Liberty, Equality and Fraternity (english)

Liberty, Equality and Fraternity

“In a brutally unequal world, satire that mocks everyone ends up serving the powerful.”

-Saladin Ahmed

It was very heartbreaking, hearing the Charlie Hebdo shooting. I don’t believe that anyone can deny the fact that murder is murder and what happened at Charlie Hebdo was murder. I do believe we should all mourn the twelve people and the four people killed at the kosher market. Yet, Islamophobic reactions from western media and governments (such as Bill Maher and Rupert Murdoch) should be avoided and fought against.

I have been seeing many of my friends posting, changing their profile pictures to “JE SUIS CHARLIE” yet I find it sad but oddly amusing to watch people support something from their heart just after learning a couple of things about the subject. I really do believe that the majority of the people who have been saying “Je suis Charlie” haven’t heart the name Charlie Hebdo ever in their lives. It is sad and very interesting to watch people get manipulated by social media and media itself this quick. Are people now this easily influenced? Is anybody seeing or aware of how the media can manipulate the majority by just a sentence? I had to ask myself, does anyone know who we are supporting? Or are we offering solidarity to the enemy?

Recently, I have been relating with a quote of Shakespeare “All the world’s a stage…”* I have begun to think that the politics and news of the world have become actors of the stage of media. In my opinion, most of the media today is not trustworthy at all. Media is operated differently in many different countries, for example: a regular citizen of North Korea may think that his/her country has won the Fifa World Championship but in reality they have no power in Brazil. It may seem off-limits to show North Korea as an example for a media misusage but I think it may be one of the best examples. Here is how, a massive part of North Korea’s dictatorship depends on the limits they put on networks and media. If the North Koreans were conscious about the real world they would at least stand up or revolt against the government, but they know exactly NOTHING true about the real world, they believe what their government, what their home tells them. It isn’t strange for them to do this, it is perfectly normal, humans should be able to trust other humans, we should support each other and shouldn’t lie to each other, RIGHT?

I believe the comparison between the Western and North Korean media is different in the way it is played, the strategy is different. The Western Media is behind the scenes, everything should seem nearly perfect to the audience, and there is a hero, a savior and always a second chance. The actors are selected better, they remember the scripts overnight and they can do any trick that is told to them, it is just acting – so no big deal. - And the puppeteer/director of the Western Media is always behind the scenes and hidden. S/he only comes out when it is time for the applause. Nevertheless, for the North Korean Media, the puppeteer is clearly seen and obvious or the director is sitting right in front of the stage and openly directing all.

After watching both of the plays, which one was more affective? Which one was more believable and gave more trust?

Doesn’t it seem, again terrifying but strangely funny that the person who is being killed by an “Islamic terrorist” and the “Islamic terrorist” is saying the same thing while dying/killing? (They are both saying “Allahu Akbar” which means “Allah is the greatest”) If there is anything that has shown the religion and its people this way, it is the media. ( I also do believe that it is partly the fault of the “Good/Non-terrorist Muslims” that keep their goods to themselves. I have been observing, all of the Jews and Christians who make it to the top, claim it. They keep saying, “I am Jewish/Christian” “…because I’m Jewish/Christian”. Yet, I have hardly seen any Muslims who has made it to the top and claimed it. It is almost like a blemish to be a Muslim. It is kind of a paradox; the Muslim community cannot erase the bad reputation put on them by the media because of the bad reputation that is given by the media…. Confusing? Yes. )

I wonder has anyone who watches the news wondered, “Do I really know whom I’m claiming solidarity to? Is the wall that I rely on the way I thought it was? Can this be a massive scene that is steering every viewer in their own way?” It is the religions that brought us to this point, no?

There are many other points if we take a peak to the wars and battles apart from the ones where “a Muslim kills a Muslim”. For example; when American marines who drone strikes on children in Pakistan are “heroes” and “saviors” and publishing Islamophobic thoughts is “freedom of speech” while Holocaust jokes are “unacceptable” and “outrageous”

After getting off topic this much, back to my main point, of course the cartoonists of Charlie Hebdo did not ever deserve to be murdered for their cartoons. I support free speech by heart, truly but I do not think that when Americans Civil Liberties Union supported the right of the neo-Nazis to march in Illinois there wasn’t anyone going around saying “I am Hitler”

To conclude, I will mourn and condemn the murder. I will fight for the principled and distinct political world. Although, I won’t just go with the flow without interrogating, querying or questioning the agenda. Excusez-moi mais je ne suis pas Charlie. Je prendrai le deuil, mais je ne vais pas nier certains verities qui sont cachées.  Je suis contre assasiner. Je suis pour la liberté, l’égalité et la fraternité.

* All the world’s a stage monologue – Shakespeare

“All the world's a stage,

And all the men and women merely players.

They have their exits and their entrances,

And one man in his time plays many parts,

His acts being seven ages. At first the infant,

Mewling and puking in the nurse's arms.

Then, the whining school-boy with his satchel

And shining morning face, creeping like snail

Unwillingly to school. And then the lover,

Sighing like furnace, with a woeful ballad

Made to his mistress' eyebrow. Then, a soldier,

Full of strange oaths, and bearded like the pard,

Jealous in honour, sudden, and quick in quarrel,

Seeking the bubble reputation

Even in the cannon's mouth. And then, the justice,

In fair round belly, with a good capon lined,

With eyes severe, and beard of formal cut,

Full of wise saws, and modern instances,

And so he plays his part. The sixth age shifts

Into the lean and slippered pantaloon,

With spectacles on nose and pouch on side,

His youthful hose, well saved, a world too wide

For his shrunk shank, and his big manly voice,

Turning again toward childish treble, pipes

And whistles in his sound. Last scene of all,

That ends this strange eventful history,

Is second childishness and mere oblivion,

Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything.”

-hande