A year since the Charlie Hebdo attack

Today is a year since the attack on the Charlie Hebdo offices in Paris and the murder of some of the Charlie Hebdo cartoonists, as well as related attacks on a kosher supermarket. A year down the line it seems to me impossible to conclude anything but that the attack was a roaring success and that the terrorists have, by any metric you choose, won. I’m not going to really say anything which other people haven’t already said better, but the claim of “Je Suis Charlie” was weak from the start with few people or publications actually prepared to show … Continue reading

Apologies and condemnation

Predictably, the fervor for free-speech didn’t last past the march in Paris and the politicians are back to calling for less freedom and more snooping and certain elements of the press saying we’re all to blame, it had nothing to do with Islam, and worrying about a back lash from the “far right”. In all of the column inches written so far, few have touched on who really needs to apologise for the attacks – and apologies are called for. Sadly, the people who need to apologise for not standing up for free speech and allowing attacks like this to … Continue reading

Muslims and apologies

As I may have mentioned before the recent attack on Charlie Hebdo is laying bare all sorts of double standards, not to mention the odd weasel word or two. The latest to cross my path was an article published by vice – titled “Internet Commenters: This Is Why I and Other Muslims Won’t Apologise for the Charlie Hebdo Attacks”. My friends have for some reason shared it as being an excellent article, with the (usually sound, though in this case I’d suggest reading the comments it’s informative) advice not to read the comments. Which has rather forced me to conclude … Continue reading