The violent
attacks against Charlie Hebdo and the following events that ended on the evening
of January 9 with two simultaneous offensives in Paris, against
Coulibaly, and in its outskirts, against the Kouachi brothers, leading to the
deaths of these 3 attackers have shocked the whole nation. In total, 20 deaths,
17 victims including journalists, policemen and civilians. This bloodshed particularly
affected the French population because it
occurred on their territory, where they should be feeling safe, and was
perpetrated by Frenchmen, people who should be somewhat like-minded, having been
born and raised in France.
How could
this happen? How is it possible that Frenchmen have been able to carry these
attacks against, no just journalists, but against the first Republican value:
liberty? Is it their religion that led them to act with so much violence? Is it
an ideology, their skin colour or the failure of the French Republic to
integrate all its citizens? But, overall, what does this mean for France and
French Muslims? What does this say about freedom of expression, about tolerance, respect and responsibility?
While
reading the various reactions on the media and social networks in France and
beyond, I have realised that French Muslims are more than ever in a dire
straight, they are French and Muslims, often considered as alien and
stigmatised in their own country and culture, they are now criticised by Muslim
worldwide for being too French.
These events
have showed that French culture and republican values are as important to
French Muslims as their religion. Indeed, many French Muslims are just as
shocked and outraged as any other French citizens by those acts committed against
the freedom of the press, against the freedom of speech that guarantees French
citizens’ rights to free information, free thinking and free expression. Consequently,
French Muslims have been commenting and marching as French citizens rather than
Muslims, showing the prevalence of their attachment to their country, culture and
its values in this particular situation. This simple fact clearly illustrates the formation of a French Islam, a Republican
Islam. But this has consequences, since Islam belongs to many cultures and not
all humans are equipped to apprehend and understand each other and even less so
when they belong to different cultures.
Consequently,
for many Muslims around the globe, the position of French Muslims is difficult
to understand. It may be seen as a disgrace because they are defending the
right of speaking freely and thus, the right to disrespect the Prophet by
depicting him in offensive ways. Yet, the Muslim faith is aniconic; it does not
have and avoids symbols, icons, objects and depictions of God and His many
prophets because of the risks of idolatry
and association (worshipping something or someone other than God, the
capital sin in Islam), not because of possible risks of mockery. And, many
cultures do not mind depicting God and His prophets often for mockery and other
disrespectful purposes. Yet, French Muslims are judged harshly by other Muslims - even though they also condemned Charlie Hebdo for being offensive and irresponsible - because they are French and embrace the idea of liberty, this liberty to
speak freely, which, I repeat, encompasses the liberty to freely inform
themselves and, most importantly, to think and express themselves freely… a
reality that is unknown to many humans.
In fact, not
just Muslims but French people from all backgrounds have denounced Charlie
Hebdo for being the engine of anti-Islam and anti-Muslim sentiment and thus the
catalyst for disrespect, intolerance and xenophobia, as well as marginalization,
exclusion and fanaticism. And this is something that has been heard and that
has been made visual by the various marches organised across the country,
calling for unity rather than divisions based on religion or ethnicity. French
people have reacted using the most simple and peaceful mean of action: standing
all together, against violence, prejudice and bigotry.
Photo taken in Bordeaux at the end of a march organised by religious communities against fanaticism, 9 Jan 2015.
Of course,
the mass protests of January 11 have illustrated fears, fears of division,
racism and viciousness, thus augmenting a common desire for unity in the face
of tragedy, a unity that did not seem to mean uniformity, for once. Unfortunately,
I must acknowledge the fact that French women and men, have failed to demonstrate
the same chocked and immediate responses when fellow humans across the globe
died because of French foreign policies and their interference in many
conflicts reflecting only the self-interests of a handful of decision-makers.
They did not spontaneously organised mass night vigils or gathered to denounce
the violence and deaths their nation inflicted on millions of innocent humans.
Their blood was not shed on French pavements; it was shed on the dusty soil of faraway
lands… so they do not feel concerned. Being French should be more than caring
about your own people and blood, but for some reasons caring about those victims
feels like asking too much from my fellow citizens… we seem far away from the
universalism we claim. I personally have Islam to remind me of my humanitude (as opposed to humanism) which enables me to discern the roots
of our shared human condition and, by doing so, what is essential to it.
In an increasingly
interconnected world in which we know who dies, how and why almost instantly; it
is disheartening to see that French people, who have known many wars in the
twentieth century and have become increasingly intolerant to suffering and
death, are unable to gather when their government decided to join forces with
other Western powers and kill for democracy… well - let us not fall into that
trap and let me respect your intelligence as a reader - we all know the real
motivations: greed, control and supremacy. Our governments are not better than
those who kill in the name of Islam or God, actually they stem from the same
human weakness: an overtly preponderant ego seeking nothing but immediate
self-satisfaction and annihilation of those who defy this ego.
Regardless
of the sickness of humanity, I am optimistic. I think that whenever humans are
challenged they tend to think harder. Accordingly, many French people are
challenged in their ideas, prejudices and beliefs and are probably thinking
harder. Thus, if channelled properly and if what happened is not buried in the
darkness of oblivion, these events may well be the catalyst for a New France,
for a new understanding of what makes us French, for a new sense of belonging… After all, the republican ideals of liberty,
equality and fraternity are what French people aspire to, tend to; and if
liberty and equality have been put forth through many political and social
movements, fraternity never prevailed
as much as it did these past few days. Let’s hope French people capitalise on
this freshly rediscovered value.
