Thoughts on the murder of twelve good people: Theo van Gogh was a Dutch satirist and provocateur who frequently mocked the extremities of Islam, and its incongruence with the splendidly entrenched, inclusive liberalism and tolerance of Dutch society. When he collaborated with a Somali-born writer and politcian, Ayaan Hirsi Ali, on a film that criticised the treatment of women by Islam, van Gogh paid for his exercise of free speech with his life. Here’s the Wikipedia entry on his murder (warning: it is most graphic and disturbing): “Van Gogh was murdered by Mohammed Bouyeri while cycling to work on 2 November 2004 at about 9 oclock in the morning, in front of the Amsterdam East borough office. The killer shot Van Gogh eight times with an HS2000 handgun. Bouyeri was also on a bicycle and fired several bullets, hitting Van Gogh and two bystanders. Wounded, Van Gogh ran to the other side of the road and fell to the ground on the cycle lane. According to eyewitnesses, Van Goghs last words were Dont do it, dont do it. or Have mercy, have mercy, dont do it, dont do it.[9] Bouyeri walked up to Van Gogh, who was on the ground, and calmly shot him several more times at close range. Bouyeri cut Van Gogh’s throat with a large knife and tried to decapitate him, after which he stabbed the knife deep into Van Goghs chest, reaching his spinal cord. He attached a note to the body with a smaller knife. Van Gogh died on the spot.[12] The two knives were left implanted. The note was addressed to and contained a death threat to Ayaan Hirsi Ali, who went into hiding. It also threatened Western countries and Jews, and referred to ideologies of the Egyptian organization Takfir wal-Hijra. The killer, Mohammed Bouyeri, a 26-year-old Dutch-Moroccan citizen, was apprehended by police after a chase, during which he was shot in the leg. Authorities have alleged that Bouyeri has terrorist ties with the Dutch Islamist Hofstad Network. He was charged with the attempted murder of several police officers and bystanders, illegal possession of a firearm, and conspiring to murder others, including Hirsi Ali. He was convicted at trial on 26 July 2005 and sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole.” ***** John Kerry, the US Secretary of State, called the twelve souls killed yesterday at the Charlie Hebdo offices ‘martyrs for liberty’. I concur. But I also agree with Philippe Val - the former editor and director of Charlie Hebdo - who noted in an immensely moving interview on France Inter: “C’est un acte de guerre”. And the war is cultural one, in which individuals of a fanatical, theocratic mindset have declared open season on our ability to mock, to satirize, to even blaspheme - which the vast majority of us in the civilized world believe we should be able to do without the fear of violent reprisal. The biggest danger now would be if we began to censor ourselves out of fear. I printed the details of Theo van Gogh’s murder for a reason. The murder of anyone who exercises his or her right to satirize or criticize is nothing less than barbarism. An essential freedom is under threat. We must resist it with vehemence and great solidarity. On which note, all my readers and friends in France (and I consider my readers my friends) should know that everywhere I went today in New York the talk was about the outrage perpetrated on you... and, by extension, on all of us. We take freedom of expression most seriously in the United States. It is enshrined in our constitution and our civil laws. We consider it an inalienable, essential human right. We are all French tonight. Vive la France.
Posted on: Thu, 08 Jan 2015 01:07:13 +0000
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