Did anyone hear the woman defending Charlie Hebdo on R4 Today?

[Icantthinkofabettername]

I read about the awful attack on the teacher in France last night. It is just horrific an no one should face that risk.

However, the spokesperson on the Today programme was spectacularly missing the point. She was defending freedom of speech and advocating children being taught about satire.

In my view, there is nothing groundbreaking about using satire to perpetuate the prevailing view and the view of the elite in society, particularly when groups on the lowest rungs of that society feel it is directed at them.

Much in the same way that Trump uses 'Freedom of Speech' and defending 'Liberty' to sanction the oppression of already oppressed members of society.

I don't know what the answer is, terrorism cannot suceed as a tool for change. However, what Charlie Hebdo stood for cannot continue to be blindly defended, without seeing it for what it was.

I have just messaged her again. It is chaos with so many people trying to leave Paris.

@ChineseMum

I’d forgotten that there are so many trying to leave ahead of lockdown, it’s gridlocked. Would she be able to head straight to the airport now and camp out there before her flight? (If it’s tonight or tomorrow?) She’ll be safest there and won’t have the added worry of missing her flight.

I think she is going to leave very early on public transport. Hopefully the airport will be well guarded. There is nothing I can do but wait.

That is just appalling. Twitter will shut down anyone that dares to say TWANW and let this go out? Outrageous! And nothing in any of the news channels I can see. What the fuck is wrong with people.

There can not be this many lunatics who can be mobilised for this surely? I mean one insane person can put a call out all they like but will anyone act on it? What the fuck do Parisian Chinese even have to do with this (assuming it's Covid blame)? Will they do the same to Italians who were at the epicentre of it in Europe? Or English who have much higher chances of having it than most - but since no one has been anywhere it just doesn't make sense. I'm inclined to think this won't come to anything. At least I certainly hope not. Obvs take no chances.

m.dw.com/en/belgian-teacher-suspended-over-prophet-muhammad-cartoon/a-55454081

Teacher suspended in Belgium for showing the same cartoon.

Just wanted to point out that the girl wasn't even in the lesson when Paty showed the cartoons as she was absent that day.

www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.gq-magazine.co.uk/article/molenbeek-belgium-no-go-zone%3famp

Where the cartoon in Belgium was shown.

@MarriedtoDaveGrohl

That is a great article, thank you for sharing

I've been to Belgium a number of times. Work and pleasure. What an awful shame that one small pocket has become this. I'd heard the name Molenbeek so checked.

Apparently the Charlie Hebdo attackers were all from here. In fact most of the known terrorists in Europe are from here or have links to here.

The people of Molenbeek (which is now almost exclusively Muslim) have formed an impenetrable zone where no one can police or know what's going on. God knows why you would want to teach there but teachers love to feel that warm glow of feeling like they are doing 'Social good'.

And there's nothing anyone can do about the radicalisation that's goes on there. How appalling.

This is what annoys me. Why can't they be "policed" like everybody else and no go areas should not exist

“I think we forget that not everyone born in the west and white is wealthy.“ not sure I understand what you mean?
Are you saying that many ‘white’ people in the west are not wealthy? (fairly obvious)
or that many ‘non-white’ people in the East, North and South are not wealthy? (fairly obviously again). Is you general point that very few peoples are wealthy and most are not?

I read the article you shared, thanks. My takeaway was very different from yours.

“t's hard to think why you would go to another country just to practice hate”

You don’t have to go to a different country. Plenty of opportunities to practice hate wherever you are and whatever colour, religion or social class.

I think these days with lots of opportunities to express views on social media, free speech is really not as much of an issue. Hate speech is though. Some of the comments on DF are simply appalling, for example.

@MarriedtoDaveGrohl

I have never reported any of your posts, I think I have respectfully debated with you but pointed out when you stepped way over the line and were just being vile.

Trut the view amongst many immigrants and people like you is that we in the west are wealthy with great privilege and advantages. But not everyone is and in Belgium you can advance yourself regardless - as an immigrant you aren't coming in with no chance of a job or integration. It's an opportunity,

So, Trut (or should that be Trot) the poor fuckers of Belgium who pay a fortune out to support the ungrateful incomers may not have had that much wealth themselves. The population of (infamous terrorist hotbed) Molenbeek are no more poor or disadvantaged than many others in Belgium unless they decide to be. And they are certainly far better off than at home.

Meanwhile many countries outside the west are growing and prospering and doing very well.

And if I had to go out on the streets to support free speech, I’d do it for Hong Kong. where there are serious concerns about free speech. Crude images of a religious figure’s genitalia? Wouldn’t make it to the top five reasons to get out of bed to protect. Just as I wouldn’t make the effort to protect “graffiti” no matter how “free speechy” it is (well an exception for Banksy of course!)

“the poor fuckers of Belgium who pay a fortune out to support the ungrateful incomers”...okeey then. No biases and hate here.

Biases and hate. Do me a favour. Normal people going about their day to day lives getting killed by fanatics and paying extra taxes to do so. But I'm sure you love that kind of thing. No biases and hate towards the people who lived in the country for years then? No of course they need to give up their freedoms and money, makes sense to me. You would much rather feel smug about saving the works than caring about the health of a small country that doesn't have much resources to start with. Yeah, that's just fair. Because you're so compassionate.

The UK supports people like Abu Hanzas family in a lovely house in Ealing- how can that be ok?

What do you think about the Danish forcibly breaking up areas like Molenbeek? While fundamentally I would prefer that people make their own decisions about where to live, it does seem that allowing areas like that, with high levels of welfare use and disengagement from society, is a profound negative. Maybe society does need to step in and break the cycle? I don't think people should be living for generations on welfare, so perhaps it would act as a circuit breaker, to expect them to work and participate?

www.theguardian.com/education/2021/mar/25/batley-head-apologises-for-teacher-using-charlie-hebdo-cartoons

I just hope there's not a repeat.