The next wave of Islamophobia in wake of Paris shootings

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The horror of the shootings in Paris are already being exploited by the Right and those with a political interest in promoting division. This is the architect of the Death Star and Dirty Politics star, Matthew Hooton, the same Matthew Hooton who gave Cathy Odgers the address of Nicky Hager in the hope Nicky would be assassinated by Cathy’s friends in organised crime…

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…it also seems no liberal democracy is safe from Right wing consultants egging on the assassination of investigative journalists either, but I note he’s not suggesting any crushing of that.

We should resist this desire to proclaim the Paris attacks as the worst terrorism in modern Europe, because that title belongs of course to right wing lunatic, Anders Behring Breivik, who in 2011 butchered 77 people, mostly young left wing activists, in Norway. Our response to the Paris attack must be the same as that of Breivik, they are criminal murdering thugs who should be dealt with by the law. The attacks should not become a vehicle for islamophobia the same way Breivik’s bloody rampage wasn’t an event that could be blamed on anyone else who votes for the right.

Those who have died in Paris are heroes. They bravely stood for free speech and have paid the most terrible price for that. To turn their deaths into a religious war the way Matthew Hooton and others on the Right are despicably attempting to do denigrates the memory of those who have been killed before their bodies are even cold.

When cartoonists are the target, those doing the fighting have already lost.

 

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44 COMMENTS

  1. Oh…my… This response by Matthew Hooton is reprehensible. What a divisionary, xenophobic, religiously biased tweet with political intent so obvious you can see it a mile away.

    I knew the man was no good from his actions outlined in Dirty Politics, but his nice guy image on programmes like Q&A threw me off the scent. This clarifies things immensely.

    That his response to this tragedy is to state that it reinforces the Right’s belief that non-involvement doesn’t garner immunity is disgusting. He should be ashamed. Why isn’t he thinking of the families of those who have perished, or hoping for the best for those who have been injured?

    Once you set aside the fact Hooton’s response is abhorrent you then have to address the issue that it’s also completely illogical and inflammatory. It’s obviously intended as a reply to those on the Left who don’t want to be dragged into a war with IS half a world away where we have no clear strategy, no clear goal, and no clear exit plan. The Right just wants war…lots of juicy, profitable war. Dirty death-mongering fucks.

    Matthew Hooton. You disgust me.

    • Always was, and continues to be, “The Hootin’ Hoor”. Selling his “wares” to those that like what he has to say to them and can pay.

  2. The attack was an act of religious revenge therefore it is inescapable that there will be a counter reaction from the French public. This is not a left/right debate, this was an attack on civil liberty, a murderous rampage against freedom of speech, and that is the context that the reaction will take shape with.

  3. I suspect the cartoonists and journalists at Charlie Hebdo have far more in common with Hager than Hooten.
    Charb told Le Monde newspaper two years ago: “I’d rather die standing than live on my knees.”

  4. John Pilger . Afghanistan .

    Part One .

    http://youtu.be/CXIoc4Y9d-8

    mathew hooten ( And the MSM ) makes a living out of the dead, the dying and the miserable . That is what he does . As , to some degree , does the dung beetle , the maggot and the parasite . The wee beasties are driven by a higher moral code . That’s the only difference .

    It’s We . It’s Us , who are the terrorists . The Americans literally built the Muslim extremists who now plague the planet . It was their Slater/Hooten-esque tactics that drove that agenda for financial gain and their stiff-cock egos . ( I have no idea what Condoleezza Rice has/is ? )

    The Americans and their dubious allies have started a perpetual hate machine . They knew that, that would be the case before they did it . They also knew there’d be mountains of cash in it for the corporates who make trillions from oil and death-hardware .

    Dear old Hooten . With his lizard smile , his neat , meat eating little teeth and his dark , glittering eyes .

  5. “We should resist this desire to proclaim the Paris attacks as the worst terrorism in modern Europe, because that title belongs of course to right wing lunatic, Anders Behring Breivik, who in 2011 butchered 77 people, mostly young left wing activists, in Norway.”

    Based on the arguments that were made around the Sydney Hostage incident I would have to disagree as the Norway shootings were the act of mentally ill individual who had no connection to an existing terrorist organisation. Unless of course the definition has changed and the Sydney incident was an act of terrorism?

