Tag Archives: Charlie Hebdo

PHILOMENA MURRAY. Nice attack brings a difficult question into sharp focus: why France?

Posted on 19 July 2016 by John Menadue

If you live in France, you enjoy Bastille Day. There is a buzz in the air as you celebrate a day off in the middle of summer with your family and friends. You go to the fireworks. It is good … Continue reading →

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Cavan Hogue. Our Eurocentric media.

Posted on 29 January 2016 by John Menadue

In January 2015, 12 people were killed in a terrorist attack on Charlie Hebdo in Paris.  The Australian media went into overdrive and gave saturation coverage for some days.  In January 2016, 32 people were killed and 66 wounded in … Continue reading →

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John Menadue. Freedom of speech and Charlie Hebdo

Posted on 2 February 2015 by John Menadue

The attacks on journalists and others at Charlie Hebdo have quite rightly attracted a great deal of attention.  But Charlie Hebdo can be outrageously provocative. See below this ‘Merry Christmas’ greeting which Charlie Hebdo published in its last edition of … Continue reading →

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Clive Kessler. A rage against history.

Posted on 1 February 2015 by John Menadue

The Ottawa parliament, Café Lindt, Charlie Hebdo and so many others too: these are all separate incidents.  But they are all part of the same global phenomenon. They are all expressions of a rage against history that lurks within modern … Continue reading →

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Brian Johnstone. The right to freedom of speech.

Posted on 21 January 2015 by John Menadue

  The recent murders perpetrated in France have been rightly condemned by all people who take seriously morality and human rights. However, the accompanying discussion of the right to freedom of speech has reflected different points of view. For some … Continue reading →

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Ian Coller. Liberty, equality, fraternity: redefining ‘French’ values in the wake of Charlie Hebdo.

Posted on 19 January 2015 by John Menadue

Beyond the tourist fantasy of the Louvre and the Eiffel Tower, France today is a fabulously colourful mixture of Christians, Muslims, Jews, Buddhists, Hindus, atheists. This is the situation all over Europe. Yet many Europeans are deeply uneasy with this … Continue reading →

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Héctor Abad Faciolince : Against Submission

Posted on 15 January 2015 by John Menadue

I am forever indebted to the Catholic Church and Cardinal Alfonso López Trujillo.  When I was a happy and irreverent twenty year old student at the Pontifical University, I published an article in which I openly insulted the Holy Father. … Continue reading →

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Charlie Hebdo – Freedom of expression in an imperfect society.

Posted on 14 January 2015 by John Menadue

In this article, Paul McGeough in the SMH says ‘Yes, it is utterly inappropriate to go round shooting those who cause offence, but is it appropriate to go round causing offence?’ Paul McGeough also recalled that when Charlie Hebdo republished … Continue reading →

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Charlie Hebdo and Algeria.

Posted on 13 January 2015 by John Menadue

Robert Fisk of The Independent traces the Charlie Hebdo massacre back to the French occupation and disaster in Algeria. See link to this article below. 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

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John Menadue. If I were a Muslim…

Posted on 11 January 2015 by John Menadue

The brutality and assasination of the editors and cartoonists of Charlie Hebdo must be condemned. Those responsible must face and perhaps have faced the full consequences. But if I were a Muslim, I would have been offended by the Charlie … Continue reading →

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