Je Suis Censorship

It's been ten years since the murders at Charlie Hebdo

American editors, publishers, and newspaper owners can say, “At least we don’t murder cartoonists to shut them up…for now.”

Ten years ago, two terrorists armed with assault rifles and other weapons barged into the offices of Charlie Hebdo, a weekly satirical magazine in Paris, and murdered 12 people and injured 11 others.

The perpetrators were two Algerian Muslim brothers who identified as members of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. It’s assumed their motive was “revenge” for the magazine’s publication of caricatures of the prophet Muhammad. Zealotry, no matter the religion, is not a good thing.

Those killed were cartoonists Cabu, Charb, Philippe Honoré, Tignous, George Wolinski, columnist Elsa Cayat, editor Bernard Maris, copy editor Mustapha Ourrad, building maintenance worker Frédéric Boisseau, bodyguard Franck Brinsolaro, police officer Ahmed Merabet, and Michel Renaud, a travel writer visiting Cabu. Their names should be remembered. The names of the two terrorists, not so much.

Charlie Hebdo was attacked by terrorists previously in 2011 and later in 2020.

Journalists are physically attacked in other nations too. At least 162 have been killed in Palestine since that war started. At least 17 have been killed in Ukraine since Russia invaded. At least 122 journalists have been killed in 2024. 55 journalists were detained in 2024 worldwide and 95 are missing.

Many cartoonists have been subjected to physical abuse, arrests, and unlawful detentions in places like Iran, Syria, Russia, China, and Nicaragua, where my friend and colleague Pedro X. Molina fled from to seek exile in the United States…TWICE.

A few months ago, I asked Pedro where he was going next after fleeing the fascist Trump regime. I was asking for a friend.

Despite Cagle Cartoons’ syndication of Rivers, the unethical coward who works “anonymously” from Canada, cartoonists in that nation and the U.S. aren’t incarcerated or murdered. At least not yet. But, our freedom is slowly eroding.

I’m sure you recently read about the cartoonist Ann Telnaes leaving The Washington Post after a cartoon of hers was killed by her editor, which featured Post owner Jeff Bezos. While no physical harm came to Ann, her viewpoint was suppressed for reasons that are similar to what inspired the terrorists at Charlie Hebdo. She drew the “prophet” or for some people, their god, Donald Trump.

Trump and his followers believe he is a god. They believe he is above the law. They believe he should not be criticized or challenged in any way whatsoever. Soon, Trump’s Justice Department will be going after people who tried to hold Trump accountable for his crimes.

We must remember Charlie Hebdo as we face these threats from MAGA. One reader on Facebook today told me she had to Google to understand this cartoon. It’s not just Republicans in this nation who have bad memories. Or maybe, some just don’t care.

An editor wrote me about this cartoon and told me that ten years ago at a state journalism summit, she wore a Charlie Hebdo button and “barely received any acknowledgment or a comment from anyone.” You would think journalists would care about this.

The editorial page editor of The Washington Post, David Shipley, claims he killed Telnaes’ cartoon because there were two columns on the same subject, so it was overkill. But that’s funny because there’s not just one column on the vote for Speaker of the House, or just two columns, but at least three, and yet he still approved this cartoon from Michael Ramirez on the same subject. Don’t feed us bullshit, Shipley, and tell us it’s a chocolate chip sundae.

Editors silencing cartoonists while cozying up to Trump before he invades Greenland is compounded by the lack of brave people calling it out. Are we going to see any conservative cartoonists stand up and call out Shipley and Bezos for their suppression of criticism of Trump? Let me know when there’s a Ramirez cartoon on it.

We’re not just standing up for Ann, as we did a few months ago for Michael de Adder after he was dropped from the Halifax Chronicle Herald after 30 years. We’re standing up for all of us, even for Michael Ramirez, Henry Payne, Gary Varvel, etc, etc. Their freedoms are the same as ours, and just as threatened, even if they’re too stupid to notice or too stupid to care.

I’m sure we’ll get our thanks around the same time we get that Ramirez cartoon.

What happened at Charlie Hebdo shouldn’t be forgotten or only remembered when it happens again…or where it happens again.

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