Charlie Hebdo Attacked in Paris
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Quote:Egypt jails atheist student for three yearsBel Trew CairoAn Egyptian court has sentenced a man to three years in jail for "contempt of Islam" after he admitted being an atheistThe jailing of the engineering undergraduate Karim al-Banna, 22, who was arrested in November in the Nile delta city of Idku after writing a private Facebook post, comes after a drive by the military government against "immoral behaviour".Mr Banna's neighbours read the posting and invited him to talk about it at a cafe, where they secretly called the police, said Fatma Serag, a lawyer with the Association for Freedom of Thought and Expression, which is representing the student.Atheism is not illegal but Mr Banna was found guilty of insulting the Muslim faith under the Egyptian penal code which criminalises defamation of religion, she added. His sentence could be suspended until a verdict is issued by the appeals court if he pays bail of £93.It comes after a steady increase in "contempt of religion" cases since the military's 2013 overthrow of the Muslim Brotherhood as it attempts to curry favour with conservatives.Fatma Naoot, a writer, is standing trial after allegedly criticising the traditional slaughter of sheep during the Muslim holiday of Aid, while the poet Karim Saber was jailed last year for his short story collection entitled Where is God?In Luxor at least three people were jailed, including Demiana Emad, a Christian schoolteacher, after she held a lesson on different faiths. In December the security forces shut down a Cairo cafe for allegedly harbouring "atheist devil-worshippers".The military-backed authorities want to prove they are more Islamic than the Islamist regime they ousted, said Ishak Ibrahim, of the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights, which is monitoring the trials."They want to be the guardian of public morals. It wins them popularity," he added.(The Times, 12 January 2015)
These people basically agree with the Charlie Hebdo killers that insulting islam should be punished, only they think it should be done by the State and that the penalty should be less harsh. In any event, they don't believe in free speech.
Watching the coverage of the sympathy marches i felt all of a sudden very afraid. Apart from the irrationality of such emotional outpourings for there have been and will be much more bloody slaughters, let us not fool ourselves that it will not lead to very nasty consequences. I have no doubt for most it was a genuine show concern that we should be tolerant and respect democracy but do you think other darker foces won't take full advantage…think of those politicians in attendance.I'm not talking solely that behind many Je Suis Charlie placards and tricolour there will be a le Pen Nationl Front supporters quietly hissing their particular hatred and getting a a more receptive hearing , and in Germany with Perdiga and here with the EDLBut most of all i recalled the shock and genuine sympathy that went to America after 9/11. Even in Tehran people were showing solidarity against terrorism but what took place? Did Bush build upon this revulsion against the attack upon innocents and use it to further cause of peace? Did he now understand the feel and sensation of being a victim?Nope. Vengence !! Afghanistan was invaded, without giving them time to follow the nicieties of international law and diplomacy. Then the lies were spread that Saddam Hussein was involved and complicit in the attack and the Iraq invasion was justified and launched ..so effective was the deceit that even today many Americans believe he had a part in the 9/11 attack. Truth was disregarded. Justice overriden.FoxTV can now twist the effect and facts to declare that England is under seige from muslim extremists. How would the Syria war vote go now? Will troops now be easier to deploy… Americans shout , Remember the Alamo, and America repeatly replay the images of the twin towers…Will now 12 cartoonists be cast in the role of martyrs, to be avenged themselves.I saw already Netanyahu using the Kosher supermarket atrocity to appeal to French Jews to emigrate to Israel…he wished to liken the act to an anti-semitic pogrom to justify the war against the Palestinians. The Daily Mail reported that Jewish vigilantes are patrolling possible Jewish targets in London…an inflamatory criminal act being ignored by police,Watching the crowds, hearing the spin of the political leaders and the media i fear now what lies ahead.Certainly our civil liberties will be further curtailed. All the protests about internet spying will now be brushed aside. Laws will be passed and laws will be broken in the name of Charlie Hebdo….to become the casus belli of a new crusadei feel a shiver go through my spine now everytime i see a report of Je Suis Charlie…i simply do not trust the sincerity or the compassion of government leaders…worse is to come, i anticipate…Nothing good will come of it, i assure you all…
He might not have guessed that ALB …But guess where some French troops are based…Mali…his reasoning was correct enough…history…connections …events…context…his complaint is that media coverage never give a full perspective for us to understand motivesIt was not a random Muslim involved but someone from a country where a civil war is going on and where the French have taken sides.
French troops are based in lots of their ex-colonies in Africa. I suspect Fisk's real first reaction (like mine and most other people's I imagine)) was "Muslims" but that he was afraid to say so for fear of being accused of "islamophobia".
