We have made an extraordinary change to our home page. We have four “featured post” windows at the top of it. They contain a photo accompanied by a headline. Today we have changed all the photos to show a “Je suis Charlie” image. The headlines then link to articles, on the subject, which we have published so far.
This is a small act, to underline a few things.
First of all, it is to emphasise our sincere and deep sympathy with the family and friends of all those who died in the Charlie Hebdo attack yesterday, and with all those affected by it.
Secondly, it is a tribute to the people who died. Whether they were the editor-in-chief, the four cartoonists, the two columnists, the sub-editor, the visitor, the maintenance worker or the two policemen. All these people were going about the noble business of preparing, or supporting those preparing, a weekly newspaper. We salute their courage and nobility.
Thirdly, it is a statement of our solidarity with the French people and the Charlie Hebdo community at this time. We stand with them in defending the cause of free speech and condemning such acts of mindless barbarity.
The pen is mightier than the sword
– Edward Bulwer Lytton
The “Je suis Charlie” image we are using is by Clément Belleudy – some rights reserved.
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14 Comments
Well done, LDV. Nous sommes tous Charlie.
We can learn from the French
In a time of crisis people gather at the statue of Marianne, the symbol of secular, republican France.
The symbol of Liberty, Equality and Fraternity.
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberty_Leading_the_People
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marianne
Thanks indeed, LDV, for taking up the suggestion which I posted a couple of days ago on the private members-only forum – or alternately arriving at the same conclusion by serendipity.
Moving quote: I am not Charlie, I am Ahmed the dead cop. Charlie ridiculed my faith and culture and I died defending his right to do so. #JesuisAhmed
That slogan is cheap and easy, I’d rather the press reprinted some of the offensive cartoons if they want to show solidarity.
The whole reason that magazine became an obvious target is that it was one of the few publications in western Europe that had the nerve to make fun of Islam. Almost everybody else was cowed so Charlie stood out a mile.
There’s a thinly veiled establishment opinion, revealed in the Financial Times yesterday, that Charlie shouldn’t have provoked the terrorists.
May I add my deepest sympathy for those who died and their friends and family, I hope the murders are caught soon
Mike Barnes
Today the FT published a much more appropriate article:
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/6ddff0c2-95c4-11e4-a390-00144feabdc0.html
I don’t think the death of a police officer, or any of the other 11 is ‘cheap’ It’s a reality.
Excellent response, LDV!
What Meral said.
Very much agree with Meral and, surprisingly, the Daily Star who today rightly praise Ahmed as a hero.
Could I just point out that the police officer being mentioned here as “Ahmed” is one of three police officers to have been shot dead?
France is a secular state, with a secular police force. All police officers are police officers.
This is, I’m afraid to say, is feeble and self-indulgent.
I have no doubt that LDV editors and readers have sympathy with those who tragically died and their families. All reasonable human beings do.
But just splashing a “Je suis Charlie” image all over your website is not a meaningful or serious statement .
The incredible, amazing, bewildering and disturbing thing about Charlie Hebdo was its determination to brutally offend certain minorities – particularly Muslims – without fear or favour
I’m not sure I find such an editorial approach laudable. I certainly don’t find their cartoons remotely funny. Just crass. But I certainly support the right of anyone to behave (and publish) in this fashion.
Those people and groups who are now deciding – of their own volition – to claim “I am Charlie” should at least show the common decency to reflect, report and publish the exact sort of things that Charlie Hebdo magazine printed.
To merely lay claim to “being Charlie” and making an “extraordinary change” to one’s homepage is just preening, self-satisfied and unbecoming.
@marklittlewood: I wasn’t under the impression that Je Suis Charlie was some sort of diktat from some sort of Politburo. For me it’s about the right of everyone to express themselves in a manner that is true to themselves. I have views that would proper get up the noses of the murderers, which is why I feel empathy with my fellow writers and artists.
LDV will continue to be itself and publish what it likes. That is our interpretation of the spirit of Je suis Charlie.
Caron Lindsay 10th Jan ’15 – 9:49am
Well said Caron. LDV does not need to take any lessons from the man from Big Tobacco.
But if Mark Littlewood is so keen to have Hebdo cartoons widely published maybe he could ask his friends in the tobacco companies to put them on every cigarette pack before standardised packaging is introduced.