The indications are that the horrendous killings at the French satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo office in Paris, will be used by the governments of the United States, France, Australia and other Western powers to justify the continuation of their post-9/11 program of endless wars, as well as the increased militarization of Asia and other Third World regions. As we condemn the killings, we also oppose any and every attempt to use them as a pretext to ratchet up anti-Muslim prejudice and Islamophobia.
In the same week the Charlie Hebdo killings took place, another journalist in the Philippines, Nerlita Ledesma, was gunned down, adding to the total of 145 journalists killed since the overthrow of the Marcos dictatorship in 1986. Five years ago, 32 journalists were killed in the Ampatuan massacre. Last Jan. 11, a member of the Ampatuan clan, a prime suspect in the killings, was allowed to walk free on bail.
Experience tells us that democratic rights under our present system are won hard and are always conditional—the reason ours is referred to as “elite democracy.” To be defended and extended, they require sustained mass mobilizations. We hope that the mass mobilizations in Europe condemning the Charlie Hebdo killings will be replicated around each and every attack on democratic rights, including the almost routine killing of journalists in Palestine, the Philippines and other Third World countries.
We also need to expose the hypocrisy of government leaders who feigned support for the “freedom of speech” and led the march in Paris: French President François Hollande, whose government imposed a ban on solidarity demonstrations with the Palestinian people, criminalized the wearing of veil or hijab by Muslim women, and tolerated racist attacks against Muslims and other migrant communities in France. Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, responsible for the genocidal war against the people of Palestine, whose military forces targeted journalists during the Gaza invasion; and the ambassador of Saudi Arabia, representing a government of dictatorship against women, which has just handed out a thousand lashes to a man convicted of blasphemy. United Kingdom Prime Minister David Cameron and the US attorney general were also there, although their governments have led the killing of more than one million Iraqis and thousands more in murderous drone attacks. The United States even called for a conference against violence while continuing the war in the Middle East and brutally cracking down on whistle-blowers who have exposed the government’s routine spy operations, including against its own people.
Partido Lakas ng Masa stands in solidarity with our brothers and sisters in the Middle East, as well as our Muslim brothers and sisters, especially those living in the West, who must brace themselves against the fallout of these events as a result of the rising anti-Muslim prejudice. We will continue to struggle against the US policy of increased militarization in Asia and our region.
—REI MELENCIO, International Department, Partido Lakas ng Masa, partidolakasngmasa@gmail.com