{"id":52790,"date":"2015-01-26T12:00:34","date_gmt":"2015-01-26T12:00:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=52790"},"modified":"2015-05-05T21:26:11","modified_gmt":"2015-05-05T20:26:11","slug":"charlie-hebdo-fired-anti-semitic-cartoonist-for-ridiculing-judaism-in-2009","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2015\/01\/charlie-hebdo-fired-anti-semitic-cartoonist-for-ridiculing-judaism-in-2009\/","title":{"rendered":"Charlie Hebdo Fired \u2018Anti-Semitic\u2019 Cartoonist for Ridiculing Judaism in 2009"},"content":{"rendered":"

The cartoon world\u2019s double standards on freedom of speech\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n

\"charlie<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

14 Jan 2015 – Charlie Hebdo<\/em> mocks the prophet Muhammad through insulting cartoons and calls it satire. As a result, half of the magazine\u2019s staff is wiped out by terrorists in the name of Allah. The massacre raises questions about \u201cfreedom of speech.\u201d The cartoon world, media, governments and intellectuals all have double standards regarding the answer.<\/p>\n

When the world was condemning the January 7th<\/sup> (2015) attack on the satirical magazine, Muslim heroes were being applauded and world leaders and dignitaries were walking in a march for unity, although it was not shoulder to shoulder:<\/p>\n

\"charlie<\/a>

Critics suggest images show dignitaries \u2018didn\u2019t lead march\u2019 after all, but many still speak positively about display of global unity.<\/p><\/div>\n

Then came the breaking news \u2013 a reminder that 80-year-old Maurice Sinet, political cartoonist with Charlie Hebdo<\/em> for 20 years, was fired in 2009 for his \u2018anti-Semitic\u2019 cartoons mocking the relationship of former French President Sarkozy\u2019s son with a wealthy Jewish woman.<\/p>\n

\"charlie<\/a><\/p>\n

Maurice Sinet, known to the world as Sin\u00e9, faced charges of \u201cinciting racial hatred\u201d for a column he wrote in July 2009. \u201cL\u2019affaire Sine,\u201d followed the engagement of Jean Sarkozy to Jessica Sebaoun-Darty, the Jewish heiress of a major consumer electronics company, the Darty Group. Commenting on rumours that Jean intended to convert from Catholicism to Judaism (Jessica\u2019s religion) for social success, Sin\u00e9 quipped, \u201cHe\u2019ll go a long way in life, that little lad.\u201d<\/p>\n

It didn\u2019t take long for Claude Askolovitch, a high-profile political journalist, to accuse Sin\u00e9 of anti-Semitism. Charlie Hebdo<\/em>\u2018s editor, Philippe Val, who re-published Jyllands-Posten<\/em>\u2019s<\/em> controversial cartoons of the prophet Mohammed in the name of \u2018freedom of press\u2019 in 2006, agreed that the piece was offensive and asked Sin\u00e9 to apologize. Sin\u00e9 refused, saying, \u201cI\u2019d rather cut my balls off.\u201d He was fired and taken to court by the Ligue Internationale Contre le Racisme et l\u2019Antis\u00e9mitisme (LICRA), an organization which works to promote racial tolerance. In December 2010, Sin\u00e9 won a \u20ac40,000 court judgment against his former publisher for wrongful termination<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Wikileaks, on January 8, blamed the persecution of Sin\u00e9 (at the request of a Jewish \u201cpro-censorship\u201d lobby) for legitimizing the terrorist attacks on Charlie Hebdo.<\/em><\/p>\n

Charlie Hebdo<\/em> publishes cartoons insulting Islam and Muslims as well as Jesus and Christianity, and tags them as \u201cfreedom of speech.\u201d However, in the case of Sin\u00e9, it failed to stand firm on its provocative \u201cfreedom of speech\u201d stance.<\/p>\n

Carlos Latuff, a world renowned Brazilian cartoonist, told Daily Sabah<\/a>,<\/em>\u00a0\u201cIt is an everlasting discussion, because what is freedom of speech and what is hate speech? Why are some subjects protected by freedom of speech and others not? Why can we mock some issues and cannot do so with others? Should Holocaust denial, for example, be included as freedom of speech, or racial hatred? See, for example, the treatment given by the Western mainstream media to Muhammad cartoons and the Holocaust cartoons.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Latuff added that the motive behind the urge to mock Islam remains unknown. \u201cWho knows? Hatred against Muslims, testing the limits of freedom of speech, mocking Muslims just for fun, who knows? However, the fact is that they [Charlie Hebdo editors] died not for a good cause, what could be seen as noble, but for provoking Muslims and feeding the hatred against Islam.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

These are some of Latuff\u2019s cartoons that speak a thousand words:<\/p>\n

\"charlie<\/a>\"charlie<\/a><\/p>\n

\"charlie<\/a><\/p>\n

\"charlie<\/a>\"charlie<\/a>The American Jewish Committee reprimanded key media outlets in the UK and US, including the\u00a0London Daily Telegraph, The New York Times, CNN, <\/em>and NBC<\/em> for omitting and blurring many cartoons published by Charlie Hebdo<\/em> that motivated Muslims to attack the magazine.<\/p>\n

