Charlie Hebdo and the Future of Free Speech Henry Glitz

On the morning of Jan. 7, 2015, at Luz’s uncertainty of how to act in the around 11:30 p.m., the French cartoonist wake of the attack, which killed 12 and injured Rénald “Luz” Luzier was intercepted by a 11, is eminently understandable. “The fear, group of bystanders outside his place of work the anxiety, the petrification” felt in the French — the Parisian offices of the far-left satirical capital during and immediately after the magazine . Late to work, he assault was something Western citizens was told that “two armed men” had just gone believed to “happen in Syria, in Africa”, but into the building. The chilling tattoo of gunfire never in a city like Paris. 4 The Charlie Hebdo came out of the building, and, shortly attack and its aftermath was the most thereafter, so did several masked jihadists, significant France had experienced since a dressed in black. Running inside, Luz 1962 train bombing — related to the war in confronted “bloody footsteps” which he later Algeria — outside Paris.5 Moreover, it seems realized were “the bloodstains of my friends”.1 altogether foreign and incomprehensible to Seeing people strewn “on the ground” of the the relatively liberal standards of our society office, he noticed “a friend face-down”.2 “No that the motivation for such atrocious violence one”, he commented in an interview more was vengeance for the mere act, conflated than three weeks after the attack, “knows how into a crime, of drawing a cartoon. to react to that” situation.3 The reaction was swift: the French nearly unanimously rallied behind the pro-free

1 speech banner of a movement calling itself The trend toward an ever-increasingly “” or “I Am Charlie”, holding liberal society in Europe and North America aloft pens and signs emblazoned “Liberty” to stretches back as far as the Enlightenment. In symbolize their support for free expression. fact, there is an almost innate feeling of The Twitter hashtag #jesuischarlie was coined support for what has become the Western by French journalist Joachim Roncin mere ideal of freedom of expression. Given the hours after the shooting itself, and within ten passionate voice in the First Amendment to hours it was being tweeted at a rate of the U.S. Constitution and the French approximately 6,000 times an hour, one of the Declaration of Rights of Man and Citizen, the most meteoric rises to popularity of a news Western pursuit of as an story in Twitter’s history.6 François Hollande, ideal was expressed authoritatively in 1949 the least popular French president since with the United Nations’ Universal Declaration World War II, saw his popularity more than of Human Rights. The international community double in the weeks following the terrorist reaffirmed a connection between the “dignity attacks.7 The response wasn’t limited to and worth of the human person” upheld in the France, however. Rallies were held across U.N. Charter and a “right to freedom of Europe and the United States in solidarity with opinion and expression”, implying furthermore Charlie Hebdo’s cartoonists. Every major a right “to seek, receive, and impart Western head of state expressed support for information and ideas through any media and Charlie Hebdo’s cause of free speech, and regardless of frontiers” without being beholden President Obama created a minor uproar in to the wishes of governments, private the U.S. when he chose not to attend a individuals or religious organizations.10, 11 solidarity march in Paris on Jan. 11. Ensured ability to “seek, receive, and impart information” also ties the freedom of While it may seem natural to most expression to the right to know of citizens Westerners, the response to the Jan. 7 concerned with the workings of their attacks looks almost absurd when approached government. Thus, becoming ultimately from a different point of view. Luz himself connected to the idea of democracy itself, free highlights the irony of Western leaders — who speech has gained ingrained support in the more often than not look at satirists like those European, and particularly the American, employed at Charlie Hebdo as “agitators” — psyche. declaring the slain satirists “white knights defending free speech”.8 The definitive Despite the immense public, political characteristic transformed a weekly and cultural motivation to put support behind burlesque, whose parent publication the #jesuischarlie movement, there are some described itself as a “stupid and vicious Westerners who refused to do so. Calling magazine”, into a hero of modernity.9 This themselves “Je Ne Suis Pas Charlie” — “I Am reflects, quite simply, a feeling throughout the Not Charlie” — some detractors accuse Western world that intrinsic rights are under European governments of blatant hypocrisy in attack. their support for Charlie Hebdo. While

