"Je Suis Charlie"

 

               Freedom of speech has been an intangible right that many Western democracies have embraced, including France’s satirical magazine, Charlie Hebdo. The events of the January 7, 2015 attack and onward, were a testament to free speeches limits and influences. Charlie Hebdo is a magazine that makes fun of all religions in the forum of a comic strip. This magazine has come under criticism over the years. There have been various attempts on restricting the content, as it has been perceived as extremely offensive to the Muslim community, The New York Times reports. One such example was when Charlie Hebdo reprinted an offensive image of the Prophet Muhamad that drew much criticism when a Danish newspaper originally printed it (Yu). It is evident that Charlie Hebdo has had a positive influential impact on society, however did they go too far? 

On January 7, 2015 12 people were killed at the headquarters of Charlie Hebdo. The following timeline of the Charlie Hebdo attack as reported by John Levs, a CNN reporter is as follows.  According to Levs, on Wednesday mid-day, two gunmen killed the security guard at the office of Charlie Hebdo. An employee who was exiting the building was forced to lead the two gun men to the conference room where a lunchtime editorial meeting was being held, Lev’s states. The two gunmen separated men and women calling out specific names of people they were killing. The gunmen proclaimed that they were avenging the Prophet Muhamad. The two gunmen escaped the building and as they were fleeing the scene, killed a police officer. Later that night thousands of Parisians gathered together to hold a vigil for the slain victims. It was on this night that the phase “Je Suis Charlie” became a slogan for the movement. In English it means I am Charlie, or in other words, I believe in freedom of speech (Levs).  Lizze Deardon of the Telegraph, reported that at the vigil in Paris and around the world, thousands of people held up pens, while journalist held up their press cards, in show of solidarity for the right of freedom of speech (Deardon).

Levs reports that overnight an ongoing manhunt went under way. It was later released that the two gunmen suspects were Cherif Kouachi and Said Kouachi. Friday morning reports came in that the two brothers were held up in a warehouse (Levs). Lin Jenkins, a journalist from the Guardian highlights a time line of the events that took place in the warehouse. The Kouachi brothers entered the printing warehouse with assault rifles. Michelle Catantlo, quickly told his employees to go and hide. The two brothers held Cantantlo and some of the employee’s hostage. Cantantlo offered the brothers a drink of coffee. However, matters got complicated when his supplier showed up around 9 p.m. He told his supplier to leave, and sensing something was wrong in the way Cantantlo spoke the supplier left. Meanwhile one employee, Lilian Lepere a graphic designer, hid in a card board box under a sink in the bathroom. He communicated with police via text and gave them information about the brother’s location and what he could hear them saying (Jenkins).  In report given by ITele a French television station, French parliament said the brothers wanted to die as martyrs (Levs).  

 Later that day in a separated incident, a gun man held up hostages in a kosher grocery store with accordance to the NY Daily Times. During the hold up the gunman Amedy Coulibaly, called BFM-TV a French News station and told them that he and the Kouachi brothers were affiliated with Al Qaeda, and that they were carrying out orders.  Later on the police stormed in and killed the gunman Amedy Coulibaly, as he was partaking in evening prayers. Four hostages were killed and 15 other hostages survived. Four of which were hiding downstairs in a walk in refrigerator, one of which was an infant.  A few police officers were injured during the assault. It was later discovered in the Kouchai’s car that they had flags that represented Al Qaeda. A member of Al Qaeda claimed that they had given the order to attack the Charlie Hebdo headquarters (Power).  Hayatt Boudeminne, Amedy Coulibaly expected accomplice escaped the kosher grocery store and is now on the run ( Levs).  She is now expected to be hiding somewhere in Syria.

