Jerusalem Post Op-Ed re: Charlie Hebdo terrorism murders

http://www.jpost.com/Opinion/We-are-Charlie-387158

"The gruesome massacre in Paris of ten cartoonists, political satirists, and members of Charlie Hebdo’s editorial staff – along with two police officers who attempted to defend them – must become one of those watershed events in which the tide turns, the trend is reversed, and a new resolve is born.

All who value the hard-earned freedoms offered by open societies must confront unequivocally and without apologetics the reactionary fundamentalists who perpetrate murderous violence to intimidate and advance their vision of reinstating a Muslim caliphate. We must reject any attempts to “understand” what those two assassins with Kalashnikovs did as anything but an intentional assault on western values – in this case the freedom of expression – in the name of their fundamentalist interpretation of Islam.

Unfortunately, too many of us – including journalists who should know better – take the tack of blaming the victim.

In 2011, after Charlie Hebdo’s offices were firebombed for an issue that featured the Prophet Muhammad as its editor-in-chief, Time magazine’s then-Paris bureau chief commented that “not only are such Islamophobic antics futile and childish, but they also openly beg for the very violent responses from extremists their authors claim to proudly defy in the name of common good. What common good is served by creating more division and anger, and by tempting belligerent reaction?” Did Charlie Hebdo’s staff “beg” to be massacred when they were lampooning French politicians, the pope, Protestants, Orthodox Jews, or any of the other groups and individuals whom it singled out for a laugh? Over the years many have felt the sting of Charlie Hebdo’s wit, but only Muslims have resorted repeatedly to violence."