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French Satirist's Firing for Anti-Semitism Raises Free Speech Questions

By Howard M. Friedman

In France, the firing of a columnist by the satirical weekly paper Charlie Hebdo has created a flood of debate over free speech versus anti-Semitism. AFP reported yesterday that Maurice Sinet, who publishes cartoons and columns under the name Siné, was fired by the newspaper after he refused to apologize for a column about Jean Sarkozy, son of France's President Nicolas Sarkozy. The President's son is engaged to Jessica Sibaoun-Darty whose family founded Darty, a large French retail chain. In a July 2 column, Siné wrote that Jean Sarkozy "has just said he intends to convert to Judaism before marrying his fiancee, who is Jewish, and the heiress to the founders of Darty. He'll go far, that kid." A Charlie Hebdo editor said that these lines "could be interpreted as drawing a link between conversion to Judaism and social success," reinforcing an old stereotype of Jews as wealthy. The Guardian on Sunday, reporting on the controversy, says that Siné had no evidence that Sarkozy intended to convert. It also says that the column was uncontroversial until a radio commentator several days later referred to it as anti-Semitic.

In an open letter in Le Monde, 20 writers and politicians have defended Charlie Hebdo's decision to fire Siné. However many other writers and artists, as well as 8,000 people who have signed an online petition, are backing Siné. In 1985 Sine was convicted of inciting racial hatred because of anti-Semitic remarks for which he later apologized.

Full post as published by Religion Clause on August 06, 2008 (boomark / email).