What happened today to Charlie Hebdo is terrible. We are appalled by these tragic deaths and by the killings of Charlie Hebdo journalists and staff. Our first thoughts go to their families, relatives, and colleagues.
We are incredulous and shocked by this execution. Many of us remember Wolinski’s [Charlie Hebdo cartoonist] early work where he denounced the reactionary Gaullists, and Cabu’s [Charlie Hebdo cartoonist] work where he mocked racist and macho “red-necks”. However we do not agree with the current politics of Charlie Hebdo, which promotes racist, sexist, and homophobic stereotypes. This shift is one of the symptoms of the political retreat of the “white community”, particularly the petty-bourgeoisie, which, disoriented by global instability, withdraws into the fear of the Other.
We are incredulous and shocked by the climate of racist agitation, largely maintained by the media, around the alleged “Islamization” of Europe. This is one of the favourite agitational themes of the extreme right. We condemn racist act of “vengeance”, whether anti-Arab, anti-Muslim, or anti-immigrant.
We are incredulous and shocked by the calls for “national unity” for the defence of the Republic, made by politicians from all political stripes, hand-in-hand. No “unity” is possible when democracy only exists for the dominant class and exploiters, who are now unified to fight “terrorism”.
We are incredulous and shocked at the silence on the responsibility of imperialism in the current development of reactionary terrorist groups. These groups benefit from the destabilization of and military occupations and interventions in Africa and the Middle East.
Incredulous and shocked, we remain committed to denouncing all reactionary crimes, and remembering those killed by the hands of racists, fascists, and by police bullets in Kobane, Gaza, Ferguson, and Paris. We do not have selective indignation.
Incredulous and shocked, more than ever we affirm that the only solution to barbarism is the struggle for socialist revolution. The global crisis of imperialism is worsening on all fronts. The global economic war intensifies. But it is also a crisis of ideas, projects, and the future. We live in a period of confusion where people are searching for a solution. For us, the future is on the side of the revolutionary struggles of the people of India, the Philippines, but also in Europe under different forms (Greece and Spain), in the Arab countries, in Kurdistan, etc. … The responsibilities of all those who call themselves communists, revolutionaries, anti-fascists, or progressives is to not leave the field open to all types of reactionaries, whatever they call themselves.
The attack on Charlie Hebdo is only a moment of accentuation of this crisis, and we must expect more tragic outbursts and convulsions. So as to not suffer alone, and to better understand the current situation (and the issues it brings forward), it is more important than ever for revolutionaries to regroup.
To construct another future, #NousSommesRevolutionnaires (#WeAreRevolutionaries)
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