ISIS Charlie Hebdo Shooting Causes Uproar In Western Countries

The jihadist terrorist group, ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and Syria), caused another uproar in the Western world when, Jan. 7, two men who claimed to be with ISIS shot and killed ten journalists and two police officers in Paris, France.

ISIS claims the reasoning behind their attack was because the satirical newspaper, Charlie Hebdo, published a cartoon featuring a drawing of  the Islamic prophet, Muhammad. It is against Islamic practices to print an image of Muhammad’s face, and as a result, the cartoon caused a stir in the Muslim community of France. Charlie Hebdo is notorious for publishing articles that satirize Islam, Judaism and right-wing politics.
“We should recognize the values that we have in European countries of believing in democracy and free speech, freedom of expression,” said British Prime Minister David Cameron. “These are not sources of weakness against the terrorist threat, they are sources of strength.”
The attack stirred many safety concerns in France, but that did not stop 3.7 million people and various world leaders from marching in Paris in an anti-terrorism rally Jan. 11. Among those in the rally were Muslim citizens who held signs saying, “We are all Muslims” in reminder that they do not support the actions of the terrorists. Others held signs that said, “We are all French,” and “We are all cops.”
Police and investigators later found what they say could be a “hideout” for the attackers just outside of Paris, which contained money, automatic weapons, ISIS flags and detonators. The rentee of the apartment, Amedi Coulibaly, stayed from Jan. 4 to January 11 before being killed in an attack he initiated at a grocery store. Coulibaly had held four hostages Jan. 7, the same day as the Hebdo shooting, but was on his own, as his partner and co-conspirator Hayat Boumeddiene went on the run while the siege happened. Investigators cannot yet determine if Boumeddiene stayed in the apartment with Coulibaly. Boumeddiene has been reported seen on the borders of Turkey and Syria, but there has been no sign of her otherwise.
Coulibaly has also been seen in an ISIS video pledging his allegiance to the leader of the organization, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, also warning Western countries, “You attack the Caliph, you attack ISIS, we attack you. You can’t attack and not get back anything in return.” Authorities claim he also made several threatening phone calls about attacking French police.
So far there is no credible information on if the attackers on Hebdo and the grocery store were associated with al-Qaeda, but their proclamation in videos has linked them to ISIS.

“Many people have tended to think that Islamic terrorism wouldn’t exist without America,” Global Public Square host Fareed Zakaria said. “This is really a struggle between the civilized world and a band of extremists. Even if you take the U.S. out of it… the civilized world is up in arms.”