World press in the aftermath of Paris terrorist attacks Paris (January 11, 2015)"Three days that changed three lives and all of France" is an article which appeared in the Washington Post. "They [terrorist attacks] left behind a traumatized capital city, and a nation grappling with how to match its revolutionary 18th-century ideals — liberty, equality and fraternity — to messy and fractious 21st-century debates over the limits of free expression, the rights of religious minorities and the poisons of extremist ideology. At their core, the attacks were a wake-up call, bringing France face to face with the dangerous currents of radical thought swirling among a susceptible minority of young Muslims who live as outsiders in their own society," the article reads.Another article on the subject appeared in the New York Times under the title "After Terrorist Attacks, Many French Muslims Wonder: What Now?" "Since the attack Wednesday on the offices of the satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo, several mosques across France have been hit by bullets or small explosive devices. Many more have been tagged by racist graffiti," the article reads. "The bloodletting in and around Paris that left 17 victims dead — including at a Jewish supermarket — has heightened concerns that the country teeters at a tipping point and that there could be a far more open, and potentially more violent, confrontation with its Muslim communities." "Amid the rising suspicions and animus, and louder calls from the French right for stricter measures against Muslim radicals and immigration in the wake of the attacks, a broader question is emerging as to how France can close the breach. For the time being, the answer may be a retreat to the corners by the mainstream Muslim community, even as prominent voices urge moderation from extremist imams and disenfranchised Muslim youth," the author of the article, Liz Alderman, believes. "France has long had a tense relationship with parts of its Muslim community, rooted in decades of conflict over French rule in Algeria and capped by an insurgency and a raft of Algerian terrorist attacks in France in the 1990s. The situation is especially acute in the banlieues, the disadvantaged suburbs that ring Paris and other large French cities, and are populated mostly by Muslims and people with Arab or sub-Saharan family roots. In 2005 and 2007, violent riots broke out amid rising frustrations over social and economic inequality.""Charlie Hebdo: Paris attack brothers' campaign of terror can be traced back to Algeria in 1954" is another article on the subject published in the British newspaper the Independent. It has recently been established that the Kouachi brothers who attacked the Charlie Hebdo headquarters were from Algeria. "Algeria remains the most painful wound within the body politic of the Republic – save, perhaps, for its continuing self-examination of Nazi occupation – and provides a fearful context for every act of Arab violence against France. The six-year Algerian war for independence, in which perhaps a million and a half Arab Muslims and many thousands of French men and women died, remains an unending and unresolved agony for both peoples," the author of the article writes. He calls on international media not to forget French-Algerian relations in discussing the recent tragedy in France.
"Why We Must Resist Simple Explanations of the ‘Charlie Hebdo’ Massacre" is another article calling for a more nuanced view of the recent events in Paris. It was published in The Nation. "To make sense of the senseless, we tell ourselves stories. The story is that this is the latest salvo in an ongoing clash of civilizations between Islam and the West. The story is that the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo was the last bastion of free thought in a cowed press, a press that has bowed to political correctness and is now too afraid to criticize Islam. The story is that Muslim leaders remain silent about this atrocity. The story is that France has failed to integrate its Muslim citizens, descendants of immigrants from its former colonies. The story is that France has sent troops to fight in Muslim countries. The story is that there are double standards. None of these stories will do, at least not for me," the author of the article Laila Lalami writes. Unwrapping all complex narratives in the story, Lalami concludes: "We must accept that the right to offense is a fundamental part of free speech. But we must also accept that we have to take responsibility for each other. We must speak out against racism, sexism and bigotry in all its forms. Let us use reason, but let us use our hearts too."
"Three days that changed three lives and all of France" is an article which appeared in the Washington Post. "They [terrorist attacks] left behind a traumatized capital city, and a nation grappling with how to match its revolutionary 18th-century ideals — liberty, equality and fraternity — to messy and fractious 21st-century debates over the limits of free expression, the rights of religious minorities and the poisons of extremist ideology. At their core, the attacks were a wake-up call, bringing France face to face with the dangerous currents of radical thought swirling among a susceptible minority of young Muslims who live as outsiders in their own society," the article reads.
Another article on the subject appeared in the New York Times under the title "After Terrorist Attacks, Many French Muslims Wonder: What Now?" "Since the attack Wednesday on the offices of the satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo, several mosques across France have been hit by bullets or small explosive devices. Many more have been tagged by racist graffiti," the article reads. "The bloodletting in and around Paris that left 17 victims dead — including at a Jewish supermarket — has heightened concerns that the country teeters at a tipping point and that there could be a far more open, and potentially more violent, confrontation with its Muslim communities." "Amid the rising suspicions and animus, and louder calls from the French right for stricter measures against Muslim radicals and immigration in the wake of the attacks, a broader question is emerging as to how France can close the breach. For the time being, the answer may be a retreat to the corners by the mainstream Muslim community, even as prominent voices urge moderation from extremist imams and disenfranchised Muslim youth," the author of the article, Liz Alderman, believes. "France has long had a tense relationship with parts of its Muslim community, rooted in decades of conflict over French rule in Algeria and capped by an insurgency and a raft of Algerian terrorist attacks in France in the 1990s. The situation is especially acute in the banlieues, the disadvantaged suburbs that ring Paris and other large French cities, and are populated mostly by Muslims and people with Arab or sub-Saharan family roots. In 2005 and 2007, violent riots broke out amid rising frustrations over social and economic inequality."
"Charlie Hebdo: Paris attack brothers' campaign of terror can be traced back to Algeria in 1954" is another article on the subject published in the British newspaper the Independent. It has recently been established that the Kouachi brothers who attacked the Charlie Hebdo headquarters were from Algeria. "Algeria remains the most painful wound within the body politic of the Republic – save, perhaps, for its continuing self-examination of Nazi occupation – and provides a fearful context for every act of Arab violence against France. The six-year Algerian war for independence, in which perhaps a million and a half Arab Muslims and many thousands of French men and women died, remains an unending and unresolved agony for both peoples," the author of the article writes. He calls on international media not to forget French-Algerian relations in discussing the recent tragedy in France.
"Why We Must Resist Simple Explanations of the ‘Charlie Hebdo’ Massacre" is another article calling for a more nuanced view of the recent events in Paris. It was published in The Nation. "To make sense of the senseless, we tell ourselves stories. The story is that this is the latest salvo in an ongoing clash of civilizations between Islam and the West. The story is that the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo was the last bastion of free thought in a cowed press, a press that has bowed to political correctness and is now too afraid to criticize Islam. The story is that Muslim leaders remain silent about this atrocity. The story is that France has failed to integrate its Muslim citizens, descendants of immigrants from its former colonies. The story is that France has sent troops to fight in Muslim countries. The story is that there are double standards. None of these stories will do, at least not for me," the author of the article Laila Lalami writes. Unwrapping all complex narratives in the story, Lalami concludes: "We must accept that the right to offense is a fundamental part of free speech. But we must also accept that we have to take responsibility for each other. We must speak out against racism, sexism and bigotry in all its forms. Let us use reason, but let us use our hearts too."
