Charlie Hebdo, Islamism, British Liberals and the Left.

A Leftist satirical weekly is burnt to the ground.

It offended a right-wing religious movement.

The religious movement, or varieties of it, holds power in large and wealthy countries and is present, in strength, in other lands, supported by the pious bourgeoisie, appealing to wider constituencies through charity work and appeals to identity based on its creed.

A new government, installed with Western military help, identifies with this faith-movement.

It has just taken measures to restrict women’s rights as part of a wider plan to set up a repressive legal system.

Another government, freely elected, is just forming, with the power to write a country’s constitution in line with this religion’s beliefs. It has a background in a hard-line version of this political religion.

Some of these movements are ultra-conservative. Some are of these are viciously reactionary and reject all forms of democracy. Others have a moderate side and accept winning power by the ballot box.

They all share certain core ideas, and consider that they are simply right. They all want criticisms of their faith, and its prophet,  placed within limits, – though they differ on these boundaries. Some would kill anyone who goes beyond what they consider acceptable.

All of these movements are pro-markets, some of them are pillars of the global capitalist system. Two new ‘post-revolutionary’ leaderships are ready to implement neo-liberal economic programmes.

The satirical magazine’s present Editor is a Communist sympathiser. The journal’s writers include anarchists, socialists, greens, liberals and the plain bloody-minded.

How do British liberals and the left react?

Largely by trying to ignore the event.

The few that comment moan that the paper is extremely rude and in bad taste

That it attacks the ‘moderate’ governments of this religious movement.

That because this movement has poor and oppressed supporters in Europe this means that nobody can satirise this right-wing ideology.

Boo hoo.

We love you Charlie!

 Charlie, y’a des anglais qui t’aiment quand même! (Charlie Blog Here)

Meanwhile L’Humanité has published a dignified and beautiful Islamic  representation of the Prophet from the time when this was permitted.

Le Prophète, monté sur sa jument à tête de femme et guidé par l’ange Gabriel. BNF.