Charlie Hebdo and the defence and definition of free speech | Letters | Media | The GuardianCharlie Hebdo and the defence and definition of free speech | Letters | Media | The Guardian










Close






Skip to main content

 









sign in








subscribe









search




jobs






more


from the guardian:


jobs


change edition:



switch to the UK edition


switch to the AU edition







US edition




switch to the UK edition




switch to the Australia edition













The Guardian


Winner of the Pulitzer prize











home


›
media










home




US




world




opinion




sports




soccer




tech




arts




lifestyle




fashion




business




money




travel




environment







browse all sections
close







 











Charlie Hebdo



Charlie Hebdo and the defence and definition of free speech

















Flowers and candles outside the office of Charlie Hebdo in Paris. Why does 'the killing of 12 journalists in a conflict which has killed thousands of 'other people', mostly Muslims, commands shock and fuss out of all proportion to its importance?' asks Edward Pearce. Photograph: Francois Mori/AP





Thursday 8 January 2015 14.14 EST







Share on Facebook







Share on Twitter







Share via Email







Share on LinkedIn







Share on Google+







Share on WhatsApp
















The way in which liberal-left political satire is practised in France and Britain has long given the lie to the smug stereotype of Britain being brave and France cowardly in opposing fascism (An assault on democracy, 8 January). The tendency here, as epitomised most egregiously by Mark Steel and Jeremy Hardy, is to pick on soft targets, pandering to a “groupthink” audience of the so-called liberal left, laughing uproariously on cue, in what Howard Jacobson once identified as an “avidity of like-mindedness”. The endless recycling of Blair as the soft target fox to these “brave” hunters is a good example.
The self-righteous rant can so often in Britain pass for the true satire, based firmly in an authentic left, which Charlie Hebdo so courageously exemplifies in France. Even Steve Bell, who has spoken very movingly of his French colleagues, slaughtered by fascist thugs, has been circumspect about his targets; and Rory Bremner left satire behind when he chose to exclude religious extremists from his chosen objects of ridicule – and then wondered why he did not get “enough grief” over his output.
True satire is not just posturing, in a cosily collusive middle-class milieu, as “anti-establishment”. It is freedom laughing in the face of tyranny. That takes courage of an order demonstrated by the assassinated journalists at Charlie Hebdo, whose slain editor simply stated that he would rather die than “live like a rat”.Hugh HetheringtonSandwich, Kent
• As a Muslim, I strongly condemn the attack on Charlie Hebdo and those behind it. These terrorists do not represent me nor do they represent Islam. Their wicked ideology is an existential threat to Islam itself. Part of the problem is that these extremists and Islamophobes – responsible for burning mosques and attacking women wearing the hijab – need each other to exist. We, the majority of ordinary people of every faith, race and colour, should stand together to these extremists and say enough is enough.Mohammed SamaanaBelfast
• What is the matter with journalists that the killing of 12 other journalists in a conflict which has killed thousands of “other people”, mostly Muslims, commands shock and fuss out of all proportion to its importance? The government of Israel recently responded to the deaths of three Israelis with almost 3,000 Palestinian deaths. Journalists noticed that event, clicked tongues and talked about the general problem. The staff of Charlie Hebdo gave gross affront and knew about extremist groups who kill. We all do. They knew that Muslims venerate the prophet and that extreme Muslims will die and kill for him. The Parisian journalists produced a smart, Muhammad-mocking cartoon and now witter on (like your columnists) about rights, liberty, eternal freedom of eternal expression and other abstractions. They should consider that the little lad who used a stick with a horses-head handle to poke a lion got eaten.Edward PearceYork
• In the aftermath of this tragic attack, many people, mainly journalists and politicians, have robustly and self-righteously defended “free speech”. Free speech is held up as a cornerstone of democracy even when some of those who have exercised it have been imprisoned or exiled and when, at the same time, it can be divisive, foment prejudice and hatred, feed anger, bitterness and otherness. Those who call for some restraint and respect in the media are labelled censorious.
Surely in any democracy the exercise of restraint and respect for others is imperative. Defenders of free speech suggest that anything goes, in which case it should be acceptable to call someone with learning difficulties a “retard”, or a person of Pakistani origin a “Paki” and so on. It is not acceptable to use such speech and it should not be acceptable to denigrate religion – even when one holds a superior intellectual position – where it is known to give offence. Mockery, even when dressed up as satire, is a poor substitute for honest debate. Let’s have more respect and less hypocrisy.Susan RobinsonOrmskirk, Lancashire
• Guardian commentators – along with the rest of the media – have been as one in their framing of the French terrorist atrocities as a narrative of ‘“free speech v evil doers”. In this context, some dissenting opinion from secular liberals would not go amiss. At what point does the “right to offend” slide into Muslim-baiting and just plain old-fashioned racism? For example, I fail to see equivalence between the intelligent irreligious cartoon “Jesus and Mo”, which attacks the absurdities of belief, and pornographic portrayals of the prophet Muhammad.
Readers might want to check out the Charlie Hebdo cartoon “the Koran is shit” and reflect on how this compares with the lurid depictions of Jews in Der Sturmer in 1930s Germany. Given France’s anti-Islamic colonialist past we should be very wary of how it continues to inform present discourse on Islam in the guise of liberty.Steven GarsideManchester
• Freedom is always a dilemma. For me to be free to do anything I want, no one else can be free. We therefore have agreed to limit individual freedom to get a balance for us all to have some freedom. For freedom of speech, the same thing works. Should I be free to express all I think and feel even if it insults, hurts, degrades other people and their most precious beliefs? Freedom of speech only works if we show respect for other people. Disrespecting other people, their religion or foreign heads of state, and justifying it as free speech, should also be unacceptable. This does not stop rational argument or criticism, just abuse.Jeffrey ButcherMorecambe, Lancashire
• Free speech comes at a price; it even costs human lives. The bottom line for an open and free democracy seems to me to be that I have to accept that someone, somewhere, sooner or later, will say something that offends me. But I have to live with my feelings, and not assuage them in any violent way at all. In fact, we can all have a “right” to cause offence, if we do not also demand the “right” to take offence too. It is likely that some of those who reject this principle, whatever their religion, or lack of it, will continue to make martyrs of those who practise it.Fr Alec MitchellManchester
• Natalie Nougayréde (Report, 8 January) is quoted as saying that “the crucial task now is to defend the right to offend”. Why is such a right more important than the responsibility to resist the urge to abuse the treasured right to free speech simply to prove a point? What purpose is served?Sierra Hutton-WilsonEvercreech, Somerset



