Charlie Hebdo: Most Controversial Magazine Producer In The World

In the past, freedom was not being persecuted for having different opinions and it was a new start, where everyone is equal. Freedom wasn’t in most parts of the world; in fact Freedom House showed the statistic of the freedom of the press from 1987 and 2014 and in 1987 fifty-seven percent of the worlds freedom of the press wasn’t free and in 2014 only thirty-two percent of the press wasn’t free. This show that people are learning the importance of freedom

It is very important to be aware that the media is capable of controlling the flow of information that citizens receive. Furthermore, much of the content suppressed in this country is for fear of retribution from others. When governments and other institutions suppress information, citizens are not able to address matters concerning their country, as well as around the globe. In ‘The Decline of American Press Freedom’ by Anne Applebaum, Applebaum explains a recent controversy with Yale University and the publishing of a contentious comic in a scholarly report on the global consequences of political comics. The comics in question were satirical in nature and displayed the Islamic prophet Muhammad in an offensive manner. In an aniconic religion where visual depiction of the prophet is inherently blasphemous, the Islamic response to these comics were violent. When an analysis of the comics and the cultural backlash was written, instead of publishing it, Yale University swept it under the rug for fear of offending Islamic extremists. Applebaum argues that if “Yale University Press refuses to publish [the comics], then that makes it much harder for anybody else to treat the cartoon controversy as a legitimate matter for scholarly and political debate” (Applebaum 640). By not allowing the publishing of this analysis, Yale University is censoring what the American populace have access to in terms of global controversy. The issue becomes trivialized because institutions fear retribution from extremist groups. Without these scholarly points of reference of this issue and others, it is difficult to have a serious conversations about the ramifications of political and religious satire. This leads to people remaining uneducated and ignorant of these serious issues, and liable to repeat these same actions that so sorely offended an extremist

Glenn Beck, a renown conservative with extreme political theories, is included in the cartoon as a book to learn from as well, further emphasizing ideologies like his plot against government and numerical claims that “10 percent of all muslims are terrorists,” . In an analysis of the textbooks passed by the board, reviewers found that the books do not have any negative attitudes towards capitalism, viewed christianity as a harmless takeover of indigenous culture, and racially categorized many diverse african groups as one unity, calling them “negros”. World history textbooks emphasized the violence in Islamic countries, and related it to the terrorism and additional issues western countries have today. The statement, ““Much of the violence you read or hear about in the Middle East is related to a jihad,” is an example of the racism and bias towards Islam. From a developmental age, reading about these ideas will encourage racist attitudes and negativity towards certain ideals in the student’s future. Through political cartoons, artists attempt to persuade readers to their standpoint, and to go against the idea portrayed in the cartoon.

Satire and controversy never really exist without each other, every article that is written, every image that is taken and every cartoon which is drawn, somebody with a slightly different interpretation may take an element of offensive. Charlie Hebdo continually exercised their right to freedom of speech and pushed boundaries that no other publication dared to but they did not single out and or target Islam or the Prophet Muhammad, they targeted pretty much anything that was relevant.

There is a problem in the modern world with the way we look and understand images having to do with Islam. Efforts taken by the media to share images which creates a positive perspective on Islam, are rare. Instead images that cause the public to connect Muslims to terror and radicalism are common because the media utilizes punctum’s such as, an image of a young victim of a terror attack, to tap into ones emotions, gaining the public’s attention. the reason why the media cares about increasing their audience is because the world revolves around money and unfortunately the world has become so used to opening up the newspaper in the morning and seeing negative images, that positive images don’t appeal to media moguls. An important

However, freedom of speech, press, and expression is not a liberty valued by all nations. In Iran, a theocracy, the internet, television, and radio is littered with content that contradicts the core values of Islam, making it a threat to their culture. The most recent and popular display of how seriously the government is about media restrictions, is the arrest of the six Iranian citizens who took part in the production of a music video of Pharrell Williams’ hit, “Happy”. Reporters say “the police found it offensive. Iran state media called it ‘vulgar’” (Ghitis). The young people were released due to pressure from other nations, however the director remains in prison for his crimes.

