" JE SUIS CHA RLIE"

THE INCIDENT THA T SHOOK PA RIS

"I prefer t o di e st andi ng t han l i ve on my k nees"
-St ephane Charnonni er
By M ichelle Cho
The Shooting of Charlie Hebdo

I nternational Response to the I ncident

On January 7, 2015 two extremist Muslims

brothers, Cherif and Said Kouachi, stormed
into the Charlie Hebdo magazine and they
shouted "God is Great" in Arabic while
calling out all the names of the editor and
cartoonists. They fatally shot he two
policemen that were protecting, Stephane
Charbonnier the editor-in chief, eight other
cartoonists, columnists, and editors, and a
building maintenance worker. After the
shooting, a three-day manhunt began, leading
to more wounded civilians. This incident led
to France's security system Vigipirate being
raised to its highest level.

World leaders such as Francois Hollander,

David Cameron, Angela Merkel all
condemned the attack with David Cameron
calling it "barbaric" reaffirming their stance
with France. Both David Cameron and Angela
Merkel had a joint security briefing with the
directors of MI5 and MI6. They also
mentioned that it was an attack on free speech.
After the incident occured, there was a larger
emphasis on freedom of speech throughout
the world. People have been saying that
because this act of terrorism was an attack on
freedom of speech, the way to show defiance
is to exercise our right of freedom of speech.
While others have expressed opinions that we
have been neglecting freedom of speech and
we should always be supporting it rather than
in the face of a tragedy. On Twitter the
hashtag #JeSuisCharlie has been trending
expressing people's support for the magazine.
"Je Suis Charlie" is the slogan used by the
supporters of freedom of speech and the
magazine. However, some people say that
hashtag isn't for everyone. Some people used
the hashtag #JeSuisAhmed which contained
the name of the Muslim police officer that
died on duty while protecting the Charlie
Hebdo editor. They expressed their support for
freedom of speech and the magazine but
criticized the portrayal of Islamophobia,
racism and sexism. There have been protests
in countries where the majorities are Muslims
such as Algeria, Niger and Pakistan. There
have been violent protests in Niger with

The Cause of the I ncident

The past few years in Europe and especially in
France, the feeling of Islamophobia has
increased as well as xenophobia. There is
even a law that banns the wearing of turbans,
hijabs and any religious item because of a
series of expulsions after students refused to
take off their hijabs in school. Attacks on
mosques, Muslims and related ears have been
more frequent than before because of the news
about ISIS and various other terrorist groups.
Also, Charlie Hebdo had been publishing
satirical cartoons about Mohammed, a highly
important figure in Islam. The terrorists or
jihadists saw this as an insult to their religion.
In the past, the former editor, Stephane
Charbonnier or "Charb" received many death
threats for the cartoons they published of
Mohammed.

protesters holding up signs that say "Je ne suis

pas Charlie" and burning down Christian
churches affiliated with France after Charlie
Hebdo kept publishing the unflattering
cartoon of Mohammed. About 5,000 people
had been protesting against Charlie Hebdo's
unflattering depiction of Mohammed. They
held posters with signs such as, "This is not
freedom of expression, it is open aggression
against Islam". Pakistan's president had
called out Charlie Hebdo for an apology for
"insulting" the faith of others. Pope Francis
had also criticized Charlie Hebdo for mocking
other religions. There have been mixed
reactions to Charlie Hebdo, peaceful protests
showing their support and grief for the
magazine held all over he world, New York
City, Paris, London, Istanbul, Melbourne and
etc. The incident hasn't only triggered positive
effects but also negative, Islamophobia has
been reported to be rising in Europe. Mosques
and Muslims are being targeted with
firebombs, pig heads, gunfire and grenades in
the aftermath of the Paris attacks. A total of 60
Islamophobic incidents have been recorded,
with an estimated more minor attacks.
Islamophobic attacks aren't new in France,
however there has been a significant rise after
the shooting at Charlie Hebdo. Racist graffiti,
threats and intimidation. The French foreign
minister reminded once again that Islam and
the attacks were different and caused by
terrorists.

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