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European heads of state defend alleged admittedly very often racy and aggressively bigotry against what’s probably the most anti-religious.16 Many consider former French marginalized group in modern European president Nicolas Sarkozy’s calling the society — Muslims, most of whom are terrorist attack a “war declared on civilization” immigrants — a strong stance against typical of the movement in that it employs Holocaust denial and hate speech directed racist generalizations of “backward, barbaric towards Europe’s Jews is a staple of most Muslims”.17 “Je Ne Suis Pas Charlie” less- modern European legal systems. Belgium’s than-subtly suggests, in the best interest of law prohibiting not only the denial, but also both the teller and the butt of the joke, that the “the minimization, the justification, or the speech exemplified in Charlie Hebdo’s Muslim approval” of the Holocaust, is fairly cartoons should be treated the same way as commonplace.12 In France, the penalties for anti-Semitic speech. There are certain expressing anti-Semitic ideas are, symbols, these skeptics claim, that are off- sympathetically, considerably severe. French limits to all iconoclasts. comedian Dieudonné M’bala M’bala is one of Although these Westerners declare the most prominent examples of the practical themselves against absolute freedom of application of the law. After a new comic expression, it wasn’t they who perpetrated the routine functionally entitled “Anti-Semitism”, attack on the Charlie Hebdo headquarters, but François Hollande warned police across rather radical Islamists. Although there’s an France to be “vigilant and inflexible” for incredible diversity of opinion in both Islamic “contemptible provocations” while Dieudonné countries and the West, there can be little is performing. 13, 14 In December 2013, the doubt that many Islamic countries possess comedian said of a prominent French Jewish considerably different cultural, religious and journalist that it was “too bad” that he hadn’t political heritages than those of the West. been put in a “gas chamber”. He was later Notably, Saudi Arabian delegates abstained fined 36,000 euros by the French courts and from voting for the U.N. Universal Declaration is at risk of losing 45,000 more and up to a of Human Rights because it ostensibly year in prison for two more untried offenses.15 violated Sharia law. Moreover, representatives Beyond the European laws against to the UN from have called the anti-Semitic expressions, which many Muslims declaration of rights “a secular understanding in Europe believe to support a double of the Judeo-Christian tradition” that “could not standard protecting only non-Muslim be implemented by Muslims and did not minorities from defamation, several skeptics accord with [their] system of values.”18 The perceived a “certain, virulently racist brand of “universal declaration” was, according to the French xenophobia” and Islamophobia in Iranians, not as universal as some Western cartoons, ranging from straightforward powers believed. depictions of to portrayals of Most Muslim-majority countries in the Boko Haram’s Muslim sex slaves as welfare U.N. eventually signed an altered version of queens and everything in between, that were

3 the Declaration that had been authored by the the author himself escaped harm by going into pan- Organization of Islamic hiding for more than a year. Rushdie, a Cooperation. This document, called the Cairo British Muslim, proclaimed his lack of patience Declaration on Human Rights in Islam, for the “but brigade” — those who give only a guarantees that “everyone shall have the right qualified affirmation of free speech — in the to express his opinion freely”, provided they wake of the Charlie Hebdo attack: “the are not “contrary to the principles of the moment somebody says, ‘Yes, I believe in Sharia” or “in such a way as may violate free speech, but,’ I stop listening.”21 By sanctities and the dignity of , advocating for a literally senseless attachment undermine moral and ethical Values or to free speech, Rushdie exposes the disintegrate, corrupt or harm society or fundamental problem with the Western weaken its faith”.19 The signing countries, in response to the Jan. 7 attacks: both the other words, subordinated free speech solely restriction of the right to free speech, and that to public morality. Although the ideals may be the categorical veneration of unnecessarily different, the sentiment is hardly foreign to incendiary speech is unfaithful to the Western American and Western politics. Even in cases ideals it purports to uphold. The refusal to touted as victories for free speech, like the listen, encompassing both of these extremes, 1957 obscenity trial dealing with Allen is poisonous to the willingness to consider, Ginsberg’s poem Howl, the reasoning behind discuss and persuade — the essential tolerance cites “redeeming social importance” counterpart to free expression. rather than devotion to the principle of Speech should be free. No matter how freedom of expression.20 Obscenity — repulsive a person’s opinion is they should material which strongly offends the dominant not, ideally, be precluded from stating it. The morality of a given society — isn’t only defined differently in countries of respective Judeo- Christian and Muslim traditions, but there also Responding to a continue to be laws restricting it in both murder motivated by a Western and Muslim-majority countries. blasphemous cartoon One of the most recent representations of obscenity in the came with with unconditional ’s infamous 1988 publication praise for the victim of his novel The Satanic Verses. Because of its alleged denial of the ’s divine cartoonists gets us no inspiration, many Muslims considered the nearer to either of novel offensive or blasphemous. The fatwa — the authoritative scholarly opinion — issued these goals and is by then-Ayatollah Khomeini calling for counterproductive and Rushdie’s death was met with the stabbings of the book’s Japanese and Italian translators; contradictory.