Just back from the BBC website…and the headline…10,000 soldiers to be deployed ..the militarisation of civil society…http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-30774114Seems my forebodings seems accurate…How long before pro-palestinian demonstrations are seen as pro-islamist marches and banned? Latest Fisk here, btwhttp://www.independent.co.uk/voices/comment/robert-fisk-the-only-point-of-terror-lists-is-to-get-those-named-a-palace-invitation-9971088.html
Quote:Terror, terror, terror, terror, terror. What’s in a name?…. I’ve found that journos and editors across Europe are far more fearful of important and rich people with expensive lawyers who might sue them for slander than any gunmen storming into their front office. Paris may change all this. But a lot of true stories have been spiked because of Britain’s absurdly costly libel laws rather than any threat of violence.Perspective again being demanded by him …but you and Redstar will fault Fisk's insistence that not all muslims are the same and arts perpetuated in its name does not make every muslim complicit
The Chinese have long been trying to associate their nationalist problems with Islamist extremism and today we have more terrorhttp://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-30774172Where i am the southern provinces too has a muslim rebellion against buddhism…as some would put it, rather than explain it from the history of the British in the days of colonialism, simply re-drawing borders and forgetting who lives on them and the political legacy of these map-makers. In neighbouring Burma, it is the muslims who are the victims of terror and nationalism …Politics not sex – the 50 shades of grey…
In a letter to The New York Times, by IDF’s Lt. Col. Avital Leibovich, that:
Quote:“Such terrorists, who hold cameras and notebooks in their hands, are no different from their colleagues who fire rockets aimed at Israeli cities and cannot enjoy the rights and protection afforded to legitimate journalists.”http://countercurrentnews.com/2014/08/these-17-journalists-were-killed-by-israel-in-gaza/
alanjjohnstone wrote:but you and Redstar will fault Fisk's insistence that not all muslims are the same and arts perpetuated in its name does not make every muslim complicitI beg your pardon. When have either of us ever said that or anything like that? I think you withdraw this slur.
I get what you mean Alan.Do you know that in the Philippines, the President was voted to power merely because his father was a declared "hero" and his mother was portrayed as a "saint". What I'm trying to say is, the concept of hero, martyr, and saint is a very useful tool for vengeance and indebtedness, it is saying "we owe it to them", and so politicians use them to remind people what they owe. So if I say, I no longer believe in heroes, martyrs, and saint, I have my reason.I feel the same way with this "terror attack", the concept of hero, martyr and saint will be use, and as you said, nothing good will come of it.What disgust me most is that they will do anything to divert the focus of the people from the real issue of the capitalist crisis even if it means to sacrifice human life.But what a show of force by the ordinary people, too bad, wrong issue.sardaan Ordinarian
I,of course, withdraw my intemperate accusation. But was sparked from your earlier depiction of Fisk's article as "pro-muslim".I also apologise to Redstar.I know both of you have a much more sophisticated analysis than my simplistic and mistaken labelling.
http://theconversation.com/why-jihadism-appeals-to-religiously-illiterate-loners-36106This is a very perceptive article about the sorts of people attracted to these kinds of actions:
Quote:We continue to see jihadist terrorism as being about religion more than anything else but “religious avengers” of this kind are often actually religiously illiterate. This is particularly true of Western Muslims who have been lured to fight for Islamic State, or who have carried out attacks at home[…] Those drawn to jihadism are usually not particularly religious prior to their involvement with violence. They are either raised in largely secular households or possess only a rudimentary grasp of their parental faith, which rarely extends to religious practice of any sort. […] These sorts of melodramatic crises of identity can prove useful for Jihadist recruiters. They can use the confusion to sell a new utopian identity around the Ummah or global community of believers – which does not recognise colour, race or nationality and is besieged from all sides by evil forces. This radical interpretation of a religious community becomes the sole locus of identity and belonging.The hearts cry of the oppressed, the soul of a soulless world, etc. so the real anti-dote is a real, physical, practical sense of belonging, a materialist antidote.
Let's be clear though, Islamism is not the same as islam. The irrationalist belief in a monotheistic deity shared by millions across the globe is very different from the violent advocacy of a authoritarian idealist political system. Both are enemies of socialism, one can be overcome through the common class interests of all workers across sectarian divides, the other seeks the physical destruction of all workers organisation.
Was i being paranoid?Troops on the French streets and now the internet crackdownhttp://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/jan/12/david-cameron-pledges-anti-terror-law-internet-paris-attacks-nick-cleggNot only new surveillance laws but the possible re-introduction of border and passport controls in the Schengen area…something UKIP couldn't achieve.I keep wondering why this atrocity outweighs the 2005 tube attacks in London or the Madrid train bombing a year previous and can we now call it a reaction of hysteria, this time around.
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