\u201cThrough this act of self-censorship, these news organizations are depriving the public of its right to know exactly what Charlie Hebdo had done to arouse the ire of the jihadists,\u201d said AJC Executive Director David Harris<\/a>. \u201cKeeping this information from the public not only betrays the canons of free journalism, but also furthers the goal of the killers and their sympathizers: to create an atmosphere of fear where freedom of expression is limited and make Islam, alone among all other world religions and secular ideologies, immune from public criticism.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

US comic book artist, Art Spiegelman, also denounced the hypocrisy of the US press for declining to republish the Charlie Hebdo<\/em> cartoons. The creator of Maus<\/em>, a graphic novel about the Holocaust, said<\/a>, \u201cI think it\u2019s so hypocritical to drape yourself in freedom of speech and then self-censor yourself to the point where you are not making your readers understand the issues.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cWe have a standard that is long held and that serves us well: that there is a line between gratuitous insult and satire. Most of these are gratuitous insult,\u201d said Dean Baquet, executive editor of The New York Times<\/em>, defending the decision to not publish the cartoons.<\/p>\n

Dean\u2019s response, however, failed to cool Spiegelman down. \u201cWhen religion overlaps with social and political issues, it\u2019s necessary to fight back, so Charlie is equally hard on Jews including anti-Semitic caricatures and quotes when talking about Israel. The equal opportunity insult that came with Charlie Hebdo was the reason it\u2019s estimable,\u201d <\/em>he added.<\/p>\n

In an open letter to Le Monde<\/em><\/a> in July 2008, 20 writers and politicians including: Paris Mayor, Bertrand Delanoe; Nobel Peace Prize-winner, Elie Wiesel; filmmaker, Claude Lanzmann; French Culture Minister, Christine Albanel; former Justice Minister, Robert Badinter; and philosopher, Bernard-Henri Levy defended\u00a0Charlie Hebdo<\/em>\u2019s firing of Sin\u00e9. They argued that, \u201conce again, once too often Sin\u00e9 had crossed the line between humor and insult, caricature and hatred.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, what they failed to see was that\u00a0Charlie<\/em> was demanding \u201cfreedom to criticize\u201d Islam but was repressing criticism of Judaism \u2013 the reason Sin\u00e9 was canned. Take a look at the below cartoons, and try to answer objectively: Are Charlie Hebdo<\/em> and \u2018freedom of speech\u2019 really synonymous?<\/p>\n

Some Charlie Hebdo cartoons that are offensive to Jews:<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"charlie<\/a>In the wake of outrage in the Muslim world over the YouTube movie The Innocence of Muslims<\/em>, Charlie Hebdo<\/em> published a series of cartoons of the prophet:<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"charlie<\/a><\/p>\n

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French Website Gets Tim Cook Approve Je Suis Charlie App In One Hour<\/a><\/p>\n

JK Rowling\u2019s Tweet Shuts Down Rupert Murdoch\u2019s Anti-Muslim Rhetoric<\/a><\/p>\n

10 Things The Media Won\u2019t Be Talking About After The Paris Terror Attack<\/a><\/p>\n

Anti-Muslim Attacks After The Charlie Hebdo Massacre<\/a><\/p>\n

Catholic League Defends Murders at Charlie Hebdo<\/a><\/p>\n

#CharlieHebdo \u2013 Muslim Woman Apologises To The World In The Name Of Muslims<\/a><\/p>\n

#JESUISAHMED|Story Of The French Police Officer Who Was Gunned Down While Saving Charlie Hebdo<\/a><\/p>\n

Muslim Activist Tweets What\u2019s Most Offensive About The Paris Shooting<\/a><\/p>\n

Here\u2019s How Arab Newspapers Reacted to The #CharlieHebdo Massacre<\/a><\/p>\n

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The Muslim Heroes of the Paris Terror Attacks<\/a><\/p>\n

References:<\/strong><\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.worldbulletin.net\/news\/152585\/charlie-hebdo-fired-cartoonist-for-anti-semitism-in-2009<\/a><\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.telegraph.co.uk\/news\/worldnews\/europe\/france\/4351672\/French-cartoonist-Sine-on-trial-on-charges-of-anti-Semitism-over-Sarkozy-jibe.html<\/a><\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.thenation.com\/article\/194593\/why-we-must-resist-simple-explanations-charlie-hebdo-massacre<\/a><\/p>\n

http:\/\/firstlook.org\/theintercept\/2015\/01\/09\/solidarity-charlie-hebdo-cartoons\/<\/a><\/p>\n

http:\/\/elderofziyon.blogspot.com\/2015\/01\/some-charlie-hebdo-cartoons-that-are.html#.VLPh7dKUcoY<\/a><\/p>\n

http:\/\/gawker.com\/what-is-charlie-hebdo-and-why-a-mostly-complete-histo-1677959168<\/a><\/p>\n

Go to Original \u2013 anonhq.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The cartoon world\u2019s double standards on freedom of speech\u2026 80-year-old Maurice Sinet, political cartoonist with Charlie Hebdo for 20 years, was fired in 2009 for his \u2018anti-Semitic\u2019 cartoons mocking the relationship of former French President Sarkozy\u2019s son with a wealthy Jewish woman.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[48],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-52790","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-in-focus"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52790","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=52790"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52790\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=52790"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=52790"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=52790"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}