The Other Dead Journalists

Most people probably do not realize that 61 journalists were killed in 2014, and more than half of them were Muslims:

In France, as in elsewhere in the Western world, the attack on Charlie Hebdo is being lamented, and the dead journalists are being celebrated as heroes whose work exemplifies a fearless and defiant pursuit of freedom of expression. However, this fight for freedom of speech is not always seen as a Muslim struggle. Yet the number of Muslim journalists killed defending journalism tells a different story. More than half of 61 journalists killed in 2014 were Muslims, many working in conflict-affected countries such as Iraq, Syria, Pakistan and Somalia. But few have received the recognition or commemoration accorded to Western journalists or a handful who worked for Western media outlets.

http://america.aljazeera.com/opinions/2015/1/charlie-hebdo-deadmuslimjournalistsfreedomofspeech.html

We did not see 40 heads of state and 3 million demonstrators mourn those 61 deaths, did we? This seems to imply that the response to the Charlie Hebdo massacre was racist and/or anti-Muslim and not really related to free speech.

By the way, here's an excellent essay by Gilad Atzmon which discusses why spitting on other people's religion is not "free speech":

http://dissidentvoice.org/2015/01/spitting-on-other-peoples-prophets-is-not-a-western-value/

I really don't like Gilad, but it's because he makes me think about things I don't believe in ... and that's a good thing.

Update: Jeremy Scahill also has commented on the hypocrisy of world leaders:

"[The Paris anti-terrorism march] is a sort of circus of hypocrisy when it comes to all of those world leaders who were marching at the front of it. Every single one of those heads of state or representatives of governments there have waged their own wars against journalists."

http://www.democracynow.org/2015/1/12/circus_of_hypocrisy_jeremy_scahill_on

Good point, Jeremy. But the masses don't give a damn about that, do they? They just want their beer, their football, and video clips of SWAT teams dispatching the latest group of bad guys.