Assita Kanko, Belgian member of the European Parliament and newspaper columnist fot De Telegraaf and L'Opinion.fr
January 7. Exactly ten years ago, for a moment, we were all suddenly Charlie. On 7 January 2015, the Kouachi brothers committed a veritable massacre on the editorial board of the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo. In the name of Al Quaida and of Islam. Twelve journalists, cartoonists and casual attendees were left dead, France was in shock and messages of support for free speech poured in from all over the world.
Meanwhile, a lot of water has already flowed through the Seine, and
the Charlie Hebdo attack unfortunately proved to be only a foretaste of what was awaiting us later - again in France, but just as much at home, in England or in Germany. The very worst attack followed at the end of 2015, again in Paris, where over 130 innocent people would lose their lives in a large-scale attack on the Bataclan concert hall, several cafés and the Stade de France, among others. But Islamist terror would also claim many dozens more victims in Copenhagen, Berlin, London and, of course, Brussels in the following years. That relentless religious fanaticism has profoundly changed our Western European society, as is still evident almost daily.
First, of course, because of the permanent sense of insecurity that is deeply embedded in our society today. At a Christmas market, at a pop concert, in the run-up to a football match or at school: terrorists can strike anywhere, anytime. And watertight security for everything is simply impossible, we now know. In addition, and much more drastically,
our European way of life and our much cherished freedom of speech are also creepingly coming under increasing pressure. Criticism of Islam can be - literally - life-threatening. Even an innocent teacher like Samuel Paty, who dared to discuss two Mohammed cartoons in class, had to pay with his life. And while we were all Charlie ten years ago,
it has now apparently already become acceptable again in French left-wing circles to dismiss Charlie Hebdo as Islamophobic.
All over Europe, including Belgium, there are more and more politicians who, for electoral reasons, refuse to speak out clearly against advancing Islamism in certain neighbourhoods or schools. The recently published - and quite disturbing - book ‘
Allah n'a rien à faire dans ma classe ’ [ Allah has no place in my class room ] is the perfect illustration of this. The book describes the loneliness of our teachers and fear in schools, pressure on schoolgirls and all kinds of threats.
Charlie Hebdo was 10 years ago but apparently we have learnt nothing. I think we should use this sad anniversary as an opportunity for all of us together to become a little more Charlie again.
BBM
Well said, and I can only agree 200%, unfortunately.
