage, just like my parents, who opposed the Vietnam war. I love this publication, and learning from the people who post accurate and meaningful information. Thanks,
Jane Zacher

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maggie replied on

What we are seeing from those in support of free speech is often nothing more than a cloak for anti-Islam bigotry. There is no excuse for murdering innocents. That said, free speech is not unrestricted. It requires self restraint in the service of human decency.The nature of the provocative cartoons about Muhammed would not be allowed in France or anywhere else if the attack was against Jews or the Christian religion. If you remember some years ago the Catholic Church in France won a huge award in a lawsuit against a fashion designer for using a fabric that showed the Last Supper of Jesus being attended by half dressed voluptuous women instead of the disciples. Charlie Hebdo fired a cartoonist not long ago for having depicted President Sarkozy's son converting to Judaism for financial gain. When you add the Israelis' systematic genocide of the Palestinians (with no mass protests in the world against the Israel's savage and illegal occupation and oppression of the Palestinians) and the West's nearly 15 years of constant bombing assaults on Muslim counties unable to defend themselves against Western military assault, how can we be surprised that some Islam adherents can choose to react with violence against those who are terrorizing them? Perhaps if we saw some "We Are Gazans" protests all across the world we would see less call for vengeance by those seeing their fellow Muslims being brutalized so cavalierly. There is a root cause of this violence directed toward Jews and Western nations. It would be a wise thing to pay attention to it rather than simply bomb more, restrict more, and suffer more.

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Chris Bob Reed replied on

As a West Virginian (Hillbilly) living in the US, we are experienced at being at the receiving end of insults and cultural barbs. It seems to me that such attitudes emanate from the self-satisfied sectors of the upper-middle class-a segment of the white community who think they are our cultural bettors. I am not familiar with the French scene-but the reporting here on II seems to me spot on. I also frequent, Counterpunch, Truthout, and Zcomm.

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Greg Thrasher replied on

France is similar to America with regard to racism both engage in denial , deflection , excuses , selective amnesia with regard to their racism.

Hypocrisy is a standard posture and often accompanied with the indictment of victims of racism as racists!

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Limah replied on

Great article that discusses the partiality of France in dealing with what it refers to as "freedom of speech." Dieudonne's arrest demonstrates how France, and much of the West, is redefining freedom of speech to suit its own agenda that's exclusive to French nationalists with secular views.
Here's a well-written article that discusses France's history of discrimination which provides a context for understanding the Charlie Hedbo attack:
https://limahsvoice.wordpress....

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Jim replied on

Embarrassingly, I was unaware of Dieudonné until seeing this article yesterday and researching him. It's shameful that there haven't been mass expressions of outrage among people who care about actual free speech (not the French government's Orwellian definition of it) at his arrest, or the government's various cases against him in the past year; if there was ever a time for a worldwide backlash against France, it's now. Sadly, however, those on the "right" and "left" everywhere appear to agree that free speech protections shouldn't apply to those who speak out against Zionism or Islamophobia.

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Greg Thrasher replied on

I am a Black man living in America here liberals cloak their contempt and bigotry for Black Folks like Charlie ..

Of course we know this ....

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Jaka replied on

The PR stunt "Je Suis Charlie" was very cleverly arranged beforehand. The slogan makes it seem we are giving solidarity to some person named Charlie, like "Saving Private Ryan" or "Free Willy", not to a magazine. Notice all the placards were professionally printed AND distributed. If people had downloaded the sign and printed it on their inkjet printers or photocopied it, they would have been all faded. It's also very convenient that the top line "JE SUIS" in caps reads almost like "JESUS", and was done in ISIS black and white. Baaaaaa.

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Richard B Cook replied on

Where is the door that gives access to Big Media? Who can go through that door? Who is forbidden?

The social tools of ridicule and insult ought not be deployed by the powerful against the weak.

A discussion about the right to exercise the freedom of expression ought to include a mention of the privilege to opt for respect for the neglected, the immigrant, and the abused.

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Philippa replied on

On the 40% of Dutch mosques attacked in the past 10 years:
http://www.volkskrant.nl/binne...
I choose the reporting in the Volkskrant, as it is the newspaper favoured by Dutch Zionists.

On the Europol figures (only 0.7% of terror attacks in Europe are by Islamists): https://twitter.com/APechtold/...
Pechtold is the leader of the D66 Liberal party, the Dutch party that campaigns for research-based government policy.

