Je ne suis pas Charlie!
By Khaled Sayed
The Guardsman
The tragedy of the Charlie Hebdo journalists killed by Islamist extremists in Paris has touched everyone around the world.
Amazing solidarity has followed on the street, online, and between both common people and the leaders of the world. The event has brought people together during difficult times, but the underlying issues are often much more complex than the slogans and headlines would lead us to believe.
The horrible news was personally upsetting to me personally for two reasons: first because I grew up Muslim, and second because I’m a journalist and I enjoy the freedom of the press here in the U.S.
Although I have drifted away from my faith, I know that this tragedy will reflect poorly on Muslims all over the world. In the midst of this aftermath we are witnessing yet another uproar of anti-muslim sentiment and insensitivity.
My deepest sympathy goes out to the family and friends of those who were killed by these extremists. However Charlie Hebdo’s magazine isn’t an equal opportunity mocking comic strip as the media wants you to believe.
In 2008, cartoonist and columnist Maurice Sinet was sacked after refusing to apologize for an anti-Semitic cartoon in which he expressed his opinion about Jean Sarkozy, a son of the former president Nicolas Sarkozy. Maurice Sinet declared: “I’d rather cut off my balls,” subsequently he was fired, according to a report in London’s Telegraph.
Charlie Hebdo has also republished the controversial Danish cartoons depicting the prophet Muhammad in 2006. In response, the French President Jacques Chirac issued a statement: “Anything that can hurt the convictions of someone else, in particular religious convictions, should be avoided – freedom of expression should be exercised in a spirit of responsibility.”
While I don’t endorse what happened to the Charlie Hebdo employees, we should remain vigilant of hypocrisy in the mainstream media when you see “Je Suis Charlie.”
The Quran (the Muslim holy book) prohibited worshiping idols. Mohammed believed that people should be focusing on the word of God not the images of him, or anyone else for that matter.
The Quran never mentioned anything about drawing Mohammed, only forbidding idolatry. However, in the Hadith, Mohammed’s teachings, he explains the passages of the Quran, asking his followers not to sketch or draw living things. “Ibn ‘Umar reported Allah’s Messenger (may peace be upon him) having said: Those who paint pictures would be punished on the Day of Resurrection and it would be said to them: Breathe soul into what you have created.” (Sahih Muslim vol.3, no.5268)
In Mohammed’s time the idea of worshiping one God (Allah) was very progressive, and Mohammed was criticized and targeted by the people in power for promoting it. What we call Saudi Arabia, where he lived, used to be divided between many tribes who had their own God statues that they worshiped. So when he came along he had to convince all of these tribes to give up their “false idols” for Allah.
Mohamed’s philosophy was to point his followers to praise God, not his image. He understood that people like to idolize physical things and his image would be the thing they would idolize after he died. It was important for him to teach his followers not to depict him or any living thing.
Most muslims would agree that there is no reason for anyone to kill simply for a cartoon or any kind of expression about Islam or Mohammed.
Freedom of speech and press doesn’t mean you should provoke or insult minorities just because you can. These liberties come with a huge responsibility to the people you project your message to. Before you rush to buy a t-shirt with “Je Suis Charlie” or support their cause you need to know that their cause is racist and provocative.
One of Charlie Hebdo’s covers from last year depicts the girls who were kidnapped by Boko Haram last year in Nigeria portraying them as pregnant welfare queens.
A monkey cartoon was published representing the French justice minister, Christiane Taubira, who is black.
While world leaders rallied in support of freedom of speech in Paris to show their support and solidarity, the Charlie Hebdo victims, many of these leaders are themselves a repressive force against freedom of speech in their own countries.
Prime Minister Netanyahu of Israel, whose forces killed seven journalists in Gaza last year, second highest after Syria. Prime Minister Mahdi Jomaa of Tunisia, which recently jailed blogger Yassine Ayan for three years for “defaming the army.” Foreign Minister Sergey Viktorovich Lavrov of Russia, imprisoned a journalist for “insulting a government servant.” Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry of Egypt, detained journalist Shawkan for around 500 days. Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu of Turkey, imprisoned more journalists than any other country in the world. Then there was the Saudi ambassador to France whose country publicly flogged blogger Raif Badawi for “insulting Islam.” The list goes on.
Before you stand in solidarity with the French for championing the freedom of the press, consider that the French prison population is almost 70 percent Muslim, despite the fact that Muslims make up only 20 percent of the French population.
Freedom of the press and freedom of expression do not make it right to insult or single out minority groups. However, if you are going to do it, you should do it all across the board or not at all.
Charlie Hebdo has printed five million copies of their new issue with Mohammed on the cover carrying the slogan “Je Suis Charlie.” That might help them financially, but sadly it may also be more helpful for extremists to attract new recruits.
The politicians using this tragic event to boost their own public image might want you to think this is a simple issue of freedom of speech. When it comes to our need to live together with mutual respect, there are always going to be many sides to consider. As intelligent consumers of the media, we all need to be aware of these gray areas and not accept at face value every headline we read, no matter how cleverly it is presented.