#FreeSpeechStories #France accused of 'double standards'

Tens of thousands of fans of the French comic Dieudonne - often criticised as anti-Semitic - are making claims of hypocrisy and double standards after French authorities opened up dozens of cases against people accused of justifying terrorism.

Fans of the controversial comedian reacted angrily after he was arrested and charged with condoning terrorism for a remark on his a Facebook page: "je me sens Charlie Coulibaly" ("I feel like Charlie Coulibaly").

The remark, which has since been taken down, was a mash-up of the#JeSuisCharlie tag and the name of Amedy Coulibaly, the man who killed a policewoman near a Jewish school and four people at a Jewish supermarket in Paris. Dieudonne later defended the remark by saying he felt like he was being persecuted by authorities as if he were a terror suspect.

"Freedom of expression is dead, but its funeral on Sunday was pretty!!" said one of the comedian's Facebook fans, referring to the enormous march through Paris in support of Charlie Hebdo.

"WHAT HYPOCRISY!!!!!" shouted another commentator. "You can legally caricature and insult the prophet and the Muslim world: the oligarchy calls this freedom of expression ... We are in a pseudo-democratic dictatorship."

Dieudonne is a comedian with a history of making crude jokes about the Holocaust (and occasionally getting into legal trouble). He has a huge following on social media including more than 900,000 Facebook fans. Most of the comments on his page were in support of the comedian, and his name was trending briefly on Twitter earlier in the week, but there were a few fans who thought Dieudonne had crossed a line.

"There is a big difference between freedom of expression and incitement to hatred," said one fan. "He knew what to expect ... Charlie Hebdo made caricatures of the prophet that I haven't agreed with, it has made a mockery of the prophet, made some laugh, shocked others, but there was no incentive to hatred and this is a big difference."

The arrest of Dieudonne was just one of dozens of cases - up to 100according to one estimate - opened by the French authorities since the attacks. Some people have even been jailed already under fast-track legislation that was passed last year.

In a typical year, only one or two people are arrested for speaking out in favour of terrorism, said Emmanuel Pierrat, a French media lawyer and member of PEN International, which supports free expression.

Pierrat told BBC Trending that free speech is an idea at the core of the French nation, but one that in his view has been eroded over the years by exceptions for things including hate speech.

"We have weakened the principle of freedom of speech, for good intentions, but without thinking about the consequences. We need to think about how we can recover the idea of freedom of speech after an event that is so emotional, like the one in Paris (last week)," he said.

He cautioned however, that Dieudonne's statements could not be directly compared with the Charlie Hebdo cartoons showing the Prophet Muhammad.

"One thing is for sure, in France you can make drawings or speeches against ideology or against religion. The French revolution of 1789 abolished the crime of blasphemy" and courts have consistently upheld the legality of speech directed at religions or historical religious figures, he says.

Pierrat, who represented Michel Houellebecq when the author wascleared of charges of religious hate speech against Muslims in 2002, says the Dieudonne case will be difficult to judge given the ambiguity of the comedian's outburst. But he says he believes the authorities are made a mistake by arresting him. A trial is scheduled for next month.

"If Dieudonne wins, he will be like a hero," Pierrat says. "It will gives a lot of young people the idea that he is a champion of Muslims or immigrants ... he's no longer a comedian or an actor, but instead his audiences are far-right sympathisers."

"What makes me somewhat afraid is that French justice is speeding up when it comes to these questions," he says. "Like Americans after 11 September, the worry is that judgments are coming too quickly, and influenced by a very emotional event."

Blog by Mike Wendling

Stop #Islamophobia

Stop Islamophobia

Islamophobia is alive today, as I was reminded again a few days ago when someone told me that the Qur'an only teaches hatred. Chalk that up perhaps to ignorance, but like many people, he expressed at the same time a fear of Muslims that I have noticed in many countries all over the world. I define this as Islamophobia.

Yet I just read an article claiming that Islamophobia does not exist, and another contending that since anti-Islamic crimes have declined after peaking in September 2001 the US cannot be described as Islamophobic.

However, if Islamophobia is defined as a fear or hatred of Islam and Muslims, then it does exist. In fact, some Muslims argue that this term is inadequate to describe the hatred of their faith and the discrimination they experience. They would prefer to call it 'anti-Islamic racism' since it combines a dislike of a particular religion and an active discrimination against the people who belong to that faith.

Jews, who have suffered discrimination, protest Islamophobia

The Runnymede Trust in the 1997 document, "Islamophobia: A Challenge For Us All," identified eight components that define Islamophobia. These are just as relevant today as they were 15 years ago:

1) Islam is seen as a monolithic bloc, static and unresponsive to change.

2) Islam is seen as separate and 'other'. It does not have values in common with other cultures, is not affected by them and does not influence them.

3) Islam is seen as inferior to the West. It is seen as barbaric, irrational, primitive and sexist.

4) Islam is seen as violent, aggressive, threatening, supportive of terrorism and engaged in a 'clash of civilisations.'

5) Islam is seen as a political ideology and is used for political or military advantage.

6) Criticisms made of the West by Islam are rejected out of hand.

7) Hostility towards Islam is used to justify discriminatory practices towards Muslims and exclusion of Muslims from mainstream society.

8) Anti-Muslim hostility is seen as natural or normal.

Islamophobia is a website that describes Islamophobia as "an irrational fear or prejudice towards Islam and Muslims." It includes many articles introducing Islam. Another site documents cases of Islamophobia.

Islamophobia is irrational, not Islam. We tend to fear the unknown or things that we are ignorant of. The list that the Runnymede Trust provides illustrates the appalling ignorance of many people about Islam. One of the most effective ways of combating Islamophobia is through education. It is by far the easiest, since deep-seated prejudices are harder to eradicate.

Some people, unfortunately, prefer to wallow in ignorance. They only know the myths that the media, or at least segments thereof, pedal in order to sell what purports to be news.

Nearly a fifth of Americans believe that Barack Obama is Muslim. This myth was popular during the 2008 election in the US. In this election year it is crucial that this blatant example of Islamophobia be eradicated once and for all. Unfortunately, it will probably be perpetuated by those who can benefit from such ignorance.

Europeans are not immune to Islamophobia either. Many there dread “Eurabia,” the ostensibly imminent Arab/Muslim takeover of the continent, even though its Muslim population is less than 3 per cent.

Islamophobia is not just interpersonal: it is systemic. It is intimately connected with sexism and violence, both of which are endemic in Western societies. That is why it is so difficult to eradicate Islamophobia.

The media are complicit in perpetuating Islamophobia. Many journalists know little about religion in general and Islam in particular. Deadlines are one factor in their ignorance but much more crucial is the relegation of religion to the private sphere in the West. Secularized journalists thus find it especially difficult to understand Islam, a religion that contradicts this relegation, since it emphatically denies the public/private distinction.

Anti-semitism and Christophobia exist as well in Western societies. The former is attacked more often than any other group in the US, but this does not mean that Islamophobia is "a gross exaggeration that has been peddled by Muslim political leaders with an agenda," as one website puts it. 

All hate crimes must stop, not just the one perpetrated against the group one belongs to. Islamophobia must be eradicated. The fight against every form of religious phobia is part of that process of eradication. 

We must support each other so that one day every form of religious phobia will be gone.

 Isha'Allah.