40 presidents join 4 million protesters in solidarity against Charlie Hebdo attacks in France

On 11 January 2015, about 3.7 million people including President Hollande and more than 40 world leaders led a "unity rally", organised to show unity after the terror attacks on a French satirical magazine (Charlie Hebdo), that left 12 people dead and 11 others wounded.

This turned out to be the largest public rally in France since World War II.  

Similar demonstrations and candle vigils spread to other cities outside of France as well,

Earlier on 7 January 2015, two masked gunmen armed with AK-47 assault rifles, a shotgun, and a RPG launcher stormed Charlie Hebdo's Paris headquarters.  They opened fire with automatic weapons while shouting "Allahu Akbar", as captured in a video. They shot and killed 11 people (10 in the offices and 1 maintenance worker), and wounded 11 others. Two of those killed were police officers.

 Before the shooting, the gunmen burst into number 6 Rue Nicolas-Appert, where the magazine's archives were based and shouted, "Is this Charlie Hebdo?", before realising they had the wrong address and left. They then went to the magazine's headquarters at number 10 Rue Nicolas-Appert.  Outside, they encountered cartoonist Corinne "Coco" Rey. She reported the two armed and hooded men spoke perfect French and threatened to kill her toddler daughter whom she had just picked up from day care if she did not type in the code to open the door to the building.

 The armed men sprayed the lobby with gunfire immediately upon entering the building.  It was Charlie Hebdo's first news conference of the year. Journalist Laurent Léger stated that the meeting was interrupted by what they initially thought was the sound of prank firecrackers, but was actually the prior gunfire which had occurred in the lobby. "We still thought it was a joke. The atmosphere was still joyous," he recalled.

 Not long after, the gunmen burst into the meeting room and called out Charb's name to target him before opening fire on the group. The shooting lasted five to ten minutes. The gunmen aimed at heads and killed their victims execution-style.  

A female journalist, Sigolène Vinson, survived and stated that one of the shooters aimed at her but spared her life. The attackers displayed a reluctance to harm women and told her that, "I'm not killing you because you are a woman and we don't kill women but you have to convert to Islam, read the Qu'ran and wear a veil." She said he then left, shouting, "Allahu Akbar! Allahu Akbar!"

 The gunmen then left the scene, shouting, "We have avenged the Prophet Muhammad. We have killed Charlie Hebdo!"  They escaped in a getaway car, and drove to Porte de Pantin, hijacking another car on the way (corner of Rue de Meaux and Passage de la Brie), forcing its driver out.  As they drove away, they ran over a pedestrian and shot at responding police officers.

 It was initially believed there were three suspects.  One identified suspect turned himself in at a Charleville-Mézières police station.  Seven acquaintances of the Kouachi brothers were also taken into custody.  Jihadist flags and Molotov cocktails were found in an abandoned getaway car, a black Citroën C3.  

In 2008, Charlie Hebdo was criticised for running Danish cartoons caricaturing the Prophet Mohammed. The magazine defended the publication in the name of freedom of expression.

After the attack

The attack received immediate and swift condemnation from dozens of governments worldwide. Statements of condolence and outrage were offered by many international leaders including Barack Obama, Vladimir Putin, Stephen Harper, Angela Merkel, Matteo Renzi, David Cameron and Tony Abbott.

Some English-language media outlets republished the controversial cartoons on their websites in the hours following the shootings. Prominent examples included Bloomberg News, The Huffington Post,  The Daily Beast,  Gawker, Vox and The Washington Free Beacon.

 Other news organisations covered the shootings without showing the controversial drawings, such as The New York Times, New York Daily News,  CNN, Al-Jazeera America, Associated Press and The Daily Telegraph.  Two websites accused the latter group of self-censorship. The BBC, which previously had guidelines against all depictions of Muhammad, showed a depiction of him on a Charlie Hebdo cover and announced that they were reviewing these guidelines.

Reporters Without Borders criticised the presence of leaders from Egypt, Russia, Turkey, and the United Arab Emirates, saying "On what grounds are representatives of regimes that are predators of press freedom coming to Paris to pay tribute to Charlie Hebdo, a publication that has always defended the most radical concept of freedom of expression?"

Muslim reactions

Iran, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Bahrain, Morocco, Algeria, and Qatar denounced the incident, as did Egypt’s Al-Azhar University, the leading Sunni institution of the Muslim world.  Various Islamic organisations, like the French Council of the Muslim Faith, the Muslim Council of Britain and Islamic Forum of Europe spoke out against the attack, with Sheikh Abdul Qayum and Imam Dalil Boubakeur stating, "[We] are horrified by the brutality and the savagery." The Union of Islamic Organisations of France released a statement condemning the attack, along with Imam Hassen Chalghoumi saying that those behind the attack "have sold their soul to hell". The vice president of the U.S. Ahmadiyya Muslim Community also condemned the attack, saying, "The culprits behind this atrocity have violated every Islamic tenet of compassion, justice, and peace."  

The League of Arab States released a collective condemnation of the attack. Al-Azhar University also released a statement denouncing the attack, stating that violence was never appropriate regardless of "offence committed against sacred Muslim sentiments".

However, a British Islamist, Anjem Choudary, wrote an editorial in USA Today in which he professes justification from the words of Muhammad that those who insult prophets should face death, and that Muhammad should be protected to prevent further violence.  Saudi-Australian Islamic preacher Junaid Thorne said: "If you want to enjoy 'freedom of speech' with no limits, expect others to exercise 'freedom of action'."

Bahujan Samaj Party leader Yaqub Qureishi, a Muslim MLA and former Minister from Uttar Pradesh in India, offered a reward of 510 million (US$8 million) to the perpetrators of the Charlie Hebdo shootings.  Qureshi was in headlines in 2006 after declaring a reward of the same value to anyone who would kill the Danish cartoonist, Kurt Westergaard, who had created a controversial cartoon of the Muhammad.

 The attack was also praised by ISIS. ISIS militant Abu Mussab from Syria praised the massacre. Al-Shabaab, a militant Islamist organisation in Somalia, also praised the attackers.

 Two Islamist newspapers in Turkey ran headlines that drew ire on social media for justifying the attack: the Yeni Akit ran an article entitled "Attack on the magazine that provoked Muslims", and Türkiye ran an article entitled "Attack on the magazine that insulted our Prophet".

"Afghanistan rally hails Charlie Hebdo attackers as 'heroes'. Hundreds in southern Afghanistan rallied to praise the killing of 12 people at the French newspaper Charlie Hebdo, calling the two gunmen "heroes" who meted out punishment for cartoons disrespectful to Islam's prophet, officials said Saturday. The demonstrators also protested President Ashraf Ghani's swift condemnation of the bloody attack on the satirical newspaper," reported Yahoo Canada, on a Reuters wire.

The phrase Je suis Charlie (French for "I am Charlie") has come to be a common worldwide sign of solidarity against the attacks.  Many demonstrators used the slogan to express solidarity with the magazine. The United States Embassy in Paris changed its Twitter profile picture to the "Je suis Charlie" placard.

Culled from WIKIPEDIA