4 ideal of free speech is one of the most open and unbiased debate of things even as precious products of the Enlightenment, but it sacrosanct as freedom of expression. remains, for the time being, just that: an ideal. Some of the full absurdity of the Even John Adams, one of the men who Western reaction to Charlie Hebdo is enshrined the concept of freedom of expressed in the fact that the differences in expression in the Constitution, wrote that attitudes towards freedom of speech in the “when people talk of the Freedom of Writing, West and in Muslim-majority countries aren’t Speaking, or thinking, I cannot choose but only historically recent, they are also far less laugh. No such thing ever existed. No such exaggerated than many ostensible supporters thing now exists; but I hope it will exist. But it of free speech suggest. Prior to the must be hundreds of years after you and I Enlightenment, laws in Christian Europe were shall write and speak no more.”22 Whether or as severe, if not more so, than their present- not we take pride in admitting it, absolute day counterparts in the Middle East and North freedom of speech still cannot exist in this Africa. Even in the midst of the overwhelming world. This seems obvious from the fact that liberal sentiment in the late Enlightenment, Charlie Hebdo’s cartoonists were killed for John Adams, one of free speech’s great what they chose to draw. Keeping this in mind champions, signed into law the 1798 Alien as the chief obstacle to truly free speech, the and Sedition Acts, which severely penalized day will only come when we have complete the exercise of free speech in the United freedom of speech when either no one says States itself. At the height of France’s anything that might incite retribution or no one reformatory fervor during the French will be willing exact retribution. Responding to Revolution, the Declaration of the Rights of a murder motivated by a blasphemous Man and Citizen curtailed free speech to cartoon with unconditional praise for the victim cover ideas only if “their manifestation does cartoonists gets us no nearer to either of not trouble the public order established by the these goals and is counterproductive and Law”.23 It wasn’t until 1966 that Pope Paul VI contradictory. It’s certainly not an affirmation officially abolished the Index of Prohibited of free speech as we so often idealize it. We Books, which was originally created to prevent support free speech because it allows for a Catholics from reading heretical or immoral society open to the discussion of any and all material. Puritanical legislation like the 1873 issues. Combined with widespread education, Comstock laws, which suppressed the willingness to debate and intellectual honesty, distribution of information regarding birth the freedom to speak at will provides the basis control and abortion, are still on the books in for a successful liberal democracy. The the United States.24 supporters of “Je Ne Suis Pas Charlie” threaten the first of these essential elements Moreover, even today we in the West (absolute freedom of speech), while the largely fail to practice what we preach. The fetishized movement that is #jesuischarlie aforementioned inconsistency of laws against threatens the Western commitment to the anti-Semitic hate speech and Holocaust denial

5 are understandable and sympathetic enough. there’s a very straightforward reason behind it. However, both Europe and the United States Simply put, Islamist groups will use any kind are more or less direct in cutting off the extent of ignorance, fear or injustice that presents to which their Muslim populations can practice itself to them to prevent Muslims from their freedom of expression. The law in interacting with the West and releasing France banning the Islamic scarf in public themselves from their power. What makes schools and the referendum in Switzerland Boko Haram’s mass murders particularly banning the construction of additional heinous is partially related to its fundamental minarets, indirectly attack Muslims’ freedom of cause, explained in the translation of its name speech and are symptomatic of governmental as “Western education is forbidden”. That policies that, inadvertently or not, affect Boko Haram targets not freedom of Muslims’ ability to freely express themselves. expression but education is not only If a citizen of the West, particularly a Muslim, significant — it’s of utmost importance. When vocally promotes radically political religion, Mark Twain declared, “travel is fatal to they will be lucky to get off with a warning. prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness”, Perhaps it’s practically beneficial to Western he could have been speaking equally as society to suppress the approval of violent, truthfully of people or of ideas. Boko Haram religious fundamentalism. Maybe headscarves opposes itself to “Western” education because for Muslim women are contrary to our liberal it’s precisely such a tool that would allow value of equality between the sexes, but Muslims in Nigeria to participate in a forcing conformity by law to assent or reject legitimately open exchange and dialogue of not only makes the finding of actual answers ideas with the West. In place of intellectual through dialogue impossible, it fundamentally development, the group uses propaganda to betrays the free speech basis of modern entrench its ideology and hinder individual Western society. thought — not only is Boko Haram striving against “Westerners” educating Muslims, it’s The Nigerian-based Islamist terrorist taking a stand against Muslims’ intellectual group Boko Haram was reported on Jan. 7 — ability to teach themselves. Even if modern the same day as the Paris attacks — to have liberal democracy, as practiced in the West, destroyed the town of Baga in northeastern has the moral high ground and a societal Nigeria, killing or displacing each and every benefit on its side, we differ from Boko Haram one of its 10,000 residents in pursuit of the only in the intensity of our reaction to dissent establishment of an Islamic state in northern when we blindly throw consideration to the Nigeria.25 It’s interesting to note that this wind and affirm anything, even freedom of disparity in numbers killed of inhabitants of the expression, as an article of faith or as the West and of Muslims in Africa is hardly victim of backwards societies that reject it. anomalous: al-Qaeda is known to deliberately target and kill as many as eight times more Regardless of the chagrin it may cause Muslims than Westerners.26 Although this Mr. Rushdie, the West must declare that it discrepancy may seem puzzling at first, believes in free speech, but that it cannot and

