OPINION: The Firebombing of Charlie Hebdo

The firebombing of the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo in the early hours of this morning should send a shiver down the spine of all right-thinking and responsible people.

The editorial team had decided to make the next edition of the weekly magazine an "Arab Spring Special Edition" - to celebrate the new freedoms countries like Tunisia now had. The cover cartoon mocked the fact that Tunisia's new "freedoms" included the imposition of Sharia Law and had a cartoon of the prophet Muhammad saying: "100 lashes if you don't die of laughter".

The "Arab Spring Special Edition" hadn't even hit the newsstands yet.

Of course, cartoons of the prophet have been known to cause controversies before; the Jylands-Posten cartoons of 2005 caused no end of trouble with death threats, etc. The editors at Charlie Hebdo could, perhaps have thought things were different in France where, in 2007, their right to re-publish the Danish cartoons was upeld.

The Quran does not explicity outlaw images of Muhammad.

In fact, it is only in some supplementary teaching, called hadith, that Muslims are forbidden from making visual images of figures. Somehow, though, the fundamentalist and fanatical Muslims have decided that images of the prophet are a bad thing and to make such an image makes you a target for violent retribution.

Any sane person can see this is a nonsense. Can you imagine a ban on images of Jesus or the Buddha? Those religions not only allow for artists to create imagery of their religious figures but cope when those images are used to mock their religion. Why can't Islam be the same? Is Islamic belief that fragile?

And why make up extra rules that aren't in the Quran? It's not like art wasn't around before Muhammad had his revelations.

The Christian church has been worryling quiet about the Charlie Hebdo firebombing today. I realise that Rowan Williams is a bit busy trying to dig himself and St. Paul's Cathedral out of the huge hole they have created for themselves with their tepid response to the Occupy London protesters (and the huge finiancial investments and links the catherdal has with the City of London), and the Pope, well, he's always busy trying to cover up the wrong-doings of his clergy - but, surely, they should have stood strong and spoken out against this evil and dangerous fundamentalism?

Let's hope that politicians can stand up to this aggressive bullying by lunatics. No one should be in fear of their life because they draw or published a cartoon. No society should tolerate these extremists.

The story of the Arab Spring is yet to unfold - let's hope it is not the story of how fanatical lunatics took over a large amount of the world.

COMMENT: The Death of Gaddafi

The rolling news channels have all forgotten about the clearing of the illegal travellers' site at Dale Farm as reports are claiming that Muammar Gaddafi has been killed, or captured, or... Well, nobody's actually too sure.

Despite tha, the streets of Sirte, Gaddafi's home town, is full of moronic celebratory gunfire.

Yes, Sirte has fallen to the NTC forces aft a two month siege, and, possibly, Gaddafi has been captured or killed but why fire bullets into the air? The bullets don't disappear into thin air, they don't leave the atmosphere and travel onwards to other planets... they fall back to earth and, fairly often, they hit humans. In Puerto Rico alone, two people die and twenty-five are injured annually! In the past few days there was a religious edict in Libya calling for an end to celebratory gunfire because of the deaths and injuries it caused.

So, ignoring the idiotic behaviour of the men with weapons, should they be celebrating?

If it is confirmed that Gaddafi is dead there can be no real justice. It will be the same as when Osama Bin Laden was killed (and his body rapidly, and rather stupidly, disposed of people celebrated.

It will also mean a lot of information is lost - including the truth about the Lockerbie bombing'

If he had been captured I think there is something to celebrate. A trial, however lengthy, could take place and some extent of justice could be seen to be done. Simply killing him, as seems increasingly likely, prevents this.

It seems, whether he is alive or dead, that Gaddafi has fallen and the NTC (heavily assisted by NATO) have won the war. That is something for Libyans to celebrate - some element of normality mig be able to return in a country that has been torn apart by civil war over the past few months.

But is it something for the world to celebrate?

I don't think so.

The NTC is a very strange coming together of opposing factions. The plan is for democratic elections in two years. I won't hold my breath.

And then there's Al-Qaida....

Let's hope my pessimism is ill-founded. Let's hope for a peaceful future for the people of Libya - and for the other nations that had an Arab Spring uprising.

For me, I hope Gaddafi has been captured. His death, particularly if NATO were responsible, which seems likely, would make things more problematic. I fear how the NTC will rule the country and I do not see this finishing Libya's troubles.

As Anne Frank wrote in her famous diary:

This is not the end, it is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning.