The 2015 France terror attack.
The 15th of November, 2015, it was a day that
shook the world. One that will be remembered for the brutality, ruthlessness
and cruelty displayed in the name of religion and revenge.
Responsibility for these atrocious attacks was claimed by
the Islamic state of Iraq and the Levant. These attacks are said to be in retaliation
for the French airstrikes in Syria and Iraq. In response, France declared a
state of emergency on the 15th and thorough boarder checks were announced.
The attack timeline:
21:20-the first suicide bombing
“The attacks were an act of war by ISIL, planned in Syria, organised in Belgium,
and perpetrated with French complicity.” -The President of France, François Hollande.
The aftermath of the attacks both in France and the response
from people around world was astounding. Around the world people were paying their
respects to those who lost their lives and those affected. In France memorials
in honour of the victims and their families were developed, the valued lives of
those lost were mourned and remembered by an entire world. A memorial was
initiated at the Bataclan Theatre, Place de la République became the central point of remembrance and grief
as had been the case after the Charlie Hebdo attacks (which you can read more
about below) The supporting and kind nature of the French and Parisian people towards each other flooded
France and could be seen around the world. #portesouvertes was a
hashtag meaning open doors; it was used to offer people shelter and a home if
they were too afraid to travel to their own home after the attacks. Many political
and religious figures attended the memorial service held at Notre Dame Catherdral.
France’s
government announced a 3 day national mourning period on the 14th of
November and on the 17th, Hollande assembled a special Congress of the French Parliment to address the attacks. The proposals made were to prolong
the state of emergency for three months, changes to be made in the French
constitution and an escalation of military attacks against the Islamic State of
Iraq and the Levant.
Internationally,
many heads of state, celebrities and political and religious figures as well as
the United Nations offered their respect and condolences to France and the
victims of the attacks. Entire countries showed their support by projecting the
French flag onto important monuments. 
Muslim
groups, imams, religious figures, heads of state, scholars and leaders condemned
the attacks, many even before the ISIL claimed responsibility.
by: Neeta Chavda
CHARLIE HEBDO
I’m sure that unless you have been living under a
rock for the last month or so you would have heard this name multiple times. If
you have in fact been living under a rock, this is what happened.
Charlie Hebdo is a satirical French magazine whose
offices were attacked on the 7th of January 2015 by two gunmen who
seemed to have done so because the magazine has had a long history of mocking
religions, particularly Islam and more specifically because of an issue in
which a controversial cartoon which depicted the Prophet Mohammed was reprinted
by the magazine in 2006. This attack claimed12 lives as well as another 5
people in the attacks which were sparked due to this event. An important
discussion has arisen from this attack and that is: how should satire be used
and at what point can we say that it is unacceptable or offensive and who
should decide this?
These questions are complex. So maybe the history
of satire can help us to come to some sort of conclusion. So here goes:
The earliest mention of satire seems to have been
from around 500 B.C. This was in the form of plays called Satyric Dramas which
involved men dressed as satyrs. These were mythological creatures with the
upper half of a man and the bottom half of a goat or horse. They were then used
in tragedies in Athenian dramas to relieve some of the seriousness of these
plays. They would often parody the tragedy.
One of the earliest satirist was Archelochus (7th
century BC) who wrote such a strong satire that not only the man who was the
victim of the satirist, but also his daughter hung themselves. In Elizabethan era
England satire was banned and those who used it could be burned like witches.
In 19th century France we see the development of
the type of satire we see most often today, political satire. In this era there
was a well-known political cartoonist Honoré Daumier who once portrayed French
King Louis Philippe as an engorged ruler excreting political favours.
In 1960 the satirical magazine Hara-Kiri was
started. It was a magazine which constantly aimed their satire at established
powers, be they political parties or institutions like the Church or the State.
They established a weekly version called Hara-Kiri Hebdo. It was however,
banned from publication in November 1970. It was banned following the magazine’s
publication after the death of Charles de Gaulle at his home in Colombey-les-Deux-Églises
which bore the headline: “Bal tragique à Colombey : 1 mort” which translates to
"Tragic ball in Colombey: 1 death”.
This title refers to a fire at a discothèque where
146 people were killed. The title suggests a comparison between Charles de
Gaulle’s death and this tragedy which resulted in the loss of many more people
and thus aims to downplay the seriousness of de Gaulle’s demise. The magazine
was permanently banned from sale by the government as they felt this was an
offence against the president which they could not allow. For this reason,
Charlie Hebdo was born. The Charlie refers to Charles de Gaulle and the Hebdo
to the fact that it is a weekly magazine as hebdomadal means weekly.
So I hoped that you can see by this rather long
history of satire that it has been used historically to bring down the power
and corrupt. However, we have seen that it is used more and more to mock the
minorities of our world. So how can we then prevent intolerance and bigotry in
satire is the question, right? Well, we can learn from history as we have seen
putting limits on the freedom of speech has had very negative results. So,
surely the answer is to use our freedom to speech to speak out against
intolerance and bigotry so that we can create a global community that refuse to
accept narrow-mindedness. Though remember that i am no expert and so don't take my word for it. So i encourage you to read as much as you can and come to your our conclusions.
By Katherine Davidson
The Umbrella Revolution
Never heard of it? Well, here’s your chance (and no it’s not a new trend
in umbrellas if that’s what you were thinking).
This is the name given to the recent pro-democracy demonstrations in Hong Kong .
Why the name? It comes from the protestors’ use of umbrellas to protect
themselves from pepper spray.
These demonstrations were started in September 2014 with the main aim of
gaining a greater degree of democracy by being able to elect the head of the Hong Kong government. Hang on, I thought Hong Kong is
part of China
Hong Kong became a British colony in 1841, the British were granted a 99-year lease of Hong Kong in 1898. The territory was returned to China China China
seems to have realised this as they have agreed that the head of Hong Kong can be elected by a universal vote by 1917.
That sounds better doesn’t it but, the problem is that even though the people
get to vote for the head they have no say in who stands and rather a Chinese
nomination committee chooses all those that will stand. Now that sounds a step
sideward doesn’t it? Thus, the recent protests.
By Katherine Davidson
