‘I’m not the one going into the streets with stones and Kalashnikovs’: Charlie Hebdo editor rejects responsibility for violence over naked Mohammad cartoons

Has the whole world gone mad? Why is this even a question? Let's say you call me a racist, bigoted Islamophobe. I am deeply insulted. At that moment I have a huge range of options before me. I can calmly explain to you that Islamic supremacism is not a race, fighting for free speech and equality of rights for all is not bigotry, and "Islamophobia" is a manipulative concept used by the Muslim Brotherhood and its allies to stifle resistance to Islamic supremacism and jihad. Or I can start yelling and calling you names. Or I can start muttering into my vodka tonic about the injustice of it all. Or I can murder you, drag your body through the streets, set fire to your embassy, and demand laws against insulting me. Or I can do any number of other things.

Which one will I choose? It's up to me, not to you. You might have a strong hunch as to how I will react, and say to your companion, "That Spencer, he is going to come out with another windy, closely reasoned refutation of my charges that everyone will ignore," or "That Spencer, he is going to burn down my embassy," but you still can't be absolutely sure what I am going to do, because I am not an automaton, I am a human being endowed with the faculty of reason, and I may always choose to react in a way that will surprise you.

Or I may not. But in any case, it is up to me. If I kill you, there is absolutely no justifiable basis on which anyone could say, "Well, he had it coming. Look how he provoked him." My choice was my own, and only I bear responsibility for it.

But today that basic and elemental truth is lost. If Muslims rage, riot and murder for any reason, they bear no responsibility. The only ones who bear any responsibility for their raging, rioting and murdering are the non-Muslims who somehow provoked them.

That I have to take the time to explain this at all, and that it will be universally ignored, is an indication of how much our public discourse has degenerated. The road is being swiftly paved for the destruction of the freedom of speech. When, in another year or so, I am safely imprisoned for daring to speak the truth and a new era of peace has dawned between the West and the Islamic world, and yet the jihad keeps coming, and the full implications of the new "hate speech" laws start to become clear in the quashing of all political dissent, don't say you weren't warned.

Of course, maybe none of that will happen, and the freedom of speech will suddenly sport a thousand articulate defenders who have not yet been completely demonized and marginalized out of the public square. But I don't see them on the horizon right now.

"‘I’m not the one going into the streets with stones and Kalashnikovs’: Charlie Hebdo editor rejects responsibility for violence over naked Mohammad cartoons," by Nicholas Vinocur for Reuters, September 19 (thanks to Kenneth):

The editor of French magazine Charlie Hebdo has said that when his magazine ridiculed the Prophet Mohammad on Wednesday by portraying him naked in cartoons, he and his organization were not responsible for fuelling the anger of Muslims around the world who are already incensed by a video depicting him as a lecherous fool.

The editor, Stephane Charbonnier, also known as Charb, rejected criticism. “We have the impression that it’s officially allowed for Charlie Hebdo to attack the Catholic far-right but we cannot poke fun at fundamental Islamists,” he said.

“It shows the climate. Everyone is driven by fear, and that is exactly what this small handful of extremists who do not represent anyone want: to make everyone afraid, to shut us all in a cave,” he told Reuters.

“Muhammad isn’t sacred to me,” he said in an interview at the weekly’s offices on the northeast edge of Paris. “I don’t blame Muslims for not laughing at our drawings. I live under French law; I don’t live under Koranic law.”

Charbonnier said he had no regrets and felt no responsibility for any violence.

“I’m not the one going into the streets with stones and Kalashnikovs,” he said. “We’ve had 1,000 issues and only three problems, all after front pages about radical Islam.”

One cartoon alluded to the scandal over a French magazine’s publication of topless photos of the wife of Britain’s Prince William. It showed a bare female torso topped by a beard with the caption “Riots in Arab countries after photos of Mrs Mohammad are published”....

“We know that these images will be deeply offensive to many and have the potential to be inflammatory. But we’ve spoken repeatedly about the importance of upholding the freedom of expression that is enshrined in our constitution,” White House spokesman Jay Carney told reporters.

“In other words, we don’t question the right of something like this to be published, we just question the judgment behind the decision to publish it.”...

