No to Netanyahu at Charlie rally!

All the Israeli right will be represented at the manifestation of solidarity with Charlie Hebdo. I can only repeat what I’ve already written: it is imperative to reject the united front of Charlie and to put borders, as airtight as possible, between our camp and all who come to interfere and pollute with their racist clash of civilizations discourse, most of the values defended by Charlie.

In these days I protest against the sacred union in solidarity with Charlie Hebdo, bringing together right and left in an unanimously made hypocrisy and manipulation. The victims, I have no doubt, would have vomited in their drawings and texts at the presence of those they had constantly denounced.

The presence of “world leaders” at the Paris rally scheduled for today, Sunday, January 11, is a true violation of the victims of the massacre of Charlie’s editorial team. This morning, reading the newspaper, I too, wanted to vomit: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu decided to come to Paris and join a demonstration of solidarity. His first impulse was to not attend; was it because his disgust at the editorial line of Charlie, particularly regarding Israel and its policies, was stronger than his desire to protest against the “global Islamist threat”? Or maybe he was afraid of being the subject of angry demonstrations against his presence? The pretext given by his spokesmen for not attending was the difficulty in ensuring his protection in such a short time. Finally, Netanyahu decided to come to Paris. The reason is pathetic: Naftali Bennett and Avigdor Lieberman will be in Paris and in this election period, the Likud leader could not give them access to the international media while he remained in Jerusalem.

All the Israeli right will be represented at the manifestation of solidarity with Charlie Hebdo. I can only repeat what I’ve already written: it is imperative to reject the united front of Charlie and to put borders, as airtight as possible, between our camp and all who come to interfere and pollute with their racist clash of civilizations discourse, most of the values defended by Charlie.

Netanyahu, Lieberman and Bennett out!

Michel Warschawski

The massacre in Charlie Hebdo

Out of respect for the victims, instead of supporting national – and even international – unity against Islam fundamentalism, let’s strengthen, wherever we are, a broad anti-fascist front, where the Muslims will have their full legitimate place.

An attack on our freedoms, not “clash of civilizations”.

Charlie Hebdo is a typical French phenomenon: a satirical weekly with a strong emphasis on mocking religion. All religions, but Islam more than others.

Though I knew some of its writers, Charlie’s style has never been my cup of tea: I despise what I consider to be blatant vulgarity, made of pictures of sexual organs and priests having intercourse with donkeys. Moreover, although I am an atheist, I respect believers and never forget that, according to Karl Marx, religion is not only the opium of the people, but also the whisper of the oppressed. The typical French anti-clericalism of Charlie was not my cup of tea either.

Nevertheless, broadly speaking, Charlie was part of my political environment. That is, until Philippe Val, the chief editor, expelled one of the founders of the weekly and it’s most popular caricaturist, Bob Sine, falsely accused of being an anti-Semite. The expulsion of Sine was clearly a signal of kneeling to the dominant ideology that was using “anti-Semitism” in order to shut the mouth of journalists critical to Israel. A couple of years later, Philippe Val was appointed by Nicolas Sarkozy [sic] as general director of one of the national radio channels [1]. No comment…

As an act of solidarity with Sine, I joined the editorial staff of “Sine Hebdo”, a new satirical weekly he opened together with other former journalists of Charlie Hebdo who left, as a protest of Val’s decision.

In the last years, Charlie understood that anti-Muslim racism was very popular in France: every time the cover page mocked Islam, the Prophet or Muslim believers, newspaper sales increased substantially. Anti-Islam was indeed the ideology of most of Charlie editors and writers, but it was also an excellent marketing item.

Charlie Hebdo had declared war on Islam and this week, Islamist fundamentalists retaliated with a bloody massacre in the offices of the newspaper. Already in the past, Charlie was the target of Muslim fundamentalist’s attacks, but without victims. This time it was a massacre.

Whoever claims to defend the values of democracy must defend the right to free expression and free press, even when one completely disagrees with the opinions expressed by some of the media. The massacre in Charlie Hebdo is a double crime: a criminal act of murdering civilians and a crime against our freedoms. It has nothing to do with “clash of civilizations”, as Benjamin Netanyahu, in a typical Pavlovian reflex, is trying to claim. Knowing some of the victims, I dare to say that they wouldn’t like to have the Israeli prime minister as an ally and supporter, and they would have strongly protested the presence of French far-right leader Marine Le Pen in the demonstrations of solidarity with Charlie.

No doubt that the massacre in Charlie Hebdo will strengthen anti-Muslim racism in France, as well as in many other countries. In the last two decades, Charlie was warning against the strengthening of fascism and racism in the entire Western world. Out of respect for the victims, instead of supporting national – and even international – unity against Islam fundamentalism, let’s strengthen, wherever we are, a broad anti-fascist front, where the Muslims will have their full legitimate place.

Michel Warschawski