Welcome to issue 19 of Vive Charlie. Due to recent events we feel we should respond to the increasing levels of criticism we are receiving for being a co-host of the Mohammed Cartoon Exhibition. The exhibition is due to take place in central London on Friday 18th September 2015.
Vive Charlie was created in the direct aftermath of the massacre at the offices of Charlie Hebdo, where satirists and cartoonists were amongst those murdered for transgressing Islamic blasphemy laws. The purpose of Vive Charlie is to stand in solidarity with those that support freedom of expression and speech, so when a Mohammed cartoon exhibition was proposed we agreed to co-host the event and provide the artwork for the exhibition. The reason we were asked to co-host was that we had already run our own Vive Charlie draw Mohammed competition and had suitable artwork for the exhibition.
The event was publicly announced and we received support from many people. However, over the last two weeks, criticism has steadily increased because Paul Weston is due to speak at the event after being invited to do so by Sharia Watch.
We confirmed with Sharia Watch that we were happy for Paul Weston, Geert Wilders and the LSS to speak at the event. All of the speakers share the view that we should be able to depict Mohammed without fear of reprisals. Any other views held by the speakers, including Paul Weston, are not relevant within the context of this event. Perhaps we were naive to expect other freedom of speech supporters to understand that "sharing a platform" about one issue (Mohammed cartoons) does not automatically mean we share ALL of the views of EVERYONE present. Paul Weston has every right to voice his opinions and views and to ask him to step down from speaking, or for us to withdraw, would be an infringement of his right to speak and to be heard on the subject of Mohammed cartoons. The crux of this issue appears to be the desire by some to control who gets to have freedom of speech and who doesn't.
By co-hosting this event we are not supporting, sharing, or legitimising anyone's views other than those regarding the right to depict Mohammed and oppose blasphemy laws. With maturity, many of our dissenters will come to realise that we are all permitted to agree or disagree with whatever views we like, still be civil with people and without having to fear violent reprisals. It would be hypocritical of us to claim we support freedom of expression and then pull out of the event because we don’t agree how someone has exercised that freedom..
Hopefully this has cleared up where we stand and why, irrespective of criticism, we are happy to co-host the Mohammed Cartoon Exhibition.
On a lighter note we would like to welcome to our team of regulars at Vive Charlie, our new ‘News Editor’, @acommonlawyer and our new columnist @OttoSquire. Welcome aboard chaps.
We hope you will enjoy issue 19 of Vive Charlie and thank you for your continued support.