That's the first step.

| 15 Comments
del.icio.us | Digg this | Email | FaceBook | Twitter | Print | Tweet

15 Comments

| Leave a comment

"I live under French law; I don’t live under Koranic law.”"---

And "Koranic law.” is unacceptable, in Paris, in Tokyo or Mecca or Medina. Universal rights are universal, these pedohammedans psychopaths cannot get away with human rights abuses even if we're talking about countries with pedohammedan majorities, it doesn't matter... but of course, the reality is other, pedohammedans DO get away with all kinds of human rights abuses against non-muslims EVERYHWHERE, EVERYDAY and then they demand the west to submit to them... or else!.

The world upside down.

"who do not represent anyone"---

Oh you... are we talking about atheists, shintoists, buddhists, jews, christians... etc?, she talks about "fear" and then she's fearful to mention what's driving these people to act like they act. It's Islam lady, they represent pedohammed and its sick, perverted, intolerant, bigoted and violent ideology: Islam.

‘I’m not the one going into the streets with stones and Kalashnikovs’: Charlie Hebdo editor rejects responsibility for violence over naked Mohammad cartoons
......................................

Finally, some sanity.

More:

Has the whole world gone mad? Why is this even a question?
......................................

Why indeed? Are we so eager to put our heads in the Islamic noose? What madness.

More:

Let's say you call me a racist, bigoted Islamophobe. I am deeply insulted. At that moment I have a huge range of options before me. I can calmly explain to you that Islamic supremacism is not a race, fighting for free speech and equality of rights for all is not bigotry, and "Islamophobia" is a manipulative concept used by the Muslim Brotherhood and its allies to stifle resistance to Islamic supremacism and jihad. Or I can start yelling and calling you names. Or I can start muttering into my vodka tonic about the injustice of it all. Or I can murder you, drag your body through the streets, set fire to your embassy, and demand laws against insulting me. Or I can do any number of other things.

Which one will I choose? It's up to me, not to you.
......................................

Robert Spencer understands the elementary concept of free will and individual responsibility. Too many—even in the West—seemingly do not.

More:

That I have to take the time to explain this at all, and that it will be universally ignored, is an indication of how much our public discourse has degenerated.
......................................

God, how true...

More:

The road is being swiftly paved for the destruction of the freedom of speech. When, in another year or so, I am safely imprisoned for daring to speak the truth and a new era of peace has dawned between the West and the Islamic world, and yet the jihad keeps coming, and the full implications of the new "hate speech" laws start to become clear in the quashing of all political dissent, don't say you weren't warned.
......................................

And that's all that this "Anti-Muslim" film is, as well. Despite its poor production values, it simply tells the truth about Muslim violence and its roots in the canonical texts of Islam. Why is this considered a crime?

More:

Of course, maybe none of that will happen, and the freedom of speech will suddenly sport a thousand articulate defenders who have not yet been completely demonized and marginalized out of the public square. But I don't see them on the horizon right now.
......................................

No—but there *is* the staff of Charlie Hebdo. Considering the fact that their offices were firebombed last year by pious Muslims, they are not just "talking the talk" about freedom of speech, but "walking the walk", as well.

Stephane Charbonnier is a hero!

More:

One cartoon alluded to the scandal over a French magazine’s publication of topless photos of the wife of Britain’s Prince William....
......................................

While I'm not particularly concerned about the above topic, I'm sure that there are things lampooned by the irreverent Charlie Hebdo that *would* offend me.

So what? I have the right to send them a letter saying "That's not funny"—or "Ça ne me fait pas rire"—and they have the right to use my letter as toilet paper.

I have to tell you, I'm good with that.

Homicidal Muslims rampaging through the streets murdering our diplomatic staff and baying for blasphemy laws, not so much...

Meryl Petkoff wrote:

"who do not represent anyone"---

Oh you... are we talking about atheists, shintoists, buddhists, jews, christians... etc?, she talks about "fear" and then she's fearful to mention what's driving these people to act like they act. It's Islam lady, they represent pedohammed and its sick, perverted, intolerant, bigoted and violent ideology: Islam.
.....................................

