Why must journalists pay the price of a nonsense war? I had not yet recovered from the killings of the American journalists by ISIS, and now the cowardly attack on Charlie Hebdo magazine in Paris has left me shocked into near silence. Sitting in my room, a writer isolated in exile, I think about the five French cartoonists killed in their office yesterday.
Our world is in the hands of cowards, of inhuman people who want to divide and separate us, who want to destroy our world as they destroy their own homes. These people who spread the dangerous ideology that risks all of our lives, our happiness, and our future.
It is a pity and it is sad to think that our lives can be ruined by such people, who may have the skeleton of human beings, but who are empty inside. I feel so sorry that journalists, writers, filmmakers, human rights activists, and freedom fighters pay for such nonsense with their lives.
Those French cartoonists and editors at Charlie Hebdo, as well as all the other journalists and writers, are the bravest people in the world.
They oppose no religion or ideology; they foster only freethinking so the world can hear and see every kind of discussion and belief. They do not use weapons; they talk with their pens. They draw out their opponents with pen and paper, not with bullets and blood.
As a writer, I condemn the killers’ actions, but worst of all I condemn those who remain silent against attacks on our freedom of speech and freedom of expression.
The French terror attacks that killed a dozen people at the magazine this week are sad, but they also carry a strong message: they permit us to show our commitment to freedom of expression and our love and respect for those who write, bare-handed, without fear.
By Anonymous
Charlie Hebdo’s deputy chief editor Bernard Maris and cartoonists Georges Wolinski, Jean Cabut (aka Cabu), Charb, Tignous, and Honore (Philippe Honore)
This is so thoughtful and articulate. The “skeletons of human beings… empty inside” line is stark and confronting and echoes a sentiment we are all feeling. Thank you for continuing to write, bare-handed, without fear.
Please keep writing. Your pen is a force for good– it is a means of change. Nothing is stronger than ideas and yours should travel the world and be heard in every home. Stacy
Thank you for writing these strong, honest words. You have given us many truths to think about like your description of the slain writers: “They do not use weapons, they talk with their pens.” So true. And if we find what someone writes or draws offensive — we should react the same — with words. I love your last paragraph where you point out the good that can come from this atrocity. “…they permit us to show our commitment to freedom of expression and our love and respect for those who write, bare-handed, without fear.” Beautifully said.
There may be cowards in the world, and they may have inflicted a terrible blow, but I prefer to believe that the world is really in the hands of women like you, whose commitment to speaking out in defense of tolerance, peace, and freedom will ultimately inspire far more people. Thank you so much for sharing your writing with us.