RUNNING HEAD: Charlie Hebdo Attack

Charlie Hebdo Attack Literature Review

Emma Diaz
University of Texas at El Paso
RWS 1302 Tuesday

Charlie Hebdo Attack

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Only just a few months ago, the killing of twelve individuals at the Charlie Hebdo
editorial in Paris, became a seriously controversial issue. The now known Kouachi
brothers arrived at the street where the Charlie Hebdo offices are located, and asked
maintenance staff in reception where the magazines offices were, before shooting dead
caretaker Frederic Boisseau. (Associated Press, 2015). As seen on the picture below, one
can see where the attackers where located at the time of the event.

Since the pressing event occurred, people in France and all around the world have
created their own opinions based on different sources provided provided by media. Some
individuals believe that the Charlie Hebdo magazine was only making use of their
freedom of speech, while other people think that the magazine went over their limit of
freedom and insulted a religious image. One cannot merely know who is right or wrong,
neither if the action taken by the attackers was fair or unfair, though one can investigate

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and become more knowledgeable of the different characteristics and perspectives of the
event. In order to better understand and examine the Charlie Hebdo attack one could
consider being informed with the responses to the following questions:
1. Was the Charlie Hebdos use of a religious image unethical?
2. What are the different perceptions regarding the Charlie Hebdo attack?
3. Could the Charlie Hebdo attack have been prevented from happening?
These questions could serve as an aid on becoming more knowledgeable about the event, which
eventually could help one in the process of making up ones own opinion based on different facts
discussed in the review of the previously mentioned questions.
Was the Charlie Hebdos use of a religious image unethical?
Since there are many different perspectives on the Charlie Hebdo attack, there is a huge
controversy on deciding if the use of the Prophet Muhammad image was ethical or unethical.
Therefore, one can only investigate about the two different sides that people take in the situation.
The individuals that stand on Charlie Hebdos side may believe that using the Prophet
Muhammads image is not considered appropriate. Agreeing with the idea of free thought stated
by Bill Maher, who said that all religions are stupid and dangerous-and we should insult them
(Werner, 2015). Some other individuals believe that people who have a great devotion for their
religion exaggerate, and consider any type of criticism as an attack. As Werner says, When
people believe they possess the absolute truth, everyone else is a danger. (Werner, 2015). Also,
according to Werner, the cause of violent attacks similar as Charlie Hebdo is not an aberration
of religion, but the predictable systemic outcome of absolutist Abrahamic religions. Which
could be a reason why some individuals believe that the reaction to Charlie Hebdos publication
should not have been as serious as it was, and also should not have gone to the limits of killing

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human beings. Other individuals believe that the content that Charlie Hebdo uses is just
humorous and should not offend anyone, for example as Moroccan Mayor Aboutaleb expressed,
If you dont like it here because some humorists you dont like are making a newspaper, may I
then say you can f---off. (Sim, 2015). According to these types of comments one can realize that
there are people who believe that publishing images as the ones publish in the Charlie Hebdo
magazine is only considered use of freedom of speech rather than the unethical use of a religious
image.
On the other side, there are some individuals such as Muslims, who saw the use of their
Prophet Muhammads image as inappropriate. One of the main reasons they believe that Charlie
Hebdo should not have used the image of their prophet is because none is allowed to have
images of their prophet. These individuals cast themselves as the moral guardians of their faith
and espouse a social idea where a singular interpretation of the religion dictates the course of
private and public life. (Elias, 2015) By the characteristics of the event, one can assume that the
attackers on Charlie Hebdo believed in the same idea of many Muslims who feel the need to
protect their religion. This idea of protecting and their religion is used among several groups
such as ISIS/Daish, Boko, Haram, and other al-Qaida groups. (Elias, 2015). Even if one does
not precisely know if the attackers were part of one of those groups, one can recognize that they
share the same ideologies, and those beliefs might have caused the discontent that produced the
Charlie Hebdo attack. Also, that same idea of not showing images of their prophet which is
called Salafism has motivated Saud Arabia to destroy valued pieces of Islamic heritage for
example, valued pieces of Islamic heritage such as artifacts associated with Muhammad, and
Muhammads wife Khadijas house. (Elias, 2015). That action informs people how strong the
influence of Muslims beliefs are in their communities, because they are making great changes to

