The Charlie Hebdo editorial did create a lot of confusion among Left liberals. Many liberals in the west thought it was Islamophobic and racist. But for those who had directly witnessed the fascist nature of the religion,, there was not much confusion. May be real life experience determines our perspective.
Here listen to what Eiynah, the Pakistani atheist, now living in Canada, have to say in her podcast.
She says :
We must be wary,,careful to walk that very thin line between Islamist apologist parts of Left and the anti Muslim parts of the Right. True secularism resides somewhere in between those extremes. Somewhere I think Charlie Hebdo hits perfectly. Which is why it causes scurrying panic among false rebels who for some reason wish to hold anti liberal religions in high regard.
As quoted, it says “false rebels” not “false liberals” as in your headline. Is that bad transcription of the podcast or is your headline a misquote?
And, though I agree that the PEN backlash against Charlie Hebdo was misplaced, I do not think it’s necessarily a matter of “holding [Islam] in high regard”. The problem is that Islamaphobia is a thing, and crude caricature sets off a lot of North American liberals’ bigotry detectors. Their failing was largely in not making any attempt to understand the nuances of satire or the responsibility of defenders of freedom of expression to defy the threats of censorious bullies and assuming that since a context-free sampling of their caricatures of Muhammed looks to them like a visual racist slur, that is all that wasreally going on.
It’s not enough to just assert that you and the Charlie Hebdo artists can appreciate “the fascist nature of the religion” and “false liberals [rebels?]” cannot, or refuse to do so. Opposing Islamaphobia is partly about recognizing that the vast majority of ordinary Muslims are not violent extremists or fascism enthusiasts. They want what everyone else wants. Safety, meaningful work, a measure of prosperity, a livable world for their children. I reiterate that I do not believe that Charlie Hebdo was or is Islamaphobic, and I do agree with Salman Rushdie that there was a whiff of cowardice to the dissenters and that their protest was misguided. But I think the majority of them were just that, misguided, by North American cultural assumptions, by excessive fear of seeming to support what looked like bigotry or race-baiting, by concern for members of minority communities.
Thank you for the comment. I heard that portion of podcast few more times and I think Eiynah says “false liberals” only. Broadly agree with your views. In India we are unfortunate enough to witness both, muslimophobia created by Hindutva groups and the fascist face of Islam. Both have to be resisted.