6 does not ignore the consequences of free extreme drawings from the magazine may speech. In his 1957 judicial opinion that represent actual Islamophobia, it’s certainly decided the outcome of The People of not true that any cartoon must necessarily be California v. Lawrence Ferlinghetti and the seen as provocative. Luz suggests that legality of publishing the poem Howl, the Charlie Hebdo itself, rather than exist merely Honorable Clayton W. Horn referenced a to stretch the limits of freedom of expression, “censorship by public opinion” as the “only has “always worked to destruct symbols, completely democratic” solution to the knock down taboos”.30 Obviously devotion to problem of offensive or anti-social free ideals is a positive, but they’re too many speech.27 The appointment of “the people as examples to count, including the Jan. 7 attack, self-guardians of public opinion”, reminiscent of the negative effects of devotion taken to the of an almost market-based solution, where the extreme. public throws out the bad ideas and keeps the The openness that comes about from good ones generated by open and free the educated desire to abandon unconditional speech, is another piece of evidence allegiance to ideas of any kind, from free suggesting the importance of education to speech to an Islamic state, and to think for socially beneficial free speech.28 Whatever oneself is far worse served through absurd extent to which Western countries like the accusations of intrinsic Muslim backwardness United States rely on “censorship by public than through positive and open-minded opinion” to minimize the effect of anti-social or dialogue between Western and Islamic destructive ideas in society, the same countries. The ultimate goal of any and all standard clearly cannot be applied to the Western approaches to Muslims, be they in relationship today between the West and their own countries, in the Middle East and culturally Islamic countries. elsewhere, cannot be to take a symbolic stand It’s not only thanks to efforts against for free speech instead of a substantive stand, Muslims’ unbiased “Western” education by even if the two are not necessarily mutually Islamist groups like Boko Haram that a exclusive. Endlessly repeating that free legitimately free-speech dialogue cannot yet speech and freedom of expression is a human exist between the two cultural blocs. There is right is both ineffective for proving the point a telling truth in the fact pointed out by one of and contrary to the spirit of free speech Charlie Hebdo’s former editors that his altogether. The ultimate goal is to create a magazine “could show the pope sodomizing a world in which offensive language is, in mole and get no reaction” from the nearly 40 practice, neither given nor taken. Because of percent of Europe’s population that identifies an effective and educated “censorship by the as Catholic.29 Defenders of “Je Ne Suis Pas public”, controversial speech need not be Charlie” suggest that the exercise of free constrained, and because of universal speech regarding Islamic subjects of the type consideration for free speech, no one feels the illustrated in Charlie Hebdo is necessarily need to defend all speech at any price. The hateful and provocative. While some more Charlie Hebdo affair, beyond demonstrating

7 that progress must be made on the subject of free speech in Islamic cultures, illustrates a far 28, 2014, (accessed February 9, less obvious yet equally oppressive difficulty 2015.) 10United Nations, Charter of the United in the West. Dialogue can exist only if each Nations, 24 October 1945, 1 UNTS XVI, participant actually listens to the other, and Internet (accessed February 5, 2015.) any opinion claimed to be above reason 11UN General Assembly, Universal hinders this necessary listening. It’s easy to Declaration of Human Rights, 10 December see how a jihadist rejects open dialogue, but 1948, 217 A (III), Internet (accessed February it’s both less obvious and more conceptually 8, 2015.) 12 difficult to see the far more entrenched “Loi du 23 mars 1995 tendant à réprimer la négation, la minimisation, la justification ou ideologies that subtly constrain our ability to l'approbation du génocide commis par le be open and hinder our own freedoms of régimenational-socialiste allemand pendant la thought and expression. seconde guerre mondiale,“ Centre interfédéral pour l’égalité des chances, August 17, 2013,

