On Charlie Hebdo: A letter to my British friends

[OKNancy]

Last edited Tue Jan 13, 2015, 02:37 PM - Edit history (1)

This part I found interesting:

Firstly, a few words on Charlie Hebdo, which was often “analyzed” in the British press on the sole basis, apparently, of a few selected cartoons. It might be worth knowing that the main target of Charlie Hebdo was the Front National and the Le Pen family. Next came crooks of all sorts, including bosses and politicians (incidentally, one of the victims of the bombing was an economist who ran a weekly column on the disasters caused by austerity policies in Greece). Finally, Charlie Hebdo was an opponent of all forms of organized religions, in the old-school anarchist sense: Ni Dieu, ni maître! They ridiculed the pope, orthodox Jews and Muslims in equal measure and with the same biting tone.

They took ferocious stances against the bombings of Gaza. Even if their sense of humour was apparently inacceptable to English minds, please take my word for it: it fell well within the French tradition of satire – and after all was only intended for a French audience. It is only by reading or seeing it out of context that some cartoons appear as racist or islamophobic. Charlie Hebdo also continuously denounced the pledge of minorities and campaigned relentlessly for all illegal immigrants to be given permanent right of stay. I hope this helps you understand that if you belong to the radical left, you have lost precious friends and allies.

The whole article is worth a read: http://blogs.mediapart.fr/blog/olivier-tonneau/110115/charlie-hebdo-letter-my-british-friends

[Bluenorthwest]

1. I have seen DUers claim that the magazine was homophobic which is an absolute lie told by people

who are no ethics and all agenda. They were strong advocates for LGBT and all other rights, and they faced down the religious bigots who attack LGBT people relentlessly. They were radically anti racist.

[freshwest]

2. Didn't know this about him. Thanks for the insight.

[Buddha2B]

3. Thank you for posting this

Australian here. Sadly all over Tumblr there is a massive thread making out the magazine is racist.

Honestly these days it seems like Tumblr is a Right Wing Psy Op job to destroy the left, or perhaps just populated by too many anxious 15 year olds policing political correctness.

[Bluenorthwest]

4. Yes, after many befuddled generations the word suddenly claims to understand French humor.

It's pretty amazing.

[adirondacker]

5. The whole article is worth reading indeed and I hope many do. Thanks for posting. nt

[muriel_volestrangler]

6. That is an interesting and informative piece

Thanks for posting - the most detailed explanation from a French person I think I've seen so far.

[adirondacker]

7. Kick and Highly Reccomend the Entire read. nt