“#I am not Charlie”

Almost 4million people marched in more than 200 cities and towns across France on Sunday 11. This “unity rally” was a response to the recent killing of 20 persons in Paris. 41 heads of states including Francois Hollande of France, Angela Merkel of Germany, Ibrahim Boubacar Keita of Mali, David Cameron of Britain, Mahmoud Abbass of Palestine and Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel led a multitude of 1.6 people from the Place de la République to the Place de la Nation in Paris. Demonstrations also took place in several cities like London, Montreal, Madrid, Brussels and Berlin.

The initial call for mass demonstrations was made by the trade unions. The French state latched onto it with the aim of appropriating the mood of anguish and defiance from below for “national unity”. “I am Charlie” and “liberte!” were popular slogans expressing this defiance against the despicable murder of the Charlie Hebdo magazine’s editorial board members, in the manifestations across France. One cannot but condemn the killings and attacks on free speech, as an activist. There are important issues that we must however not lose sight of, and for which I must boldly say I am not Charlie.

The magazine’s satire over the last four decades has targeted several political and religious institutions and personages. Some of these were progressive, talking truth to power. But in a context where Moslems are stereotyped as terrorists irrespective of their political leanings, Charlie’s caricature of Moslems was not just an expression of free speech. It helped to deepen racist ideology, as most French Moslems are dark skinned immigrants, mainly from former French colonies like Algeria and Tunisia.

They face greater poverty and are more likely to run afoul of the law, just like blacks in the United States. Thus, as the Washington Post pointed out seven years ago, while Moslems make up less than 10% of the population, almost 70% of prison inmates are Moslems. And this is just a tip of the iceberg. They are more likely to face: ethnic profiling; discrimination in securing housing; police brutality, and; physical assaults than other citizens who are white Christians or free thinkers.

This dire situation they face is enough to breed hostility against the system. And the imperialist wars of Western countries like France help direct this anger into the channels of recruitment by militant Islamist sects. For example, one of the Kouachi brothers who carried out the Charlie Hebdo killings was radicalised by the dehumanizing torture of Iraqi prisoners in Abu Ghraib by American soldiers, shown on television.

However, misguided terror tactics only play into the hands of the bosses. They will always try to use such painful tragedies to present a false picture that “we are one” bound by the fight against terror. George Bush played up these sentiments after 9/11 and Goodluck Jonathan “is doing it”.

But the world leaders’ lamentations are merely crocodile tears. Most of the heads of states that marched, supposedly for free speech and against terrorism “harass, detain and torture journalists”, according to CNN. They hide behind the veil of official secrecy when it suits them. Julian Assange and Edward Snowden remain on the wanted list of USA because they democratised free speech!

We must not allow ourselves to be divided by the condemnable acts of terror of a few, on the basis of any ideology. When the rightwing Anders Behring Breivik killed 77 fellow Norwegians on July 22, 2011, it was not considered as attacks by a Christian. The activities of Jihadists do not represent what Moslems or migrants stand for. Working class activists must stand up against such stereotyping.

This is of the utmost importance at this moment. Within two days after the first of the Paris killings; grenades were thrown at a mosque in Le Man; a restaurant associated with a mosque was bombed at Villefranche-sur-Saone; gunshots were fired at another mosque in Port-la-Nouvelle, and; a pig’s head and innards were placed at the front of an Islamic centre in Corsica with a note which read “next time it will be one of your heads”.

This evil wind that does working people no good is not blowing only in France. In the German city of Dresden, a reactionary group called the Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamization of the West (PEGIDA), formed by one Lutz Bachmann, a hardened criminal, has been organising mass demonstrations every Monday since October 20, 2014 calling for limits to immigration, particularly of Moslems. It has been growing, with similar platforms being established in other German cities like Leipzig, Darmstadt and Bonn. PEGIDA and its like are hammering on the Paris attacks to justify their racist demands. But, huge anti-PEGIDA demonstrations are also taking place, insisting that “people are just people”.

In France as well, trade unionists and socialist activists, many of who participated in the January 11 manifestations marched under banners of plurality i.e. against demonising Moslems, Islam or immigrants in general. They received resounding support. They will have to argue out the relationship between France’s imperialist intervention and the growth of “home-grown terrorism”. More importantly, in the impending battles that lie ahead, which could dwarf the mass strikes of 2010, all working people irrespective of race, nationality or ethnicity will have to stand together to defeat the bosses. 

In the coming period, governments and rightwing movements will continue to use the excuse of seemingly senseless terror by militants to substantiate racist and anti-immigrant demands. Working people must stand firm against such divisive tactics. The bosses, their capitalist system and the wars they fight to defend their interests are at the root of both the economic crisis and terrorism. We must unite in struggle to bring this exploitative system to an end. Our battle cry must be we are human and thus deserve freedom, from want and from wars.