Memphis Inter-Religious Group
http://MemphisIRG.org
page updated 2/09/2015
While the attack on the magazine CHARLIE HEBDO and ensuing events in
and around Paris in January 2015 were small compared to the Twin
Towers attack in the United States, they were the largest act
of terrorism in France in decades.
I feel a personal interest - I was a fan of some of the dead
cartoonists. And in the first half of 1988, my wife and I were
living about three Metro stops north of the offices of Charlie
Hebdo, a reasonable walk. We were living in Passage des Recollets,
in the Arab neighborhood just south of Gare de L'Est, on the west
side of the St, Martin Canal; the Jewish neighborhood where the
police were asking stores to close for safety was a short walk
away on the east side of the canal.
And there is an interesting interfaith aspect here, one that might
not have been expected. Anyone who has ever wondered "Do the
Muslims condemn terrorism by fanatics claiming to act in the name of
Islam?" has gotten an answer. The Muslim world has spoken pretty
loudly on this one, and for a change, some of the western press has
actually noticed.
So here are just a few pointers I've noticed. Please send me
more I should add; my e-mail is edward@ordman.net
It was startling to me to see a Jewish website
headline the fact that even Hamas had denounced the attack
on Charlie Hebdo,
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4613497,00.html,
and pointing out that the lives of some shoppers in
the Jewish supermarket were saved when a Muslim man, Lassana Bathily,
hid them in a store refrigerator
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4613549,00.html
The first Paris policeman on the scene, who was shot and killed by
the terrorists, was Muslim. Here is a statement from his brother.
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jan/10/charlie-hebdo-policeman-murder-ahmed-merabet
It is hard to imagine an event in which the Israeli Prime Minister
and the Palestinian President could stand together:
http://www.thelocal.fr/20150111/defiant-french-rise-up-against-extremism
(But see below)
A friend sent me a pointer to this collection of editorial cartoons,
in a French news site.
http://www.thelocal.fr/galleries/news/10-cartoonists-react-to-charlie-hebdo-attacks
And here are cartoons on the subject from the Arab press-
http://www.vox.com/2015/1/10/7521757/9-powerful-arab-political-cartoons-responding-to-the-charlie-hebdo
Jan 15 Re Netanyahu in Paris -
It is now suggested, convincingly, that the
French government did not want the Israeli and Palestinian leaders
at the memorial event, fearing it would become political. And
Netanyahu apparently made it so, at least in part, by so strongly
urging French Jews to move to Israel. Two takes on this (I
prefer the first) in the New York Times, http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/16/opinion/netanyahu-sells-french-jews-short.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/16/opinion/shmuel-rosner-frances-jews-have-no-choice-but-israel.html
The countries with the largest Jewish
populations are the United States, Israel, and France. France, in
recent decades, has been unusually welcoming to minorities,
including Muslims and Jews. After the events of the decades
including the Second World War, it is very improbable for any Jew to
argue against the need for a nation that promises to admit any Jew
who needs someplace to go, one of the earlier reasons for wanting a
"Jewish State" (which has now come to have an unfortunate different
meaning.) It is natural for Israel to want Jewish
immigration. It does not follow that there is any reason to
encourage Jewish emigration from the United States, France,
or the numerous other countries that have in fact welcomed Jews and
where the Jews have been happy to be loyal and patriotic citizens
who simply are members of a minority religion.
Eunice and I in 1990 had a very
interesting discussion in the one synagogue then surviving in Kiev
(Ukraine), a city that had had hundreds of synagogues earlier in the
century and three after World War Two. We spoke with a couple
wondering if the increase in anti-Semitism and the economic collapse
then in progress (the late Soviet hyper-inflation) would cause all
their friends to leave - they wanted to stay, but felt that if all
their friends left they would in effect be forced to chose between
Israel or trying to get admission to the United States. One son had
already moved to the United States. They hated to see Jewish life in
Kiev ending.
On Netanyahu's bodyguard being
disrespectful of the French President's bodyguard (in French)
https://fr.news.yahoo.com/manuel-valls-%C3%A9nerv%C3%A9-remet-%C3%A0-place-garde-corps-140011643.html
A New Yorker piece on the style of satire in Charlie (far more
extreme than almost anything in the US)
http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/01/19/satire-lives
Pope Francis: While the writing at Charlie Hebdo no way
excuses the terrorist attack there, the Pope says that you may not
make fun of the faith of others. (Informal remarks at an interfaith
meeting in Columbo).
http://www.newsweek.com/after-charlie-hebdo-attacks-pope-francis-says-you-cannot-make-fun-faith-others-299617
The "American Center for Outreach" is a Muslim-sponsored
organization in Nashville (it often has events in Memphis) to
connect Muslims with the Tennessee and US political process. Its
executive director Paul Galloway, has a nice pro-first-amendment
piece in The Tennessean.
http://www.tennessean.com/story/opinion/contributors/2015/01/15/tenn-muslims-condemn-paris-massacre-stand-freedom/21815283/
The Muslim employee who saved Jews in the Paris kosher supermarket
is being given French citizenship.
http://www.haaretz.com/jewish-world/jewish-world-news/1.637361
I might note here that it is never surprising to see Muslim shoppers
in a kosher store or kosher section of a store. Kosher meat is
also Halal (allowed by Muslim law and it is not uncommon in Memphis
to see Muslims checking a product for a "kosher" label (such
as the "O-U", a small U with a circle around it). In the
Qur'an it says "what the Jews may eat, you may also eat." The
detailed rules are a bit different. As a Muslim friend said to me:
"We get to have shellfish, you get to have alcohol."
The Interfaith Youth Core an interfaith young people's group started
by Eboo Patel and with substantial Muslim participation, has a web
page on the subject at
http://view.email.ifyc.org/?j=ff011374746604&m=fe9912727d66057d76&ls=fe5011747c6d0d7f751d&l=ff69107174&s=fe5e15787164047b701d&jb=ffca11&ju=fe8411777c660d7a71&r=0
Jan 18. Minor edits above. Also,
People may be interested in the Islamic Society of North America's
statement on terrorism and religious extremism, at
http://www.isna.net/isnas-position-on-terrorism-and-religious-extremism.html
January 24. Eulogy for one of the artists at http://tabletmag.com/jewish-arts-and-culture/books/188400/elsa-cayat-eulogy
Feb 9:
Obviously, the trauma facing the Jewish
Community in France following the events related to the
"Charlie Hebdo" attack are in many ways mild compared toi
the traumas of Syria, Lebanon, Afghanistan, and so on. But
I thought people might be interested in some of the ways
responses in France are being organized. There is an
interesting report circulated through the Memphis Jewish
Community Center, on line at https://files.ctctcdn.com/7c3c2e9b001/871c0511-e5df-4fa1-990e-054b5e973e99.pdf