On Dieudonné and how it all started (a description of the TV appearance that ended his career), one good source is: Chapter 9 (called "Saint Dieudonné") of Marc-Édouard Nabe's book "J'enfonce le clou" ("I'm Driving in the Nail"), Éditions du Rocher, 2004. Coincidently the cover of the book bears a cartoon by Willem, one of the long-time cartoonists of Charlie Hebdo who was not present on the fateful day, probably because he hates meetings.
More coincidences: Nabe's father was a jazz musician and as a youngster Nabe met Siné (the cartoonist who was later fired from Charlie Hebdo for "antisemitism"). At age 15 Nabe himself started drawing cartoons for Hara-Kiri (a precursor of Charlie Hebdo), where he was welcomed by Wolinski (who died in the attack). When Nabe published his first book he was sued for defamation and incitement to racial hatred by Licra, the French ADL; the case was dismissed (the good old days).

Correction on my previous post: Dieudonné's fictional TV settler was not armed, but people later CLAIMED he had been armed (which is apparently inconceivable for a settler). They also claimed he had said "Heil Israel" and even "Heil Hitler". As Nabe points out the simplest solution would have been to rebroadcast the sketch so everyone could make up their own mind. But Dieudonné was a media-dead "antisemite". Bernard Henry-Lévy mounted a succesful campaign to cancel his Olympia show and the fashionable crowd decided that he was "not funny".

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Your Friend replied on

Ali stated: " However, Mackey adds, “anti-Semites who read his anti-Zionist rhetoric as a kind of code to skirt French laws against inciting racial hatred now frequently do it at Holocaust memorials and other Jewish sites.” "

Out of the THOUSANDS of quenelle pictures that ANYONE can post on Diuedonne webpage there are only a a half dozen or so in that category. Diuedonne does not censor his posts and therefore can not be held responsible for the acts of others. That is a serious logical fallacy on Mackey and your part! It's like saying that you Ali are a to be held responsible for what the commenters on your page do! At the same time the folks posting those picks can be AGENT PROVOCATEURS!! Have you ever thought of that? We know that zionsts do such things at Palestinian rallies ALL THE TIME!!

The SUPER POWERFUL ZIONIST entity is most definitely demonizing courageous people like Diuedonne for daring to "go there". There are several dozen pictures of people doing the quenelle in front of French officials, dozens of them doing the quennelle under water or skydiving or at weddings, etc... but YOU and zionist entities like NYT select ONLY what fits your biased script. You are either to much of a coward to follow such a politically correct zionist approved script or too lost to figure out what the hell is going on! How can you still not see how ONE-SIDED the Banning of "free speech" is???

BTW, I did enjoy your attempt at adding some justice to the whole hypocrisy.

cheers

picture

Philippa replied on

1/ The current president of the French far right Front National party, Marine Le Pen, felt "nauseous" when she read Dieudonné's tweet "I feel like Charlie Coulibaly". But her father, Jean-Marie Le Pen (the prior and less acceptable incarnation of the party - according to popular wisdom) said that without wanting to defend Dieudonné, his "Charlie Coulibaly is a satirical touch of humour that is entirely in the spirit of Charlie Hebdo"... "They talk about freedom of speech, yet prosecute him for this tweet":
http://www.huffingtonpost.fr/2...

2/ Jean-Marie Le Pen told the Russian newspaper Komsomolskaïa Pravda: "The attack against Charlie Hebdo bears the signature of the secret services"... "I'm surprised to see they forgot their ID card. This reminds me of the passport that was found intact following the September 11 attacks. I'm also surprised that the terrorists would have chosen to come out shooting, whereas they could have held out against the police for a long time." All of which he may or may not have recanted, but which his daughter Marine definitely recanted for him:
http://www.huffingtonpost.fr/2...

3/ "'Shoah Hebdo': the blunder of certain media which amuses Dieudonné fans": several French and foreign media mistakenly inserted a spoof of Charlie Hebdo in their reporting on the attack [probably to prove that Charlie Hebdo is an equal opportunity attacker of all religions - my comment]. But the "Shoah Hebdo" spoof was written by Joe Le Corbeau, an active member of the Quenel Plus website (of the famous quenelle). The cartoon reads: "I'll give you a discount of 1 on 6, in exchange for Palestine":
http://www.huffingtonpost.fr/2...

You never know who your friends are.

Ali Abunimah

Co-founder of The Electronic Intifada and author of The Battle for Justice in Palestine, now out from Haymarket Books.

Also wrote One Country: A Bold-Proposal to End the Israeli-Palestinian Impasse. Opinions are mine alone.