Actually, Meryl, the editor of Charlie Hebdo has made if perfectly clear that the only problems they have ever had are from violent Muslims. He knows that it wasn't Jehova's Witnesses who firebombed the paper's offices last year.

A very minor point, but Stephane Charbonnier is a guy. "Stephane" is just the French "Steven".

"Riots in Arab countries after photos of Mrs Mohammad are published”...."

Prophetess Muhammad on display (according to islamic texts)

http://crossmuslims.blogspot.com/2011/01/prophetess-of-islam.html

ok ok lets all be nice and nobody say anything mean about moHAMmad, after all,there are reports now saying he may be just the imagination of someone, like who invented the tooth ferry.fairy. oops.

however, may i suggest, to avoid further fracus, and to provide some protection for the infidels, it would be thoughtful if the gubermint people, especially hillary, barrack, susan, etc would agree that beheading is not nice.

Robert, this is why the Left can't hear you, Max Planck was a pretty smart guy and I think he explained it well (below).

The liberal Left in the US is thinking within the only paradigm they know, the civil rights revolution of the 60's.
Just plug in Muslim for black, and Robert for the red-neck KKK cracker, and the Muslim riots for the civil rights marches, and ... well you get the idea.
They can't think outside this paradigm because it's too much work, you look at the absurdity of the current situation with respect to Jihad and Sharia and see it for what it is at a glance, sometimes maybe forgetting that you've spent a lifetime doing the background work to have that ready understanding. Look at Ayaan Hirsi Ali, she was a flaming Muslim until adulthood, so you can't expect the average Leftist who gets all his information from the evening news to have your lifetime of research and understanding.

The liberal Left in Europe is operating within a similar paradigm, the one they developed during WWII.
Just plug in Muslims for Jews, and Robert for Hitler, and the White European Nationalists like Paul Weston for the Aryan Nasis, and ... well you get the idea.

It's also been said that the old paradigm can't give way to the new until the old guard dies off.
I'd say the old guard dying off is a necessary but not sufficient condition before the old paradigm can be torn down and the new paradigm erected in it's place.

"I think Thomas Kuhn quoted Max Planck about the idea that a paradigm in science does not shift simply because the evidence in favor of the new one begins to outweigh the old paradigm. It's not a rational, empirical shift. That is because there is so much investment — psychological, unconscious, as well as economic — in the old paradigm by individuals who have lived their whole lives within it. They can't go through that kind of gestalt switch. As Kuhn says, two people who are working within different paradigms are almost, in a sense, in different universes. If you have lived within one long enough and you are not graced with a kind of illumination which helps you break out of the old worldview, it is very difficult to make your way into it."

from Understanding Our Moment in History
An Interview with Richard Tarnas
http://www.scottlondon.com/interviews/tarnas.html

Already I have to add that the paradigm problem is only one of the reasons the Left can't hear us.
Another has to do with how easy it is to bribe politicians and the news media and the educational system when you have a trillion dollars of Saudia Arabian Oil Money.
And to repeat, there's not much thinking going on amongst the Left.
When dealing with them the first question I'd always ask is "have they read the Koran?".
If not, they don't know what they're talking about but I'd keep hammering them about it until we get some of them to actually read the Koran.

If they put you in jail, Robert, I swear I'll riot.
All by myself if need be!

But they have been taught a lesson, what with the fire and stuff: they promise they will no longer show Muhammad in the nude on the magazine cover.

''Robert Spencer understands the elementary concept of free will and individual responsibility. Too many—even in the West—seemingly do not.''

Too true. And why ? Since at least the Sixties, there has been a whole climate of pernicious nonsense befogging people's minds.

**Nothing** is anyone's **fault**. No-one will take the blame for their own mistakes. Everything can be blamed on 'society', or 'poverty', or the 'government', or the 'education system', or rotten parents, or fascists, or, or, **anything**; rather than accept responsibility for one's own choices, and take on the burden of free will.

