The Hierarchy of Suffering * La Hiérarchie de Souffrances
Some tragedies are prized over others. From the heroes we put on pedestals to our choice of commemorations, it is clear that some atrocities are engraved in our collective memory while others are all but ignored. In this article for MediaPart I argue (in French), that this hierarchy of suffering is part of a continuing pattern of inequality. Read More Read More
FRENCH DEFENCE and DEFENSIVENESS
French footy fans are on the verge of a mental breakdown because they’ve been asked to thank Africa for the World Cup victory. That was one of the quips made by Daily Show presenter Trevor Noah and others after France beat Croatia in the final. Name-checking Africa hadn’t been a big deal until a few fragile fans made it one, demanding we Stop saying Africa won the World Cup! Stop... Read More
Cyclists are Morally Justified in Breaking the Rules
It’s funny how some right-wing politicians always have a go at punishing good behaviour. Toronto Councillor Stephen Holyday’s proposal to introduce bike licenses is at best, as he suggests, based on the naïve notion that they’ll finance bike lanes the city needs. At worst, it’s the latest ruse to cast cyclists as outlaws who need to be reined in by more rigorous... Read More
Stifling Debate on Israel Endangers us All
For writing these words, I could be put in prison. I’m in France, where last October, the country’s highest court ruled that advocating for the movement to boycott, divest and sanction (BDS) companies dealing with Israeli settlements is a criminal offence. Last week, the U.K. announced that it will penalize local councils and publicly funded bodies that support such... Read More
Friday night far from Home
My phone blinks repeatedly with news alerts of an unfolding plague. I read them two, three times and still struggle to believe what I’m reading. Gunmen and suicide bombers are on a killing spree across my adopted city. It’s a city I have not only come to love like no other; I’ve persuaded the woman of my dreams to start a new life there. Now she’s somewhere in Paris... Read More
The Extremes that Strain a Nation
The masked gunmen who claimed to have “killed Charlie Hebdo” would be surprised to learn they helped reverse the fortunes of a struggling low-budget paper with a circulation of less than 60,000. Now the surviving editorial team has had to print five million copies – which may not be enough for readers mortified by a tale of how artists and journalists – and the police... Read More
Following the Charlie Hebdo Massacre, how long will the Solidarity Last?
When masked gunmen emerged on Wednesday from the magazine’s offices and onto the street proclaiming, “We killed Charlie Hebdo,” it was a reference not only to the 12 people they shot dead in cold blood, but to the satirical magazine itself. An attack, in other words, on the very organs of free speech. Read More Read More
It’s not just guns that kill…it’s Inequality
The only thing that rivals the blood-thirst of a killer is the ideological iniquity of those who allow the killing to continue. Thanks to the NRA and their Republican sycophants America is awash with weapons – but the reason why the US has the most homicides in the industrialised world is not due to guns alone. Read More Read More
A Glimpse of Street Justice
It’s a cool, calm evening so far, just past 2am. I’ve parted ways with friends who are moving on from the bar to a club, and I find a Velib rent-a-bike to ride home. Something catches my eye as I head through Belleville. A man is swinging an object that looks like a long stick or a branch at people on the side-walk. Read More Read More
Absence of Empathy
As the latest memorial of mass murder recedes into our collective calendar’s crossed out dates, we should look back…at how we look back, and peer beyond the grief and suffering, into the rank hypocrisy of America’s leaders who make a mockery of it all. When President Barack Obama read scriptures and saluted the armed forces on Sunday, little was said of the injustice... Read More
