Manifestation “Place de la République” Paris January 7 2015 New York, Jan 8, 12:22 AM 2015 Jointly published by Illyria Newspaper
Four cartoonists and the Editor-in-chief of the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo were killed in an attack after gunmen stormed their offices yesterday.
There is not a more exciting working place than a newspaper’s morning team conference. The terrorists who killed Charlie Hebdo’s cartoonists wanted to kill this temple of free speech.
This attack on free speech is an attack of freedom itself! In an age when Cultural Diplomacy is the key to the world’s problems, violence is being meted out brutally and often indiscriminately.
In this case, however, the journalists were specifically targeted and executed in cold blood.
The cartoonists Cabu, Charb, Wolinsky, Tignous, Honore and the journalist Maris, like hundreds of French journalists, were fighters for free speech. They stood against all compromises to preserve media freedom!
Should France put their journalists in an armored bunker! If France can do it, what is the answer for the thousands of journalists around the world? Who will protect them?
We cannot armor our editors; we cannot armor our editorial offices; but we can practice Cultural Diplomacy to build bridges between cultures for a mutual understanding. It is the only answer to violence.
Jointly published by Illyria Newspaper
Basic Info
The Editor-in-chief of the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, StephaneCharbonnier, who goes by the pen name, Charb, and four celebrated cartoonists, Cabu, Wolinsky, Tignous and Maris, were killed during a morning editorial meeting after gunmen stormed their offices.
This is not the first time the offices of the French satirical magazine were attacked. In 2011, the offices were attacked with a petrol bomb, a day after the publication named the Prophet Muhammad as its “Editor-in-chief” for its next issue.
The magazine’s editor, Stephane Charbonnier, said at the time that the incident was an attack against freedom itself and an act by “extremists” not representative of France’s Muslim population.