Paris (AFP) – Hundreds of thousands of people joined by world leaders flooded Paris on Sunday in a historic show of defiance and solidarity against terrorism following this week’s Islamist attacks in the French capital.
As France mourned 17 victims of three days of bloodshed that included Jews and a Muslim police officer, the leaders of Israel and the Palestinian Authority were among those attending the mass rally.
Under blue skies, emotions were running high in the shell-shocked City of Light, with many of those gathering from all walks of life already in tears as they came together under the banner of freedom of speech and liberty.
The march is “a real sign of how strong France is. It shows that France is strong when she is united against these people,” said a consultant.
“I want to show that we’re not scared of the extremists. I want to defend freedom of expression,” said 70-year-old Jacqueline Saad-Rouana.
A woman with a sign reading “Je suis Charlie” shakes hands with a Muslim holding a sign re …
The families of those who died in the shootings that shook France to its core will be at the very front of the march, leading royalty and heads of state.
Security was beefed up, with police snipers stationed on rooftops and plain-clothes officers among the crowd in a city still reeling from the Islamist attacks which left 12 staff and policemen dead at the Charlie Hebdo satirical magazine and claimed four lives at a Jewish supermarket. A policewoman was also killed.
French Prime Minister Manuel Valls told a poignant rally on Saturday near where a gunman killed four hostages at the kosher store: “I have no doubt that millions of citizens will come to express their love of liberty, their love of fraternity.”
In a foretaste of the demonstration, more than 700,000 people poured onto the streets of cities across France on Saturday, many carrying banners reading “Je suis Charlie” (I am Charlie), the tribute to Charlie Hebdo that has been the global rallying point in the wake of the slaughter.