Over a Million March for Unity in Paris

The City of Lights was a sea of organized humanity Sunday, January 11, 2015, as a mass of marchers estimated at more than a million people paraded in the name of unity. World leaders, along with a host of French politicians, were among the multitude in Paris. There were two parade routes, both under military and police protection.

The demonstration was in response to the Muslim terrorist attacks last week that killed 17. The events began on Wednesday, January 7, 2015, as the Charlie Hebdo magazine was the target of an attack that killed a dozen. In the search for the assailants that followed, two separate hostage crises ensued, with one being in a Jewish supermarket. Four additional lives were claimed in Friday’s tragic events at the Kosher Market in Paris, France on January 9, 2015. A French policewoman was shot and killed on Thursday.

In Sunday’s march, “Je Suis Charlie” (which translates “I am Charlie”) posters and French flags were seen everywhere. There have been some instances of French Muslims being retaliated against in light of Wednesday’s murders. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu suggested the proposal of France’s Jews fleeing to Israel for safety as a result of the hostage crisis that took place in the Jewish grocery store on Friday. Tensions in this country, which happens to be one of the United States’ closest allies in the war on terror, remain high.

Noticeably absent from Paris on Sunday was U.S. President Barack Obama, or any other high-ranking U.S. official. It was not known as of Sunday night what the official White House position was, or what reason might be given as to why the U.S. did not participate in Sunday’s rally. Secretary of State John Kerry had addressed the French people directly, in their native language, on Wednesday in the hours following the massacre at Charlie Hebdo. The French people received that he delivered his remarks in fluent French with overwhelming enthusiasm.

By: Reilly Bonner