Philly.com Worldview: Stand up for free speech
...I spoke by phone to Rose in Copenhagen. (He recently published a prescient book in the United States titled The Tyranny of Silence: How One Cartoon Ignited a Global Debate on the Future of Free Speech.) "Today cannot be a surprise to anyone who has followed events over the past 10 years," he said, sadly.
"Charlie Hebdo was maybe the only paper in Europe that, didn't cave in after what we went through or after the fatwa against Rushdie," Rose continued. Most other media in Europe accepted self-censorship due to intimidation or fear of violence, but "Charlie Hebdo kept making fun of all kinds of religions, including Islam, despite the death threats. Today they paid the price for not being willing to shut up."
By Trudy Rubin, Inquirer Opinion Columnist
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"Charlie Hebdo was maybe the only paper in Europe that, didn't cave in after what we went through or after the fatwa against Rushdie," Rose continued. Most other media in Europe accepted self-censorship due to intimidation or fear of violence, but "Charlie Hebdo kept making fun of all kinds of religions, including Islam, despite the death threats. Today they paid the price for not being willing to shut up."
By Trudy Rubin, Inquirer Opinion Columnist
Read more