Does anyone else reckon one of the big historical problems of the French Revolution was that it allowed those who repeated its mottos as if they had overcome history to believe also that they had overcome xenophobia and domination? If you think that the biggest problem with journalists being shot for what they write is that it’s a challenge to freedom of speech then you are a fucking mug. Same if you think that a reasonable response from the “left” to France’s history of Islamophobic violence (both in France, in its colonies, and in many wars beyond its colonies) is to publish endless tedious racist cartoons under the rubric of liberty. Obviously what happened in Paris today is awful and unjustifiable. But it isn’t exactly surprising. That said, the same consciousness that sees itself free from xenophobic dominion will inevitable be found tomorrow imposing it even more violently on France’s Muslims.