Topics



Charlie Hebdo




Charlie Hebdo attack




Islam




Religion




Paris



More…



France




Press freedom








Share on Facebook







Share on Twitter







Share via Email







Share on LinkedIn







Share on Google+







Share on WhatsApp



















 






more on this story














Charlie Hebdo: Freedoms must not be applied selectively

Letters: There is no one method of killing or motive for killing that is always present in terrorism and never present in war



Published: 8 Jan 2015




Charlie Hebdo: Freedoms must not be applied selectively












Charlie Hebdo: A crime by individuals not a community

Letters: I do not recall white Norwegians being asked by the media to scrutinise their ‘values’ and beliefs in the same way in 2011 following the murderous rampage by the neonazi Anders Behring Breivik



Published: 8 Jan 2015




Charlie Hebdo: A crime by individuals not a community








Charlie Hebdo: To publish and be damned – or not

Letters: The widening Islamist attack on free speech and democratic values across the world – and not least one’s being able to enjoy a sense of humour, even a wildly satirical one – must be defied



Published: 8 Jan 2015




Charlie Hebdo: To publish and be damned – or not












Charlie Hebdo: We must remember the police officers too

Letters: John Mortimer once said causing offence is important and beneficial to humanity



Published: 8 Jan 2015




Charlie Hebdo: We must remember the police officers too














popular












 








The Guardian






back to top














home




US




world




opinion




sports




soccer




tech




arts




lifestyle




fashion




business




money




travel




environment







all sections
close







home




US




world




UK




europe




americas




asia




middle east




africa




australia






opinion




sports




soccer




MLS




NFL




MLB




NBA




NHL






soccer




live scores




tables




competitions




results




fixtures




clubs






tech




games






arts




movies




tv & radio




music




books




art & design




stage




classical






lifestyle




food




health




love & sex




family




women




home & garden






fashion




business




markets




companies






money




travel




USA




europe




UK






environment




development




cities






science




media
selected




crosswords




video











Media




›
Charlie Hebdo








jobs

subscribe
all topics
all contributors

info and resources

contact us

feedback

complaints & corrections
terms & conditions
privacy policy
cookie policy
securedrop


© 2015 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved.






















 
