#JeSuisCharlie: grief and solidarity on Twitter after brutal Paris terror attack | World news | The Guardian#JeSuisCharlie: grief and solidarity on Twitter after brutal Paris terror attack | World news | The Guardian










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Charlie Hebdo attack



#JeSuisCharlie: grief and solidarity on Twitter after brutal Paris terror attack









Hashtag trends across the globe as social media users unite to condemn Charlie Hebdo murders


Charlie Hebdo attack: follow the latest developments














Demonstrators in Strasbourg hold placards with ‘Je Suis Charlie’ (I am Charlie) after the attack on Charlie Hebdo in Paris. Photograph: Vincent Kessler/Reuters




Alexandra Topping and 
Kim Willsher in Paris


Wednesday 7 January 2015 13.59 EST







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As shock reverberated from around the streets of the 11th arrondissement of Paris to the wider world, people took to the airwaves, internet and the street to express their grief for those who had been lost and their commitment to free speech.
Within hours, the hashtag #JeSuisCharlie – I am Charlie – had risen far above the status of internet meme and become a phrase expressing solidarity, despair and determination.
On Twitter, the phrase was used hundreds of thousands of times as people shared cartoons from Charlie Hebdo and stated that despite the terrorist acts committed in the offices of the satirical magazine, freedom of expression would not be cowed. Many quoted Evelyn Beatrice Hall’s expression of Voltaire’s beliefs: “I do not agree with what you have to say, but I’ll defend to the death your right to say it.’’
When the Charlie Hebdo website, which was down for much of the day, came back online it carried the phrase Je Suis Charlie in bold letters, with Charlie written in the font of the publication’s masthead. Viewers who clicked on the link below saw the same poster, repeated again and again in languages including Arabic, German and Spanish.
The US embassy in France was among many that changed their Twitter photo to Je Suis Charlie, while dozens of cartoonists posted tributes to their fallen fellow artists. David Pope, at the Canberra Times, posted a cartoon showing a terrorist saying “he drew first”, and wrote underneath: “Can’t sleep tonight, thoughts with my French cartooning colleagues, their families and loved ones.”
A grieving public gathered in at least 30 cities in France from the Place de la Republique in Paris to the Vieux Port in Marseille. A Facebook page that gave details of all the demonstrations stated they were “good gatherings of peace-lovers and Republicans, and as Chard said – death to idiots”.
As night fell in Paris, despite the bitter cold, more than 5,000 people gathered under the imposing statue of Marianne, the symbol of the republic, to show their anger, grief and solidarity. Some lit candles, others held up copies of Charlie Hebdo, including one that had on the cover a Muslim kissing a magazine cartoonist, with the headline: “Love is stronger than hate.”. Others simply held aloft pens in protest at the killing of journalists. “We need to show the terrorists that they cannot win,” said Jules, a student.
“Everyone is shocked: the cartoonists Charb, Cabu, Wolinski, Tignous ... we grew up with them. Half of France grew up with them,” said one man, who did not want to be named and, like many in the crowd, was close to tears. “My God, how could this happen?”



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Charlie Hebdo: a letter to my British friends

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