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At 7pm at the Tongzilin Subway Station, Exit B, there will be a gathering and memorial for victims of the terrorist attack yesterday in Paris. This is spreading on WeChat now, just wanted to share it here for anyone that sees this within the next few hours.
Rassemblement, aujourd’hui, à la station de métro Tongzilin (ligne 1) sortie B à 19:00.
????????????19???????1??B?????????????
Sad I couldn’t make it. Any pics/impressions from anybody that did go?
I stopped by briefly, the crowd was massive, much larger than I expected. There were at least 100 people gathered outside of the subway exit, many with candles, pictures of the French flag, or the “I Am Charlie” slogan.
A lot of French people, of course, but a lot of Chinese as well. The gathering made me wonder at what size do the authorities get involved… after leaving I met with some visiting students from Harvard, one of which is Russian and said that a spontaneous meeting of 100 people could never happen in Moscow without being broken up.
Examples? No One Murdered Because of this Image
You misunderstood the comic, I think. It’s not about the incident per-se and absolutely not implying that the incident is justified..it’s absolutely inexcusable and senseless in every way, it’s about the media situation around free speech. If there are comics drawn with racist depictions of African Americans in the US (like Obama monkey/etc), anti-LGBT, or anti-Jewish type comics or comedy, it’s often labeled in the media as going over the line and in some cases causes things to blow up. When Hebdo depicted a previous french president, for example, it was shut down. But, when it’s anti-muslim or drawings of Bin Laden exposing his asshole, it’s freedom of speech. I’m all for _all_ freedom of speech, and journalism (especially satire) needs to have license to offend, however I think the media needs to do a better job of taking all or nothing..not picking what is over the line and shaming vs. fully embracing and ‘freedom of speech!’ing what they like. The situation in France is far more heated and historical, mostly around Algeria/Algerian muslims (here: http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/comment/charlie-hebdo-paris-attack-brothers-campaign-of-terror-can-be-traced-back-to-algeria-in-1954-9969184.html) than I suppose is being talked about, and I think of this sort of like…..what do you think would happen if, for example, a satirical comic comprised of a bunch of white guys based in/near Ferguson in US was released right now depicting Michael Brown as a cumbersome gorilla aggressively beating up a clerk with cigarillos in hand, then shot dead, and a bunch of angry people saying “He was innocent! He was a good boy!” with devil horns or something…. imo that’d be super offensive, but what do you think the result would be? I’d guess massively rage-fuelled violence, firings, media oppression and shaming, etc. I’m on the same side as the freedom of speechers, don’t get me wrong – and think death was far too light of a punishment for these two evil dudes and their supporters, but I think it’s also important not to jump on a bandwagon without looking into the situation a little deeper..
Bin Laden exposing
I meant Mohammed, not Bin Laden 😀 I think the point is it’s a disenfranchised group who has been fucked hard for ages in France & their home country, and continually gets their religion rubbed into their faces.. I’m not a fan of the Hebdo comics (after looking thru a bunch) and while fully support the free speech portion of the ‘movement’, don’t really like the publication or what they’re doing for the most part. Mock extremism – sure, but they’re extremely rough @ Hebdo on a lot of disenfranchised poor sods, as well.. bullying the disenfranchised repeatedly doesn’t really seem like the type of thing I’d be down with associating so strongly with. I wonder how many Chinese who are all about supporting free speech in this case would condemn and rage against a Japanese satyrical publication pushing a bunch of comics about the ‘sick man of asia’ and depict the Chinese in a negative way?
I’m not sure what kind of comparison you’re trying to draw between a Michael Brown comic and one depicting Muhammad (or whatever the one that sparked this incident contained). I do understand that you’re saying there is no half-supporting free-speech, but people can fully support free speech and express their displeasure at the mocking of a potentially innocent victim of overuse of police force. And assuming that displeasure would come in the form of
massively rage-fuelled violence, firings, media oppression and shaming, etc.
is, I think, way off the mark. I’m sure there would be some shaming, but so what? Every group has their sensitivities. Frankly, I think the comic you posted takes advantage of tragic situation to grieve about a peripheral, comparably less important issue.
Honestly, I think the most important thing at this point is not to confirm freedom of speech’s unimpeachable importance regarding all speech about all groups, but to protect people from the inevitable racist/religious backlash, cuz if I learned anything about growing up in 9/11 era US, if you’re brown and an Islamic-affiliated group commits an act of terror in your town/city/country/continent, you’re gonna have a bad time. And I think it’s doubly, if not triply, important to focus on highlighting the fact that brown or Muslim ≠ terrorist because of the racial/religious makeup and history of France. I think the conversation is less skewed than it was in 2001, and that’s great, but redirecting the conversation with the sorts of grievances expressed in this comic is not the most constructive dialogue to have, at least not in the waking hours of such an event.
I don’t think you get the point I’m making.
Here’s an interesting read that may help clarify, I had written a reply, but the page turned and I lost it:
In the Wake of Charlie Hebdo, Free Speech Does Not Mean Freedom From Criticism
Here’s an example of their work which depicts precisely why I will not be funnelling along “I am Charlie” slogans any time soon:
http://www.hoodedutilitarian.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/welfare.jpg
Well, likewise, seems like you didn’t get my post. The article you pointed me towards does well to describe my feelings on what is important in the aftermath of such events. We undoubtedly engage in hagiography even for people we would consider despicable were they not victims of a heinous act (particularly when the perpetrators fit the profile of people we already perceive as enemies). One could say we’re not very good at simultaneously expressing grief and objectively/fairly assessing one’s life. We allow tragedies like this to confirm our biases, simplify our thinking, and mindlessly promote broad ideals while ignoring nuance. It’s an unthoughtful, knee-jerk reaction that perpetuates a cycle of xenophobia, distrust, and us vs. them mentality. And frankly, that’s the aim of terrorists: not only to strike fear in the hearts of those that would produce similar content, but to maintain an atmosphere of deep distrust. Nothing is as good at recruiting new terrorists as expanding the backlash against Muslims at large.
I think you posted that article to say that, though wrongfully killed, Charlie Hebdo’s writers and cartoonists are not beyond reproach. I wouldn’t disagree with you there. My point is this: post-tragedy conversation is massively important and powerful, and it’s actually at its worst when it promotes action based on high emotion. And, regardless of your point, the original comic you posted just doesn’t add anything interesting, smart, or constructive to that post-tragedy conversation, which is why I personally don’t like it. Cheers!
Sorry, Russell Brand is not a reliable source for anything. His message is “love everyone and don’t trust the media”. He should stick to verbose, sex-injected comedy, because his politics are simplistic and confused at best. He’s like a college student who’s just taken his first civics class, eager to share all his knowledge and understanding of the world with his friends.
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