  6. The comparison of a coordinated attack by a group to the lone lunatic Breivik is false.
    It omits any mention of the elephant in the room.

    Religion, a mediaeval form of unreason, when combined with modern weaponry becomes a real threat to our freedoms. This religious totalitarianism has caused a deadly mutation in the heart of Islam and we see the tragic consequences in Paris today. I stand with Charlie Hebdo, as we all must, to defend the art of satire, which has always been a force for liberty and against tyranny, dishonesty and stupidity. ‘Respect for religion’ has become a code phrase meaning ‘fear of religion.’ Religions, like all other ideas, deserve criticism, satire, and, yes, our fearless disrespect.

    Salmon Rushdie

    • So terrorism MUST involve religion, is what you’re saying? I think terrorism is an act of violence designed to create a situation where NO-ONE feels safe – even if you’re on side. This was a co-ordinated attack on very specific individuals – more akin to a mafia style liquidation or when anti-abortionists (also religiously motivated) murder the doctors and nurses in an abortion clinic (these are most notably NEVER referred to as terrorism by the MSM). Indeed, I gather these murdering thugs went into the wrong building initially and killed no-one there! Doesn’t sound much like “terrorism” to me.

      • So terrorism MUST involve religion, is what you’re saying?

        No, not at all.

        I’m pointing out that this act was committed, according to its perpetrators, in the name and cause of a religious dogma, in this case the Islamic creed.

        Unlike many who rush to sheet the cause elsewhere, such as onto imperialism, racism or anything else other than religion; I believe those who actually fired the guns and proclaimed that they were acting for their god, citing holy verse to justify their actions. Verse and dogma that is the antithesis of much of the founding principles of liberal democracy.

    • Yes Richard,

      You are correct.

      One only need look back in history to see that almost all wars are fought on religious ideologies, over the last two thousand years and more.

  7. Bin Laden’s goal was to start a religious war with the West. He is succeeding in his goal due to the stupidity of the West, the attack politics of corporations seeking to gain from it and the hysterical reactions of the West.

    All the wars and ‘terrorism policies’ are further radicalising Muslims including those who live around the world including unstable people who use the ‘Muslim’ banner for attention seeking behaviour. It’s The right wing Muslins vs The right wing Rednecks.

    The propaganda war is fuelling more into the fray, the right wing media commentators like Hooten offering their pathetic (paid for by corporations) no doubt. Like Key, no empathy for the victims just seeking to gain from them.

    Terrorism is from a small group of people. Going around bombing the crap out of countries and thus killing lots of innocent people in the process is creating more terrorists. Economically ransacking a country and putting ordinary people in poverty without basic services again giving ordinary citizens nothing to lose. In particular woman and children.

    To make sure there is no ‘diplomatic solution’ now the terrorists are targeting easy targets like journalists and peace keepers and aid workers. Those who are trying to help them in many cases.

    The people losing, are ordinary citizens, those in the countries being invaded and those who live in Western countries due to the increasing terrorism risk due to the afore mentioned actions. Both ordinary Muslims and ordinary non Muslims are trying to stop some escalation from the radical Muslims and the Radical Right Governments. The surveillance countermeasures are making Western countries adopt the strategies of dictatorships. The Radical Muslims are trying to escalate countries like France into civil warfare and are getting closer to the West in their goal everyday. Arresting people and taking away their rights to freedom of speech is actually making them use more aggressive ways to get their points across.

    The best example of beating terrorism is Northern Ireland, after years of fighting and terrorist bombings – a diplomatic solution was adopted and surprise surprise no more terrorist bombings. You can’t suppress peoples views on religion or sovereignty. You have to work with both parties. No knee jerk reactions blindly punishing a lot of people to try to punish the actions of just a few.

    The western governments advised by security, oil and like minded lobbyists are destroying their citizens human rights and economic prosperity (not investing in people instead wars and propaganda) while at the same time increasing the risks of increased terrorism under the banner of ‘protection’.

    Bin Laden would be proud. If he wanted to start a Religious War he is succeeding, and ‘Terrorism’ is on every governments lips now.

    • Great to remind us that Bin Laden wanted to start a religious war with the west.

      I was imagining what would happen in NZ if we were taken over and exploited by foreign powers for over decades on end, with hundreds of thousands of people killed by those powers? Might there not be kiwis who thought the Bin Laden option was a good idea? Perhaps even the only viable option for bringing things to an end?