I don't know about America, but certainly in the UK, and most of Western Europe, there has been for a long time, the idea that the world owes everyone something. Personally I believe, certainly in the UK, that a **huge** percentage of this attitude can be laid at the door of the 'welfare state'. Looking after people 'from the cradle to the grave' has allowed at least three generations to believe that they are **entitled** to be looked after by the state, without contributing anything, and nothing is ever these people's fault. Big, big reason for Americans to do everything they can to prevent obama and his 'obamacare' getting a foothold !

I got so **sick** of that attitude as a teacher; the continual whine from students, no matter what they'd done, or failed to do - ''it's not **my** fault''.The belief that they were **entitled** to what the state handed out, and had no responsibility for anything.

So we now have a generation of soi-disant 'journalists' who make excuses for every pernicious failing under the sun, and politicians who do exactly the same.

*But*, there are chinks in this murky madness; the courage of Charlie Hebdo, Mr. Spencer, Ms Geller, are beacons of light. I for one, if I have to, will go down fighting. NFSE.

I must say those cartoons were not my idea of choice viewing.
However, I prefer freedom to sharia ANY day.

Stephane could be either male or female - viz. Stephane Audran.

Osandberg wrote:

Stephane could be either male or female - viz. Stephane Audran.
..................................

True, Osandberg. But Stephane Charbonnier is definitely male. He is described as "he" in the article:

"Stephane Charbonnier, also known as Charb, rejected criticism. 'We have the impression that it’s officially allowed for Charlie Hebdo to attack the Catholic far-right but we cannot poke fun at fundamental Islamists,' he said".

Here's a picture:

http://hacksperger.files.wordpress.com/2012/09/1348081765_074872_1348081855_noticia_normal.jpg

Certainly, it's a small point one way or another.

By the way, I believe you're a new poster here at Jihad Watch, Osandberg? I just wanted to say "Welcome"!

Jan wrote:

''Robert Spencer understands the elementary concept of free will and individual responsibility. Too many—even in the West—seemingly do not.''

Too true. And why ? Since at least the Sixties, there has been a whole climate of pernicious nonsense befogging people's minds...
...................................

This is so true, Jan. I grew up on welfare, and was in the thick of that sort of attitude. I have a close relative who's wound up in San Quentin (a notorious California prison), and have many other relatives who are in and out of jail. Nothing is *ever their fault*. This is an extreme example, but I've seen it permeate wide swaths of the entire culture.

Growing up with it, I've had to fight these attitudes myself—they can be perversely seductive. But I've long since realized that if I ever wanted to make something of myself—on *any* level—that this stuff was pure poison.

And, as you note, things may be even worse in the UK, and worse yet in Europe. It sickens me that the country that stood against Hitler and produced the heroic Winston Churchill can take on this attitude.

More:

*But*, there are chinks in this murky madness; the courage of Charlie Hebdo, Mr. Spencer, Ms Geller, are beacons of light. I for one, if I have to, will go down fighting. NFSE.
...................................

Absolutely. And then there is the EDL, and brave figures like Christopher Hitchens, Pat Condell, and Mark Steyn.

So—to cite an Americanism, we're not licked yet!

Leave a comment

NOTE: The Comments section is provided in the interests of free speech only. It is mostly unmoderated, but comments that are off topic, offensive, slanderous, or otherwise annoying stand a chance of being deleted. The fact that any comment remains on the site IN NO WAY constitutes an endorsement by Jihad Watch, or by Robert Spencer or any other Jihad Watch writer, of any view expressed, fact alleged, or link provided in that comment.







Not Peace But A Sword by Robert SpencerDid Muhammad Exist? The Muslim Brotherhood in America, by Robert SpencerIslamophobia: Thoughtcrime of the Totalitarian FutureMuslim Persecution of Christians, by Robert Spencer Obama and IslamThe Ground Zero Mosque: Second Wave of the 9/11 Attacks
The Complete Infidel’s Guide to the Koran


Stealth Jihad


The Politically Incorrect Guide to Islam


The Truth About Muhammad


What they’re saying about Robert Spencer
“My comrade-in-arms, my pal, my buddy.”
Oriana Fallaci

“Robert Spencer incarnates intellectual courage when, all over the world, governments, intellectuals, churches, universities and media crawl under a hegemonic Universal Caliphate’s New Order. His achievement in the battle for the survival of free speech and dignity of man will remain as a fundamental monument to the love of, and the self-sacrifice for, liberty.”
Bat Ye’or

