Nothing was more confusing in the IAI TV debate over Charlie Hebdo than the question of how to employ the language of rights. And nothing is more confused than the idea that there is a right to offend.

When I speak of the language of rights I don’t mean rights that the law giveth and the law taketh away – entitlements that vary from time to time or from one jurisdiction to another. I mean fundamental rights, rights we regard as universal and inalienable: human rights.