      To be clear, this is not an attempt to justify the killing of anyone but honestly, how could anyone be surprised that the west is getting some blowback after millions of people in the Muslim world have been killed by the west?

      And yes, Hooten is a dick, but is his text just creating a similar situation in NZ where he winds up people on the left, people on the left lash out and then people on the right get wound up by the left lashing out and before you know it, he’s contributed to the sense of division amongst ordinary people that the one per-centers on the right thrive on.

  8. All these blogs are brilliant as is your analogy Martyn, we are really in the twighlight zone now here.

    First we all blew the whistle on the NatZ for their suppression of free press and right to free speech as John Key’s propaganda machinery crushed all the NZ pre-election satirical cartoon sketches and Planet Key cartoons and the brilliant video musical satire.

    So then we got all this social media suppressed.

    Then some blogger hacker broke into Sony and the CEO stands up to defend their free speech of making some picture of North Korea.

    And now sadly we see “Charlie’s Angels” cowardly gunned down in Paris for defending free speech last night.

    And now finally today the entire western world (including our architects of our own supressed MSM and social media) are also joining the chorus of those shouting out for preservation of our “free speech”

    Questionn is;

    Are Key and Co going to now unshackle all the “free speech again within the MSM and social media?

    My sense is their will be pressure from within to allow some demonstration for free press again hopefully.

  9. Haven’t the killers of these people in France declared religious war themselves, Martyn? Nut jobbery is no respecter of left or right and any form of zealotry, be it religious or political (although they are probably interchangeable) is surplus to requirement in this world. All appear to me to more about power than faith.

    • Rae, If you watched your mother or child die in front of you, from a random bomb, (they are bombing civillians who are viewed as collateral damage, make no mistake), I wonder how YOU would feel. Please do some research and wake up. The powers that be want us to believe this is all about religion so that people like you can feel comfortable and not bat an eyelid as the mass murders in the middle east go on. We have cheaper oil now, do you ever wonder why? Yes, the demand in China has slowed down, but it is because they have so damn much of it now, because of the carnage.

      • These men were born and raised in France. They never saw their parents killed. They are zealots who have been radicalised by other circumstances, and conjecture tells me they have used scripture to justify their slaughter.

        • How do you know they haven’t spent substantial time in the middle east? That is where their decent and very likely family is from. Is that because the MSM spun it and told you so?

      • I suspect the real reason we are all enjoying cheap oil is because the Saudis are helping their U.S. allies bring the Russian bear to her knees.

  10. Wow. You really are a complete and total moron.

    There can be no “Islamaphobia” when there is something real to actually be fearful about. The number of Islamic attacks in the West is growing. This is just the latest, and one of the most disturbing. To claim that concern about this and concern about the effects of large scale Islamic immigration is a phobia is just plain dishonest. It is Left Wing propaganda of the worst kind.

    Keep burying your head in the sand, and sooner or later you will loose it. Likely to an Islamic sword.

  11. The irony in Matthew Hooton’s reaction to the awful events in Paris is the fact he’s a staunch Natsy man. A supporter of the very same Natsy mob who are attempting to close down the voice of Nicky Hager, using state enforcement agencies to do so, for daring to expose political filth against opponents and the people!

    A case of re-visiting similar tactics by those in power in Europe, during the mid 20 century!

    There is a parallel here. Just as Charlie Hebdo represented freedom of expression, Hager’s voice is also that of a good many NZers, so in silencing him, the rest of us who dare to challenge the status quo, are also being silenced!

    Hooton, like the rest of the Natsy hypocrites and bigots, is deliberately creating a fear and hatred of anything Islamic, in a pathetic attempt to justify increasing state security laws!

    Our own particular form of terrorism lies within. It’s label is brand Key!

  12. These murders are not justified in any way, shape, or form. However, I can’t help but think if the West were not invading, bombing and murdering people in the middle east, these acts of retaliation would not be happening. Lest we forget, in these war torn countries, to them, it is us who are the terrorists in their nations.

    • Totally agree. Lets keep score . 1 million Iraqis 12 frenchmen. Over a million syrians in refugee camps. I do not condone this violence it just seems hypocritical to only get upset when it is Europeans that are killed.

  13. The sooner all religion is dumped in the dustbin of time the better. Infantile beliefs about great hereafters are doing great damage to our world.
    I hope the killers face the “hereafter” rather soon. Unfortunately they will be dead meat and not realize that their beliefs are BS.