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their heritage due to their devotion for their prophet. Although this idea has not always been so
strict to Muslims according to Elias, there are many fine examples of painted images of
Muhammad-many appear in lavishly illustrated biographies of him that date from medieval
times. (Elias, 2015). Even if one does not know the exact reason of Muslims being stricter with
their beliefs, one can identify that they are doing it because they believe that it is their
responsibility to protect their religion and ideologies of that religion. Elias also explains how the
majority of the Muslims who owned the few images of their Prophet were rich individuals which
may be the reason why Muslims nowadays are not used to seeing images of their prophet in
public, consequently making them have critical reactions when they happen to see those images.
What are the different perceptions regarding the Charlie Hebdo attack?
As soon as the scandalous event occurred, everyone around the world started making up
their own different opinions. People from different countries have diverse perspectives for both
the victims and the attackers. One can identify these different opinions by researching sources
that inform individuals about the issue. In an article from the International Business Times,
Shuan Sim informs the community about how people are reacting to the event in several parts of
the world. Beginning with France, there were grenades thrown into a Mosque in Le Mans, and a
prayer hall in Port-la- Nouvelle was shot (Sim, 2015). By looking at those types of behavior one
can assume that French people are unsatisfied with the action that the attackers took. Also,
Frances President Francois Hollande said that those terrorists, these fanatics have nothing to do
with Islam.(Muravchick, 2015). Moving on to Germany, Chancellor Angela Merkel reiterated
by stating that the attackers have nothing to do with Islam. (Muravchick, 2015). Analyzing
those two opinions one can recognize how those two different leaders do not blame all Muslims,
but only the ones who caused the murderous attack.

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Muravchick also explains how media in different countries describe the attackers of the
Charlie Hebdo attack, as an example the British press alerted against Islamophobes seizing this
atrocity to advance their hatred. (Muravchick, 2015). Shifting to the United States, in the New
York Times there was a statement made that said, This is no time for peddlers of xenophobia
to try to smear all Muslims with a terrorist brush. (Muravchick, 2015). By looking at both
British and U.S presses one can see how they differently depict the attackers, because the British
press declares that people against Islam will take advantage of the situation to increase their
discontent, and the New York Times states that one should not generalize and insult the whole
Muslim community. Also, in the United States an Islamic Cultural Center in Ohio was threatened
to be attacked by an unknown informant (Sim, 2015). A survey made at the University of Texas
at El Paso showed that 8 out of ten randomly selected students felt more sympathy for the
victims of the Charlie Hebdo attack. With those two pieces of information one can suppose that a
portion of the people in the United States also felt discontented because of the action that the
attackers took of killing the twelve individuals at the magazine offices.
Moving along to the U.K, a French-born Muslim who owns a coffee shop was threaten
because he placed a Je suis Charlie sign outside his shop (Sim, 2015). Showing one that more
people are in danger of being attacked due to them showing their opinions and ideas in public. In
Netherlands, Mayor Rotterdam Ahmed Aboutaleb said that if people didnt like to be there
because of the content of the magazine then they should leave. (Sim, 2015). By affirming that
statement he demonstrates the Netherlands people that he approves the images published in
Charlie Hebdo. Another country that has contributed to the mix of different perspectives is
China. An editorial in that country considered the terrorist attack as an example of why the
press needs boundaries (FlorCruz, 2015). Having analyzed all the different opinions from the

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many different countries around the world one can conclude that all the perceptions regarding the
Charlie Hebdo attack are very diverse. Even in one country there could be a part of the
community that takes one side and the other part takes the opposite side. For example, in a
certain country the opinions could be different going from political leaders, journalists, to
common people.
Could the Charlie Hebdo attack have been prevented from happening?
Some individuals may think that the Charlie Hebdo event could have been prevented
from happening, because there has been made some speculations that the French authorities
knew about the event before happening. French media have reported that Algerian secret
services warned Paris last Tuesday that a terrorist attack on their soil was imminent. (Doward,
2015). Even if one does not assuredly know if the authorities in Paris knew about the event
before happening, one can identify that type of information as a reason for people to believe that
it is true.
Another reason why people could believe that the attack was going to get there it is
because the suspect attackers already had a bad criminal background. For example, Cherif
Kouachi which is one of the suspects had a terrorism-related conviction in 200 for his ties to the
Buttes-Chaumont network. (Doward, 2015). And his brother Said, is known to have visited
Yemen where he is believed to have met the US-born cleric Anwar al-Awlaki, the senior al-Qaida
operative in Yemen. (Doward, 2015). By looking at the background of both suspects one could
suppose that they were two individuals involved in terrorism therefore being more vulnerable to
becoming suspects of the Charlie Hebdo attack, as Doward explains Given the Kuoachi
brothers extensive involvement in radical Islamist circles, it is unsurprising that both the French
and US spy agencies had classified them as very high priority terrorist suspects. Which could