“Robert Spencer is indefatigable. He is keeping up the good fight long after many have already given up. I do not know what we would do without him. I appreciate all the intelligence and courage it takes to keep going despite the appeasement of the West.”
Ibn Warraq

“America's most informed, fearless, and compelling voice on modern jihadism.”
Andrew C. McCarthy, Senior Fellow at National Review Institute

“Robert Spencer is the leading voice of scholarship and reason in a world gone mad. If the West is to be saved, we will owe Robert Spencer an incalculable debt.”
Pamela Geller, Atlas Shrugs

"The consummate Islam critic and expert." — Bruce Bawer

“Over the years, we have become friends, and I have received his assistance on several pieces of legislation I proposed.”
Former Congressman Tom Tancredo

“Few people are capable of applying scholarship, analytical reasoning, and objectivity to their topic -- while simultaneously being readable and witty -- as can Robert Spencer.”
Raymond Ibrahim

“A national treasure...The acclaimed scholar of Islam.”
Frank Gaffney, Center for Security Policy

“I am indeed honored to call him my friend.”
Brad Thor, novelist

“A top American analyst of Islam....A serious scholar...I learn from him.”
Daniel Pipes

“A brilliant scholar and writer.”
Douglas Murray

"One of my best teachers."
Ashraf Ramelah, Voice of the Copts

“Thank God there’s at least one man with balls left in the West.”
Kathy Shaidle, Five Feet of Fury

“I read people like [Mark Steyn] and Bob Spencer and the rest of them, and I say, ‘Boortz, you’re pretending you’re an author. These people really are. They really write some entertaining, some standup stuff.’”
Neal Boortz

“Robert Spencer is the Stephen King of Jihad.”
Chris Gaubatz, Muslim Mafia

“Armed with facts and fearlessness, Spencer stands up for Western civilization.”
Michelle Malkin

“Widely read in conservative foreign policy circles.”
New York Times

“Widely read in many quarters in Washington.”
Washington Post

“A canny operative who likely has the inside track on the State Department’s Middle East affairs desk should the tea party win the White House.”
New York Magazine

“A hero of the American right.”
Karen Armstrong

"The leading anti-Islamic intellectual in the United States....The go-to Islam expert for the right wing."
Salon Magazine

“Robert Spencer is an Edward Said turned upside down.”
Stephen Suleyman Schwartz

“One of the nation's most notorious Islamophobes.”
Hamas-linked CAIR

"Geller and Spencer are probably the most important propagandizing Islamophobes in the world. These people's voices speak very loudly — not just here in the United States but overseas."
Heidi Beirach, Southern Poverty Law Center

“Satanic ignoramus.”
Khaleel Mohammed

“The Likud anti-Christ.”
Dar al-Hayat newspaper (Saudi Arabia)

“Zionist Crusader, missionary of hate, counter-Islam consultant.”
Al-Qaeda’s Adam Gadahn, “Azzam the American”



Follow me on Twitter
facebook islam
RSS feed

Monthly Archives



Donate
Jihad Watch is a 501 (c) 3 organization. Donations are tax-deductible.


Robert Spencer debates on The Quran Teaches WarVideo: Robert Spencer on CPAC Breitbart News
Crucified Again by Raymond Ibrahim
SIOAFreedom Defense InitiativeJihad Watch VideosAmerican Freedom Law Center
Note: Listing here does not imply endorsement of every view expressed at every linked site.

