To be or not to be Charlie is the question: Student insight into the choice

When I heard about the Charlie Hebdo incident, I was horrified by the brutality of such crime.

I pray for the victims and their parents; no one deserves to neither live nor die in such terror, and everyone has to have a stance to speak out against such horrific acts.

I could not sympathize more with all the victims who lost their lives, or with their children, relatives and friends who undoubtedly suffer the loss of their beloved ones.

Regarding the consequences of this incident, there is no doubt that Islamophobia had been a persisting phenomena within Western societies, and the Charlie Hebdo incident nurtures such a phenomena even more.

Along with millions of Muslims in the World, I strongly condemn such an evil act of terror, barbarism and ignorance.

Yet, I believe that Muslims worldwide are the ones who get blamed for such acts everyday in their lives for things that they neither did nor agree with.

I believe that this brutality should not be in our names. This incident is a crime and the ones who committed it are the one who should get blamed for doing it.

In 2012, when there was a shooting in one of the theatres during a Batman movie, I have not heard people saying or doing “Batmanphobic” acts. No one criticized and held Batman or even “the Joker” lovers responsible for such an act.

There are more than 1.5 billion Muslims in the World today, and having a generalized opinion about 1.5 billion people looks to me nothing more than holding an immature and an ignorant perspective.

After sympathizing with the victims and their families, I could not think of something else but the upcoming victims of Islamophobia, who would have to pay back for something they have not committed.

I did not tweet, post on my Facebook account, nor cheer out loudly the phrase “Je Suis Charlie” or “I am Charlie.” I have not done that because, simply, I am not Charlie!

My sympathy for the victims and the condemnation of the horrific acts do not mean that I agree with the contents inside the Charlie Hebdo magazine.

Frankly, I believe that I would never draw a caricature nor make some statements that would offend another person.

I would never make a statement that would offend a friend or even a stranger, and Charlie Hebdo succeeded in offending nearly 1.5 billion people Worldwide.

For that reason, I can never approve such an offensive messages coming from a magazine.

I am a Muslim who goes to Saint Anselm College and I can never imagine myself saying a word, regarding faiths or otherwise, that would be targeted toward offending my fellow, Muslim and non-Muslim, college mates. This is against my moral values, education and faith.

Basically, Prophet Mohammed (Peace and Blessings Be Upon Him) is a strongly loved figure within the Islamic societies.

The love that Muslims possess for Prophet Mohammed (PBUH) surpasses their love to their parents, children and close ones. Thus, Muslims have been deeply offended by such “satirical” caricatures.

If Charlie Hebdo portrayed my parents in those drawings, I would have been offended as much as I am now, after their portrayal of our Prophet (PBUH).

However, I would repeat here that this does not and would never justify the shooting that occurred at Charlie Hebdo.

There are million of peaceful ways to protest the magazine’s offensive drawings, and killing innocent lives is not one of them.

For that reason, I could have never said, “I am Charlie.” On the contrary, I admit that “I am the 12 innocent victims, who were killed while doing their professional work,” “I am Ahmed, who is the Muslim French policeman who was killed in the crime scene,” I am the 2000 Nigerians, who have been massacred in Baga by Boku Haram without seeing powerful international rage to stop such terror.”

Those are the statements that are aimed toward attaining unity and love among all humans against division and despair that have been dominating our era.

I am sorry if my statement would be a disappointment, but “I am not Charlie!” Désolé, Je ne suis pas Charlie.

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Abdelaziz AlSharawy is a junior economics major from Cairo, Egypt.