UNTIL this week I'd not heard of Iqbal Jassat of the Johannesburg-based Media Review Network. However, once he'd expressed his dismaying views on events in Paris, it was painfully clear that he's an all-too familiar sort. Pardon my French, but il n'est certainement pas Charlie.
There's been widespread condemnation of the terror attack on the Charlie Hebdo. Eight staffers, including four of France's most renowned cartoonists, were murdered in cold blood. Two policemen were killed, and a maintenance worker and a visitor to the satirical weekly also lost their lives.
The loss of any innocent life was regrettable, Jassat told The Star on Thursday. Yet he implied that Charlie Hebdo brought this carnage on themselves - by being offensive.
"There is the perception around this incident that it is about freedom of speech - it is not," he said. "It is about freedom to hate. The media has been repeatedly asked not to continue blaspheming Islam which is very insulting to many. The true context of the incident, and central to it, is the Arab world's displeasure at the lampooning of our prophet and whether it should be seen as freedom of speech or freedom to attack Islam and its prophets."
I'm afraid Jassat is quite wrong. This is very much about freedom of speech - a fundamental human right about which there is much confusion, even now, in the 21st year of our democracy. Contrary to popular opinion, such a right is not curtailed or limited by considerations of "displeasure". It is precisely when offence is taken or given that our freedoms of expression and speech come into play.
Earlier this week, our old Stalinist fossil, SACP secretary general Blade Nzimande, was whining about the "failure" of newspapers to regulate the "racist" and "sexist" online comments posted on their internet platforms and fulminating darkly about taking action against them.