7 January 2015• Charlie Hebdo attack after publishing a cartoon of

Muhammad• 11 people killed + 4 others at grocery + 3

shooters + 2 suspected sympathizers in Belgium• “Je suis Charlie” (I am Charlie) protest marches

in Europe and North America• Arrests of possible Islamic extremists in France,

Germany and Belgium• Leaders – “Need to stop Islamophobia”• French comedian Dieudonné M’bala M’bala

arrested for mocking attack

What is Charlie Hebdo?

Irreverent, stridently non-conformist, strongly secularist, anti-religious and left-wing satirical weekly newspaper located in Paris, France

1970• French government closed its predecessor

over cartoons mocking Charles de Gaulle

• Resurfaced under new name “Charlie Hebdo”

2006 • Published infamous Danish Jyllands-Posten

cartoons of Muhammad• Added headline “Muhammad overwhelmed

by fundamentalists” plus a cartoon of the prophet crying and saying, “It's hard to be loved by dicks”

• Sued …cartoons racist …dismissed

2008 • Sued by a fired cartoonist for wrongful

dismissal• Published a cartoon that joked about the

son of the French president which was later seen as anti-Semitic

• Removed cartoon• Awarded 40,000 Euros

2011• Cartoons attacking Israel’s treatment of

Palestinians. • Titled “Don’t oppress the weak”, depicts a

Jewish man shooting what is clearly meant to be a Palestinian woman in the back, yelling “Here! Take that, Goliath!”

• Accused of spreading anti-Semitic ideas

2011• Issue cover retitled "Charia Hebdo" (French

for Sharia Weekly)• Cartoon of Muhammad whose depiction is

forbidden in some interpretations of Islam.• Office fire-bombed and website hacked

2012• France’s right-wing Catholics organized huge

protests against the legalization of gay marriage

• Cartoons of Jesus and God sodomizing one another under heading “Marriage Homo”

• Condemned by French Catholics

Is drawing Muhammad strictly forbidden?• Quran does not explicitly forbid images• Other teachings (Hadith) prohibit Muslims from creating visual

depictions• Existing illustrations are not religious in nature. • Historically in non-Arab regions, drawings are common, while in Arab

regions, verbal depictions are the norm (e.g., Turks, Persians and Indians have rich heritage of drawing, Arab Muslims use language to depict images).

• In 2001, Taliban imposed a modest ban• Western illustrations considered insulting and degrading…perhaps as

a response to Christian colonization …rooted in a real world grievance (“under attack from the West”)

• Images still common in non-Arab region

• December 1999 – Der Spiegel printed illustration of “moral apostles”

Is Charlie Hebdo attack on Freedom of Speech and Freedom of Expression?

• Freedom of speech is the right to express any opinions without censorship or restraint.

• Freedom of expression is the right to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.

• In Canada, these are fundamental rights protected by Charter

Is Charlie Hebdo attack on Freedom of Speech and Freedom of Expression?

• In Canada, hate speech is included in the Criminal Code, Human Rights Act, etc.

• Section 1 of the Charter restricts the granted fundamental freedoms by making them subject “…only to such reasonable limits prescribed by law as can be demonstrably justified in a free and democratic society.”

• Hate cannot be promoted and hate propaganda is forbidden.

• Yet, freedoms are not absolute.

Is Charlie Hebdo attack on Freedom of Speech and Freedom of Expression?

• Situation is somewhat the same in France.

• Only westernized democracy with no legal restrictions or limitations on speech or expression is USA

2015 Golden Globe Awards -- 11 January 2015• Best in film and American television award• Hosted by Tina Fey and Amy Poehler• Monologue jokes about Bill Cosby drugging and

raping women (alleged)• Portrayal including mocking Cosby’s (black man)

speech• Funny? Poor taste? Satirical? Fair? Subversive? • Audience laughed at jokes about rape• Should we be silent?

2015 Dalhousie University Dentistry and Facebook• 13 male dentistry students in a private Facebook group• Misogynist posts (e.g., hate sex) • Investigation launched, exams cancelled, restorative

justice proposed, no expulsions, protests and on-line petitions

• Whistleblower suspension remains due to “blatant unprofessionalism”

Promoting hate of a group, foolish choice, reinforcing stereotype, sound judgement, isolated incident, purge, unprofessional risk, freedom of expression or Guilt by Association