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    Common Dreams. To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good.
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    Common DreamsTo inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good.

    charlie hebdo

    Where Were the Post-Hebdo Free Speech Crusaders as France Spent the Last Year Crushing Free Speech?

    Where Were the Post-Hebdo Free Speech Crusaders as France Spent the Last Year Crushing Free Speech?

    It's been almost one year since millions of people - led by the world's most repressive tyrants - marched in Paris ostensibly in favor of free speech.

    Glenn Greenwald
    Jan 08, 2016

    It's been almost one year since millions of people - led by the world's most repressive tyrants - marched in Paris ostensibly in favor of free speech. Since then, the French government - which led the way trumpeting the vital importance of free speech in the wake of the Charlie Hedbo killings - has repeatedly prosecuted people for the political views they expressed, and otherwise exploited terrorism fears to crush civil liberties generally. They have done so with barely a peep of protest from most of those throughout the west who waved free speech flags in support of Charlie Hebdo cartoonists.

    That's because, as I argued at the time, many of these newfound free speech crusaders exploiting the Hedbo killings were not authentic, consistent believers in free speech. Instead, they invoke that principle only in the easiest and most self-serving instances: namely, defense of the ideas they support. But when people are punished for expressing ideas they hate, they are silent or supportive of that suppression: the very opposite of genuine free speech advocacy.

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    Opinion
    French soldiers patrol the area at the foot of the Eiffel Tower in Paris

    In Retrospect: A Year of Sharpening Contradictions

    Juan Cole
    Dec 30, 2015

    Note: The horrific murder of 12 persons and the wounding of 11 in the attack on the staff of the satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo by terrorists on January 7 this year was followed on the evening of 13 November by six coordinated attacks, killing 130 people, including 89 at the Bataclan theater.

    The first of these sanguinary attacks was inspired by al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), based in Yemen. Until November, this group was the most determined and successful in attacking and getting up attacks on the West, including the underwear bomber of 2009 over Detroit. It was also AQAP literature that helped convince the San Bernadino killers to shoot up their workplace. The latter were also seeking to contact al-Qaeda in Syria (Jabhat al-Nusra or the Nusra Front).

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    Opinion
    charlie hebdo
    After Paris, Rights Groups Warn Against Knee-Jerk 'National Security' Overreach

    After Paris, Rights Groups Warn Against Knee-Jerk 'National Security' Overreach

    'Whilst closed oppressive societies breed hatred and barbarism, open reflective states built on rights, freedoms and the rule of law ultimately prevail.'

    Nadia Prupis
    Nov 16, 2015

    As some European leaders pitch a reactionary response to Friday's brutal attacks in Paris, human rights and civil liberties groups are warning against the expansion of surveillance and other government powers under the guise of "national security."

    On Monday, French President Francois Hollande announced that he would propose a bill to extend the country's state of emergency by three months as the manhunt for suspects spreads across Europe. The bill would also implement changes to the French Constitution that would strip citizenship of convicted terrorists, increase surveillance, and employ "more sophisticated methods" to curb the weapons trade.

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