বৃহস্পতিবার, ০৫ ডিসেম্বর ২০২৪, ০৩:৩৪

Paris march: After a minute’s silence they roared ‘We are not afraid!’

Paris march: After a minute’s silence they roared ‘We are not afraid!’

They came to pay their respects to the dead, united behind a peloton of 50 heads of state in a vast human tide that reaffirmed the universal values of the French Republic: liberty, equality and fraternity. After a minute of silence came the roar of the chants, with one in particular – “We are not afraid!” – shouted over and over.

“Je suis Charlie” was everywhere, on homemade placards, on armbands, on T-shirts. And there were flags too: huge French tricolores, the colours of the Republic, waved from the giant statue of Marianne, the incarnation of French liberty and reason.

Wounded in its heart by the three home-grown Islamic terrorists who killed 17 journalists, cartoonists, shoppers and police officers over three shocking days, Paris answered Francois Hollande’s call to “rise up” in a show of solidarity.

In a city grown used to mass demonstrations, Sunday’s “unity march” was the demo to dwarf them all, with some estimates suggesting that 1.5 million people had taken to the streets, the biggest gathering since Paris’ liberation from the Nazis in 1944.

An equal number are thought to have marched in cities the country.

A vast security operation to guard the marchers appeared to pass off smoothly, with 2,200 police officers on the route and snipers across the city’s rooftops. In the coming days, the city’s Jews will be guarded especially closely, with Mr Hollande promising a “military guard” if necessary.

While the mood on the street was buoyant, leaders from across Europe and North America acknowledged that changes will have to be made to how the continent polices its borders and tracks its enemies. American intelligence officials, listening into the phone calls of Islamic State leaders, overheard that Paris was just the first of what may be other targets.

“We are here to demonstrate that we all stand for the values of democracy, freedom, freedom of expression and tolerance,” said David Cameron, who said he would discuss Britain’s response to the attacks with security and intelligence chiefs today.

The prime minister said the “poison” of fanatical extremism “will be with us for many more years to come.”

“We in Britain face a very similar threat – a threat of fanatical extremism – and we have to confront that in every way we can.That means maintaining strong security, investing in our security services, it means being very vigilant.”

European, Canadian and US interior and justice ministers pledged to “step up the detection and screening of travel movements of European nationals” leaving or entering the EU’s external borders, and adjust Europe’s internal Schengen freedom-of-movement rules to widen information sharing and to subject suspicious travellers to greater checks.

They added it was “essential” that major internet providers cooperate with governments in closely monitoring and, if necessary, removing online content “that aims to incite hatred and terror”. The measures will be discussed further at a Febuary 12 EU summit.

“There was firm support for new action to share intelligence, track the movement of terrorists and defeat their ideology,” said Theresa May, the Home secretary. “It is important that we now deliver on these talks so we can keep all our citizens safe from the very serious threat we all face.”

Boris Johnson issued his own blunt take: “I am not interested in this civil liberties stuff. If they are a threat I want their email and calls listened to.”

The unprecedented size of the rally was matched by its vision of political unity. At the heart of the cortege, standing arm in arm stood Angela Merkel and Mr Hollande, who had earlier welcomed the Germany Chancellor with an emotional hug.

“Europe will win the fight against terrorism,” meanwhile predicted Matteo Renzi, the Italian prime minister. “Today, we are all French.”

Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu marched in step with Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas and dozens of leaders at the helm of the march, with the pair waving to the crowds as they walked slowly away from the square.

In all, almost 50 world leaders came to pay their respects including Spain’s Mariano Rajoy, several African leaders, as well as Ahmed Davutoglu, Turkey’s prime minister, and king Abdullah II of Jordan and his wife, Queen Rania.

As well as marches in other major French cities, thousands took to the streets as far afield as Sydney, Vienna, Brussels and London’s Trafalgar Square, where around 2,000 people braved the cold to come out in solidarity with the victims.

The mass gatherings came five days after Said and Cherif Kouachi, two Frenchmen of Algerian origin gunned down 12 people at Charlie Hebdo, the satirical magazine last Wednesday. They claimed to be acting on the orders of al Qaeda in Yemen.

Their bloody assault was the start of a “synchronised” attack that saw Amedy Coulibaly, a 32-year old Senegal-born Frenchman, gun down a policewoman on Thursday and a further four hostages in a kosher supermarket in Vincennes, eastern Paris on Friday. The French prosecutor also confirmed yesterday that Coulibaly was linked to the shooting of a jogger, causing the individual to sustain critical injuries.

Yesterday Coulibaly issued a Youtube video from beyond the grave, claiming responsibility for the attacks on behalf of Isil. His girfriend and suspected accomplice, Hayat Boumeddiene, 26, has fled to Turkey, and may have crossed over into Syria, Turkish authorities believe.

Their murderous intolerance has been countered by a wave of solidarity. In one poignant scene, a French Muslim trader handed flowers to a Jewish demonstrator, who replied: “We are all brothers and sisters, we are all human beings, and we are with the victims’ families standing together during this tragic period. We are united.”

Zakaria Moumni, a 34-year-old Franco-Moroccan draped in the French flag, agreed. “I am here to show the terrorists they have not won – it is bringing people together of all religions,” she said.

On a street in Gennevilliers where the Kouachi brothers had lived, reactions were far more mixed.

“We’re not in the march today because to us the Kouachis are our local heroes,” a bearded man in his early 20s said.

“Today we’re celebrating what they did.”




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