1 Internet, (accessed February 9, 2015.) “Luz : « La majorité des musulmans s’en 13 Dominique Albertini, “Dieudonné, foutent de “Charlie Hebdo,” »”Le Monde, l’antisémitisme mot à mot,” Libération, July 22, February 1, 2015, Internet (accessed 2014, Internet (accessed February 9, 2015.) February 8, 2015). 14 “Les spectacles de Dieudonné interdits les 2 Ibid. 3 uns après les autres,” Le Parisien, January 7, “Charlie Hebdo : témoignage-choc de Luz, 2014, Internet (accessed February 9, 2015.) dessinateur de la un post-attentat,” Midi Libre, 15 Marc Mechenoua, “En décembre 2013, February 3, 2015, Internet (accessed l'avocat de Dieudonné l'assurait : « Il est parti February 9, 2015.) en guerre, »” Metronews, January 28, 2015, 4 Ibid. 5 Internet (accessed February 9, 2015.) Marie-Estelle Pech, “L'attentat le plus 16 Jacob Canfield, “In the Wake of Charlie meurtrier depuis Vitry-Le-François en 1961,” Hebdo, Free Speech Does Not Mean Le Figaro, January 7, 2015, Internet Freedom From Criticism,” The Hooded (accessed February 8, 2015.) 6 Utilitarian, January 7, 2015, Internet Pete D’Amato, “#JeSuisCharlie becomes (accessed February 5, 2015.) one of the most popular hashtags in Twitter's 17 Mehdi Hasan, “As a Muslim, I’m fed up with history,” Daily Mail, January 10, 2015, Internet the hypocrisy of the free speech (accessed February 9, 2015.) 7 fundamentalists,” New Statesman, January John Lichfield, “Paris attacks: Francois 13, 2015, Internet (accessed February 11, Hollande sees his popularity ratings double in 2015.) wake of strong French response to Charlie 18 David Littman, “Universal Human Rights Hebdo killings,” The Independent, January 19, and "Human Rights in Islam,"” Midstream, 2015, Internet (accessed February 8, 2015.) 8 February 1, 1999, Internet (accessed “Exclusive Interview with 'Charlie Hebdo' February 11, 2015.) Cartoonist Luz,” YouTube video, 12:06, 19 Organization of the Islamic Conference, posted by “VICE News,” January 31, 2015. 9 Cairo Declaration on Human Rights in Islam, Sophie Berthier, “« Hara-Kiri » : un journal à August 5, 1990, Article 22, Internet (accessed jamais « bête et méchant, »” Télérama, March February 11, 2015.)

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20 George Mason University, “The People of The State of California Vs. Lawrence Ferlinghetti”, 2014, Internet (accessed February 11, 2015). 21 “Rushdie: I'm Tired Of The Free Speech "But-Brigade,"” Real Clear Politics, January 15, 2015, Internet (accessed February 8, 2015.) 22 John Adams, Letter to Thomas Jefferson, July 15, 1817, Letter (accessed February 15, 2015.) 23 Declaration of the Rights of Man and of Citizen, August 26, 1789, . 10-11. 24 “Comstock Act,” Encyclopaedia Britannica, Internet (accessed February 17, 2015.) 25 “Boko Haram crisis: Nigeria's Baga town hit by new assault,” BBC News Africa, January 8, 2015, Internet (accessed February 20, 2015.) 26 Yassin Musharbash, “Surprising Study On Terrorism: Al-Qaida Kills Eight Times More Muslims Than Non-Muslims,” Spiegel Online International, December 3, 2009, Internet (accessed March 30, 2015.) 27 Ibid, George Mason University. 28 Ibid. 29 Caroline Weber, “Charlie Hebdo Is Heir to the French Tradition of Religious Mockery,“ Wall Street Journal, January 9, 2015, Internet (accessed February 3, 2015.) 30 Anne Laffeter, “Luz : « Tout le monde nous regarde, on est devenu des symboles, »” Les Inrocks, January 10, 2015, Internet (accessed February 6, 2015.)

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