  14. So the press will publish an actual photo of a policemans last moments as his pleads for his life before he is murdered.

    But they won’t publish a fictional cartoon of a fictional character from a fictional book.

  15. I think perhaps you misunderstand Hooton and people with similar views as him. Islamism is an ideology within Islam, which no-one here should be attempting to defend. They are the ones who believe in Sharia and want a theocracy.

    Definition:
    “Islamism or political Islam is a set of ideologies holding that “Islam should guide social and political as well as personal life””.

    Hooton is sorta on point in that the fundamental principles of Islamism (Not the religion of Islam itself, but the ideology) oppose the basic principles of a liberal democracy, and we should not be accepting of it at all. In fact we should be supporting moderates to help reform them.

  16. Charlie Hebdo is a crap publication that publishes the most disgusting cartoons. They are not standing up for free speech. They stand for the right to bully. It’s an illustrated version of Whalespew or Kiwiblog. I believe that they were being deliberately provocative, seeking a reaction. They got more than they expected, and more than they deserved. Whoever killed them needs to be brought to justice, but this is not about free speech. I agree with Derek Fox. Je ne suis pas Charlie Hebdo.

    • I think you are wrong, it is about free speech and the right to criticize and ‘offend’ Islam without fear of death, a freedom these Islamist’s oppose.

      • Agreed, free speech includes the right to insult, offend and ridicule.

        Moreover, facile gutter-level ridicule is the easiest to neutralise, simply by calling it out for what it is or ignoring it.

        Every time adherents to dogma, of any sort, react with physical violence to insult or ridicule, they display the an inherent weakness within their ideology, showing that their ideology cannot counter the ridicule with rational argument or other non-violent means.

        Islam seems particularly weak in this respect.

    • @ Ovicula: Derek Fox is wrong, and completely misses the point of satire, which to poke fun at, and ridicule, the institutions and icons of society. If satire – whatever form it takes – fails to offend, satirists aren’t doing their job properly. The problem here isn’t Charlie Hebdo, it’s Islamist – Islamist, please note, not Muslim – reaction to it.

      Satire isn’t workplace- or schoolyard-style bullying: it’s an aspect of free speech in democracies such as ours, and should be stoutly defended by all of us.

      Satire is the best (in fact I’d argue that it’s the only effective) counter to fanaticism of the sort that Islamism espouses. Sending armies in only makes things worse, as we’ve seen in the Middle East in recent times.

  17. There you go again, fretting about a so called Islamophobic backlash following another murder by Islamists, this time the shooting of 12 people in Paris. Instead, what actually happened today? Four Jews are killed in a Kosher shop by another Islamist. No Muslims killed so far following the Islamophobic backlash you’re wringing you hands about. Just Jews. The uprising against the muslims didn’t happen today, maybe tomorrow, but I doubt it. It never happens. You’re living in a paranoid dream world. Islamophobia is a myth, a delusional fantasy. You’re so worried about your own societies potential for backlash that you have completely missed the violence that is actually occuring there in Paris.

  18. Mathew Hooten says France was not involved in Iraq but they were involved in Libya Syria and Mali so his comment is pointless. I in no way condone violence but the hypocrisy of the western media is astounding. How many innocents, wedding parties etc have been killed by drones. The death toll in Iraq is astronomical all because they were unfortunate enough to live under a dictator who planned to sell oil outside the “petro-dollar” system. Similarly Libya. Syria, because they did not submit to the pipeline plans the USA had for their country. Where is the outrage at these deaths. Oh yes! They are just rag heads not civilised white people.
    Blowback sucks doesn’t it. Australia has recently had a taste,at least the state would like to pretend an unhinged lunatic was a terrorist, and if NZ continues its support of the true world terror regime we should expect
    the same.

  19. @ Ike: “I in no way condone violence but the hypocrisy of the western media is astounding.”

    Unfortunately, you just did. Condone violence, that is. Had you written: “I in no way condone violence; and the hypocrisy of the western media is astounding.”, your intended meaning would have been clear. That little word “but” makes an enormous difference.

    I agree that, in general, the West fails to see as exceptionable its own egregious violence in the Middle East, and seemingly lacks insight into its own dubious motivations for military intervention in that part of the world.

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