Haroon Moghul, the Fellow in Muslim Politics and Societies at Fordham Law School’s Center on National Security wondered “is it really helpful at this time?” to give Charlie Hebdo the PEN America James C. Goodale Freedom of Expression Courage Award on Tuesday’s “NOW with Alex Wagner” on MSNBC, according to the website Breitbart.com.
“The first thing that needs to be said is, obviously, we’re against violence and we’re in favor of free speech. my discomfort with what Charlie Hebdo does…is more of a moral argument. That they can do it, but why are they doing it? Is it really helpful at this time? And that’s how I feel about the awards as well. That in this climate, with this kind of distrust, with this kind of suspicion, with this kind of racism and prejudice on both sides, between Muslim communities and Western communities and those of us who in the middle, such as myself, I’m an American Muslim, are we really making things better or are we making things worse? What is the advantage to doing this? What is the goal in doing this?”
He later added, “Muslim Americans are an easy target. Peter Beinart had a great piece in the Atlantic just about a week ago on exactly this topic. There’s a general milieu where you can bash American Muslims, or just Muslims generally, and make assumptions and generalizations about Muslims that you can’t about other communities. And that’s what I’m upset by, I’m not upset by the satire. I’m all for free speech, even offensive speech.”
Read the full article on Breitbart.com here.