» ACT for America
» Always on Watch
» American Center for Democracy
» American Coptic Association
» American Council for Kosovo
» American Freedom Alliance
» American Freedom Law Center
» American Islamic Forum for Democracy
» American Sheepdogs
» American Thinker
» Americans Against Hate
» Americans for Legal Immigration
» Amerisrael
» Amillennialist Contra Mundum
» Annaqed
» A New Dark Age Is Dawning
» Answering Islam
» Answering Muslims
» Anti-CAIR
» Apostates of Islam
» Aramaic Broadcasting Network (ABN)
» Armies of Liberation
» Assyrian International News Agency
» Atlas Shrugs
» Atour — The State of Assyria
» Australian Islamist Monitor
» Biafra Nation
» Blazing Cat Fur
» Bosch Fawstin
» Brad Thor
» Brussels Journal
» CAIR Watch
» Campus Watch
» Caroline Glick
» Christians Under Attack
» Citizen Warrior
» Coalition for the Defense of Human Rights
» Conservative Nation News
» Copts.com
» Creeping Sharia
» Daniel Pipes
» David Horowitz Freedom Center
» The David Project
» David Thompson
» David Yerushalmi Law
» D. C. Watson
» Dearborn Underground
» DEBKAfile
» Dhimmitude.org
» Dry Bones
» Ellis Washington Report
» Europe News
» Eye On Islam
» Ezra Levant
» Faith Freedom International
» Father Zakaria
» Federale
» Five Feet of Fury
» Foundation for Democracy in Iran
» Free Congress Foundation
» The Free Copts
» Freedom Defense Initiative
» FrontPage Magazine.com
» Geert Wilders
» Genocide1915.info
» Global Research in International Affairs (GLORIA) Center
» History of Jihad
» Hizb ut-Tahrir Watch
» Honest Reporting
» Honor Killings
» Human Rights Congress for Bangladesh Minorities
» India Defence
» Infidel Blogger’s Alliance
» Infidels Are Cool
» The Intelligence Summit
» International Analyst Network
» International Free Press Society
» Internet Haganah
» The Investigative Project on Terrorism
» IOwnTheWorld.com
» IranPressNews
» Iran va Jahan
» Islam Review
» Islam Speaks
» Islam Versus Europe
» Islam Watch
» Islamic Terrorism in India
» Islamist Watch — Middle East Forum
» Israel Matzav
» JihadOnBuddhists.org
» Kejda Gjermani
» KRSI: Radio Sedaye Iran
» Liberated
» Logan's Warning
» Looking At the Left
» Mahdi Watch
» Mapping Sharia
» Mark Steyn
» Martin Kramer
» MEMRI TV
» Middle East Facts
» Middle East Quarterly
» Middle-East-Info.org
» Middle East Media Research Institute
» Middle East Review of International Affairs (MERIA)
» Militant Islam Monitor
» Morning Star
» Muhammad Tube
» The Muslim Issue
» Muslim World Today
» Myths and Facts
» National Vietnam & Gulf War Veterans Coalition
» NewsReal Blog
» No Mosques At Ground Zero
» Nonie Darwish
» Northeast Intelligence Network
» Occidental Jihadist
» One Jerusalem
» Open Speech
» Operation Give
» Operation Gratitude
» Organiser
» Orwellian Culture
» Palestinian Media Watch
» PamelaGeller.com
» Panun Kashmir
» Pedestrian Infidel
» The People's Cube
» The People of the Book
» Persecution Project
» Political Islam
» Politically Incorrect
» Politiskt Inkorrekt
» Q Society of Australia
» Radio Farda
» Radio Jihad
» RAWA: Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan
» Raymond Ibrahim
» Red Alerts
» Refugee Resettlement Watch
» Religion of Peace
» Republican Riot
» Reuters Middle East Watch
» The “Reverend” Jim Sutter
» SANE: Society of Americans for National Existence
» The Second Draft
» Shire Network News
» SITE Intelligence Group
» Small Wars Journal
» Smoke-Filled World
» The Snooper Report
» Snow Report Blog
» StandWithUs
» Steve Lackner
» The Stiletto Blog
» STOP! Honour Killings
» Sultan Knish
» Tell the Children the Truth
» Terrorism Awareness Project
» Theodore’s World
» Tom Gross Media
» Translating Jihad
» Una via per Oriana
» Undaunted
» United States Central Command
» Urban Infidel
» Walid Shoebat
» Winds of Jihad
» Women Against Shariah
» World Council for the Cedars Revolution
» Yid With Lid
» Z Street
» Zilla of the Resistance
» Zionist Conspiracy
David LittmanOriana Fallaci Thousands of Deadly Terror Attacks Since 9/11The incredible Reza Aslan automated insult generator! iGoogle Gadget
Site Meter