Charlie Hebdo spoke out against touchy matters that in turn provided many enemies against Charlie Hebdo. When they were threatened by Islamic State Charlie Hebdo fought back by producing a cartoon showing to men kissing saying “love is stronger than hate” (Taub). The producers at Charlie Hebdo knew that this was going to offend the Islamic State even more, but that was their goal. Charlie Hebdo felt as though they had a purpose to step on toes, and would not back down in the eyes of danger. Charbonnier told Le Monde “I’m not putting lives at risk. When activists need a pretext to justify violence, they always find it” (Calderone). Because of Charbonnier principles cost him his life that day, but the end of his life sparked a new stand for free expression. As Mahoney said, “Journalists must now stand together to send the message that such murderous attempts to silence us will not stand” (Calderone). Charlie Hebdo stood for their principles and their destruction sparked a larger stand for Charlie Hebdo’s

The phrase “radical Islam” has become a very common term in recent years, especially with the rise of the Islamic State. Muslim journalists are needed for the decreased usage of this phrase. The mere mentioning of this phrase leads the viewer or the reader to false conclusions. It can be admitted that the Islamic State only believes that it is enforcing Islam. This, however, does not mean the teachings of Islam are actually consistent with the actions of the Islamic State. The media has done a poor job of showing that these acts of lunacy are solely based on delusions and tremendous misinterpretations of the Qur’an. Non-Muslims are always watching news

In July 2011, Anders Behring Breivik, a far-right terrorist, killed eight people outside of a government building in Oslo and then shot and killed participants of a Norwegian Labor Party youth camp. In total, the attack left 77 dead and 241 injured. Breivik cited his opposition to feminism, Marxism, Islam, and multiculturalism as his motive for the attack. The most recent terrorist attack on European soils occurred in January 2015. In the Île-de-France region, specifically in Paris, French operatives of Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula attacked the headquarters of the newspaper, Charlie Hebdo. The attack was not the first threat on the publication, which is known for lampooning the Islamic prophet Muhammad and other Islamic leaders. The attack left eight Charlie Hebdo employees, two police officers, and two

1. There are issues about its influence on the “right to the freedom of expression”.

“Abuse of Freedom of Expression, Advocacy of Racial Discrimination and Religious Intolerance”. In September, the French magazine Charlie Hebdo issued publications with caricatures of the Muslim prophet Muhammad. After selling out of all the normal issues, the publisher decided to issue 70,000 additional copies to correspond with the mosque prayer held on Fridays. Additionally, a large number of raids were conducted resulting from concerns that protests would be held from the release of the film Innocence of Muslims. At the conclusion of the raids, some 50 people were detained, a large number of the detained included women wearing traditional Muslim veils (Makei, 2010).

Charlie Hebdo’s act which was given name of ‘freedom of speech’ was in fact a freedom to insult according to Muslim community. They published the cartoons of a highly revered personality in Islam; Prophet Muhammad (PBUH).This act is not only forbidden in Islam but also caused many Muslims to suffer emotional pain and resentment at such an open exhibition of hatred in the name of freedom of expression. Ironically the same magazine, in 2008, fired one of its cartoonists for publishing ‘anti-Semitic’ statements. On the other hand, it is also true that it has the past of issuing cartoons or articles that mock other religions. Prophet (PBUH) is the central figure of Islam and Muslims to love and respect him more than themselves, their parents and their children. Nobody appreciates some person whom mocks

The connection between Islam and terrorism was not intensified until the 9/11 attack on the World Trade Center that pushed the Islamic faith into the national and international spotlight (Smith, 2013). As Smith (2013) articulated, “Many Americans who had never given Islam a second thought before 9/11 now had to figure out how to make sense of these events and relate to the faith tradition that ostensibly inspired them” (p. 1). One way in which people made sense of these events was through the media channels that influenced their overall opinions by shaping a framework of censored ideas (Yusof, Hassan, Hassan & Osman, 2013). In a survey conducted by Pew Forum (2012), 32% of people reported that their opinions of Muslims were greatly influenced by the media’s portrayal of Islam that depicted violent pictorials and fundamentalist Muslims. Such constant negative depiction is likely to lead to the inevitable—prejudice and hate crime. For instance, in 2002 alone there were approximately 481 hate crimes that were carried out against Muslims (Smith, 2013). Ever since the 9/11 attacks Muslim people have been the target of “suspicion, harassment and discrimination” (Talal, n.d., p. 9).

In July 12, 2008 publication of the New York Times, it was reported that the President of Sri Lanka was killed in a suicide attack. The religion of the suicide bomber was never reported. The very same newspaper (on November 5, 2009), reported that how a Muslim attacker attacked the US Base and killed US army soldiers. This discrimination against the Muslims and Islam is nothing but the fruit of Western Media’s propaganda against the Muslims and Islam. In Western countries, Islam is often looked upon as an "extremist", "terrorist", or "fundamental" religion. In many cases, the media’s

Freedom of expression, and open access to media, are as fundamental to the survival of Progress as the sun and rain are to the survival of planet Earth. Yet censorship remains a traditional response of any group that finds itself offended at another's message or creative indulgence.