Many people are not Charlie because they are afraid. Many people never openly criticize anything or anyone, or at least not relatively powerful people. But even among professional critics, such as comedians and intellectuals, self-censorship is increasingly becoming the norm. Many treat issues related to Jews and Israel much more sensitively than other groups and states, out of fear of professional sanctions (think about the recent Salaita case in the United States). Similarly troubling is the growing group of comedians and intellectuals self-censoring themselves on topics related to Islam and Muslims. Already several years ago I met Dutch public intellectuals who told me, in confidence, that they had stopped criticizing Islam(ism) in public because of violent threats to them and their family. Even the ‘fearless’ US comedian Stephen Colbert would not show the (in)famous Mohammed cartoons, or other images deemed offensive to Muslims, instead putting up a (funny) image of ‘technical disturbances’. While making fun of his fear of a violent response, he never seriously problematized it and, in the end, censored himself. Even the few brave souls that do dare to satirize Islam(ism), often get censored by the media or their employers – South Park’s notorious ‘Mohammed episode’ has been censored multiple times by Comedy Central! [click to see all of this thoughtful piece.] thanks to Milica Pesic for sending.
Posted on: Tue, 13 Jan 2015 04:08:45 +0000
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