We are all – fill in the blanks
by NOAM CHOMSKY
The world reacted with horror to the murderous attack on the French satirical journal Charlie Hebdo. In the New York Times, veteran Europe correspondent Steven Erlanger graphically described the immediate aftermath, what many call France’s 9/11, as “a day of sirens, helicopters in the air, frantic news bulletins; of police cordons and anxious crowds; of young children led away from schools to safety. It was a day, like the previous two, of blood and horror in and around Paris.” The enormous outcry worldwide was accompanied by reflection about the deeper roots of the atrocity. “Many Perceive a Clash of Civilizations,” a New York Times headline read.
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Erlanger vividly describes the scene of horror. He quotes one surviving journalist as saying that “Everything crashed. There was no way out. There was smoke everywhere. It was terrible. People were screaming. It was like a nightmare.” Another surviving journalist reported a “huge detonation, and everything went completely dark.” The scene, Erlanger reported, “was an increasingly familiar one of smashed glass, broken walls, twisted timbers, scorched paint and emotional devastation.” At least 10 people were reported at once to have died in the explosion, with 20 missing, “presumably buried in the rubble.”
These quotes, as the indefatigable David Peterson reminds us, are not, however, from January 2015. Rather, they are from a story of Erlanger’s on April 24 1999, which made it only to page 6 of the New York Times, not reaching the significance of the Charlie Hebdo attack. Erlanger was reporting on the NATO (meaning US) “missile attack on Serbian state television headquarters” that “knocked Radio Television Serbia off the air.”
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The Controversy About My Remarks On Charlie Hebdo Attack
by MANI SHANKAR AIYAR
I was as horrified as you to hear of 12 lives being lost in the armed assault on a Paris satirical weekly for their repeatedly sneering at the Prophet of Islam (PBUH) and running cartoons denigrating him and the religion he has brought to hundreds of millions of families the world over. That such horror at terrorism was not just my reaction as a non-Muslim to the Paris outrage, but widely shared by Muslims too was brought home to me by a statement issued by a collegium of Imams and preachers of Bahrain who said: “Violence and extremism have always been – and still are – the biggest enemies of Islam, and contravene its teachings, tolerance and genuine precepts. All countries should take unified stances against terrorism. We call for the need to devise a unified international strategy to combat its forms and manifestation everywhere.”
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What then is the controversy about? It is about my describing the incident as a “backlash” to the War on Terrorism. That is not a justification of terrorism. It is an explanation. The distinction is important. I condemn terrorism. I do not commend it. If, however, war is declared on terrorists, it is stupid to imagine that the terrorists will take it lying down; inevitably they will hit back – that is a consequence we have to be prepared for.
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Samir Amin on the Charlie Hebdo Murders: Imperialism and International Terrorism
by GIUSEPPE ACCONCIA
Who then is really responsible for these acts? Is it perhaps appropriate to question the Western policy in the Middle East?
It is an odious act of terrorism by self-styled Islamists who have a very peculiar understanding of Islam and religion. But the responsibility for these attacks belongs to France and the United States. The Western powers continue to support Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the other Gulf states. They back all these countries that are giving massive support to terrorism. To be more precise, the Western powers consider the alliance with the Gulf states a foundation of neo-liberal policy. The second Western error is to have fought autocrats who tried to put the brake on political Islam, from Saddam Hussein to Muammar Gaddafi. For example, in Iraq Saddam Hussein was brutally deposed, though he could ensure coexistence between Shiites and Sunnis. And Gaddafi had clearly contained the drifts toward Islamism in Libya.
Monthly Review Zine for more
Finally! A Muslim apologises for everything
by SHEHZAD GHIAS SHAIKH
‘Nothing could make all the victims of terrorist attacks all over the world happier than watching every single Muslim in the world say sorry.’
After the tragic Charlie Hebdo shootings there has been a call by some people to make all Muslims all over the world apologise for the incident. I completely agree with the sentiment. It is the only way to root out terrorism for once and for all.
Nothing could make all the victims of terrorist attacks all over the world happier than watching every single Muslim in the world say “sorry”. To really drive the point home, we can even send them greeting cards with our heartfelt apologies.
I am sure the world would reciprocate in kind. We can start an apology trend. Once every single Muslim in the world apologises for Charlie Hebdo then we can move on to making every single Christian in the world apologise for Hitler. Hitler’s moustache is for the Christians what an unkempt beard is for the Muslims. I have no idea why mass murderers are so keen on making fashion statements too.
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Terror of hypocrisy
by IRENA AKBAR
Another year. Another cartoon lampooning the Prophet. Another terrorist attack by the “violent” Muslim. And another round of condemnation of the attack by the “moderate” Muslim.
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Did “moderate” Hindus condemn “violent” Hindus for the 2013 anti-Muslim Muzaffarnagar riots? Have “moderate” Christians condemned the deaths of millions of Iraqis in the “war on terror”? If they have all condemned, have they condemned enough, to the satisfaction of the “moderate” Muslim? A few days ago, J.K. Rowling shot back at Rupert Murdoch’s tweet asking “all Muslims to take responsibility for jihadist cancer” with her tweet, “The Spanish Inquisition was my fault, as is all Christian fundamentalist violence. Oh, and Jim Bakker.”
Indian Express for more
(Thanks to Mukul Dube and reader)