Portside

To combat violence you must look at the concrete inequities and practices that breed it. To protect expression that's endangered you have to engage with the substance of what was said, not deny it. That means attempting dialogue with those who peacefully condemn or disagree, not trying to shame them into silence. Nothing is quick, nothing is easy. I support free speech. I oppose all censors. I abhor the killings. I mourn the dead. I am not Charlie.

Today Portside is publishing two different perspectives on the response to the horrific murders at Charlie Hebdo. The first from India takes on the factual mistakes and subsequent gross distortions that were published in English after the Charlie Hebdo massacre. It shows who were the assassinated cartoonists and what was Charlie Hebdo.

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Is the enemy of my enemy necessarily my friend? Or is this a situation not of righteous heroes and evil enemies, but bad jokes and even worse policies? Murder is murder. The attacks on the Charlie Hebdo offices in Paris were murder. We should all grieve the twelve people whose lives were stolen, as well as the four people who were taken hostage and killed at the kosher market. We should also stand against the Islamophobic reaction from Western governments and media.

Catalonia has decided to recast its planned November 9 referendum on independence as a nonbinding consultation.Why are so many Scots (45% in September's referendum) and Catalans (50% in recent polls) set on leaving now? The answer is surely a desperate search for sovereignty with longstanding resentments over discrimination by the power centers in their respective states. Like many other Europeans, they feel cheated by their governments' response to the Great Recession.

Without a socialist consciousness, an independent Scotland risks becoming a smaller — and even more reactionary — version of its southern neighbors.

Some on the left seem to think voting against the Westminster status quo is an act of class betrayal. This is plainly not true. People who can explain in minute detail the many forms of socialism on offer at any demo or conference seem incapable of differentiating when it comes to nationalists.