All the articles describing Charlie Hebdo as a paragon of free speech make me sick to my stomach. In 2008, Charlie Hebdo fired one of its employees for "anti-Semitism" for
the mildest suggestion that there might be a correlation between Judaism and economic success. Hebdo's presentation as a champion of the Western tradition of free speech is downright ridiculous. Hebdo once
tried to have the speech of an entire political party banned because they thought that Marine Le Pen, the head of the National Front, might secretly hate Jews even though she has never expressed animosity towards them.
When one Semitic religion I find objectionable is barred from criticism through the persistent violence of the state but another is only protected as such through the sporadic violence of otherwise powerless individuals, it does not make me think that Islam is the source of tyranny in this context. The adage goes, "to find out who rules you, find the people you may not criticize." Suffice to say we can safely criticize Islam in France, and we definitely cannot criticize Judaism there. My feelings on Islam are not positive. I do not like what it has to say and I think it is an overwhelmingly negative influence on the world. I'm not taking this position because I am an Islamophile.
Comedy is not safe from Jewish authority in France. Right now the most beloved comic of France, Dieudonné M'bala M'bala, is
barred from performing because of "anti-Semitism". They
just arrested him for posting on Facebook after the ban. French author Marc-Édouard Nabe has been censored for two decades and subject to repeated acts of violence for his so-called "anti-Semitism". The world seems to care only about the violent acts of one Semitic religion and not another.
France and Hebdo never valued free speech, only speech against Muslims and Christians. I don't know of any French critic of Islam that has silenced themselves in fear of Islamic violence. However, I know of tens of parties (such as
recently-fined Varg Virkernes, Nabe, and Dieudonné) that have been forced to become silent about subjects related to Judaism because of the state-mandated violence of French courts on the subject.
Charlie Hebdo had it coming, and so do the rest of the French dogs. We must stand against the hypocrisy of the French Jews until the people of France are allowed to criticize each and every one of the most despicable religions of Abraham!
Je suis Amedy Coulibaly!
Update for 2/11/2015: As if to hammer the point home, Vincent Reynouard was just
sentenced to two years in prison for suggesting that significantly less than six million Jews were killed by the Third Reich. Seriously, it should be open season on the French. They must be brought to justice for this ridiculous hypocrisy. If they ban speech against Jews, they should also ban speech against Muslims and Christians. It is not fair or equitable for Jews to be a special protected class exempt from all criticism.