The following week, on Jan.9 President François Hollande, addressed the nation. On the Embassy of France in Washington D.C website, they posted the transcript of the President Hollande address to Paris. In his address he admired the work of law enforcement, thanking them for keeping France safe: “I want to pay tribute to the courage, bravery and effectiveness of the gendarmes, the police officers, and all those who took part in these operations. I would like to tell them that we are proud; we are proud of them because when the order was given, they launched the attack simultaneously, and achieved the same result. They did so to save the lives of the hostages. They did so to neutralize the terrorists, those who had committed murders (Embassy of France in Washington D.C).”  He then went on to praise France’s resilience and vigilance to overcome such adversity over the past few days. He concludes by stating that France is a free country, and will not allow a single solidary to hold them back. Instead remain strong even through the worst of times.

On the following Sunday, France invited world leaders to a March in a show of solidarity. Time magazine says, amongst the attendees were Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel, British Prime Minster David Cameron, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. However, America’s presence was lacking as they only sent the French Ambassador Jane Harely. The white house has been under much criticism for not sending a more high ranking official. Time Magazine mentions that Earnest, a speaker for the White House said that had there been more time, they would’ve sent a more high ranking official. But because this all happened within a 36 hour period, and the fact that it’s outdoors, it imposes a high security risk for any high ranking U.S official. (Miller)

After the attack, Charlie Hebdo is slowly coming back together. Amongst some controversy that has risen was their new cover issue, shortly following the attack, USA Today reports. The cover depicts the Prophet Muhammad holding a sign that says “Je Suis Charlie” and above the Prophet it reads “Tout est pardonne”, which translates into all is forgiven. On Jan. 13 the remaining staff at Charlie Hebdo announced their plans to release 3 million copies of this latest issue, which reflects the ongoing growing support of the cause. Before the attack USA Today says that the staff had only planned to release 1 million copies (Welch). Another image that has went viral was the “Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow” which depicts a pencil, a broken pencil and then a broken pencil lined up with a new pencil.  As CNN reports, the image was originally tweeted out by a French artist Bansky. A representative of Bansky later retracted his statement and gave credit to French illustrator Lucille Clerc (Respers).

Ultimately the Kouchai brother’s goal was to restrict freedom of speech. Instead they unified a nation to come out and show resilience. It goes to show the power that freedom of speech has, and how one act of terror will not stop a nation for observing their tangible right.  

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Resources:

"Charlie Hebdo - Statements by President Hollande." France in the United States / Embassy of France in Washington, D.C. Francein the United States, 8 Jan. 2015. Web. 4 Mar. 2015.

Dearden, Liz. "Charlie Hebdo Attack: Thousands Join Vigils in London, Pars, Berlin and around the World." The Independent. Independent Digital News and Media, 7 Jan. 2015. Web. 4 Mar. 2015.

Jenkins, Lin. "France Terror Attacks: Graphic Designer Hid in Cardboard Box." The Guardian. Guardian News and Media Limited, 10 Jan. 2

Levs, Josh, and Ed Payne. "A Timeline of the Charlie Hebdo Terror Attack - CNN.com." CNN. Cable News Network, 9 Jan. 2015. Web. 4 Mar. 2015.015. Web. 4 Mar. 2015.

Miller, Zeke. "White House Says It Should Have Sent a More Senior Official to Paris." Time. Time, 12 Jan. 2015. Web. 13 Mar. 2015

Power, Virgina, Meg Wagner, and Sasha Goldstein. "French Police Kill Brothers Wanted in Charlie Hebdo Massacre." NY Daily News. 9 Jan. 2015. Web. 4 Mar. 2015.

Respers, Lisa. "That Banksy Charlie Hebdo Tribute You're Sharing Isn't His - CNN.com." CNN. Cable News Network, 8 Jan. 2015. Web. 13 Mar. 2015.

Sayare, Scott, and Nicola Clark. "French Magazine Runs Cartoons That Mock Muhammad." The New York Times. The New York Times, 19 Sept. 2012. Web. 4 Mar. 2. 2015.

Welch, William, and Kim Hjelmgaard. "New 'Charlie Hebdo' Cover Released." USA Today. Gannett, 13 Jan. 2015. Web. 13 Mar. 2015

Yu, Roger. "'Charlie Hebdo' Satirical Journalism Drew Fans, Critics." USA Today. Gannett, 7 Jan. 2015. Web. 4 Mar. 2015.