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be a reason why some people believe that authorities should already have known or at least
expect an action from them.
Some other individuals believe that the French authorities may not have the best abilities
to confront the issue or other similar issues. For example, some security experts noted a factor
that plays a role in their inability of controlling those situations which is Security services are
drowning in data, overwhelmed by the quantity of people and emails they are expected to track,
and hampered by the inability to make pre-emptive arrests in democratic countries. (Associated
press, 2015). Those limitations could be the reason why French authorities could not act before
the event happened even if they had a suspicious idea from the Kuoachi brothers and the other
attacker. At the end one does not know accurately if they knew about the attack but having
analyzed the previous information one can identify that they did know some information from
the attackers.
Conclusion
Even if time has passed since the Charlie Hebdo editorial was attacked, the issue is still
being argued, because of the many effects it has caused to not only France but to the whole
world. It was a huge controversial issue and will probably remain equally debated, because of the
many different perspectives that people have. It caused horrible deaths, still ongoing threats,
censorships and other many effects. It also has caused many fears in France and all around the
world. It is difficult to decide if using a religious image is ethical or unethical, or if one should
feel more sympathy for the attackers or the victims, and lastly discover if the French authorities
actually knew about the event before happening. Until this day and maybe even later one may
not know the exact answers to the question analyzed in this literature review, but one can always
investigate and research about the issue in order to become more knowledgeable about the

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specific topic and maybe later create an opinion based on the many facts explained in the
reviewed questions. People are always going to have diverse perceptions and one must learn
from all the different opinions in order to be able to analyze the issue and see the many different
sides to it.

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Reference Page
Associated press. (2015, January 9). French PM acknowledges Failings in preventing attack.
The New York Times.
Retrieved from:www.nytimes.com/aponline/2015/01/09/world/europe/ap-eu-franceattack-missed-opportunities.html?_r=0

Associated Press. (2015, January 14). Charlie Hebdo attack: Three days of terror. BBC News.
Retrieved from: www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-30708237

Doward, J. (2015, January 10). Charlie Hebdo: could security services have prevented Paris
attacks?. The Guardians.
Retrieved from: www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jan/10/charliw-hebdo-securityservices-paris-attacks

Elias, J, J. (2015, January 23). Why theres opposition to images of Muhammad. The
Conversation.
Retrieved from: http://theconversation.com/why-theres-opposition-to-images-ofmuhammad-36402

FlorCruz, M. (2015, January12) Charlie Hebdo in China: Limited press freedom will prevent
similar attacks, state media says. International Business Time.
Retrieved from: www.ibtimes.com/charlie-hebdo-china-limited-press-freedom-willprevent-similar-attacks-state-media-1780304

Muravchick, J. (2015). Muslims and Terror: The Real Story. Commentary, p37-46.

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Retrieved from: 0-web.b.ebscohost.com.lib.utep.edu

Sim, S. (2015, January 14). Charlie Hebdo Reaction: Turkey, Russia, Egypt react to magazine
with Mosque shooting, free speech bans. International Business Times.
Retrieved from:www.ibtimes.com/charlie-hebdo-reaction-turkey-russia-egypt-reactmagazine-mosque-shootings-free-17836

Werner, M. (2015). When humanism is Attacked, Have Courage. Humanist, Vol.75 Issue 2, p2526
Retrieved from: 0-web.b.ebscohost.com.lib.utep.edu

[Paris attack map image]. Retrieved January 27, 2015, from: www.bbc.com/news/world-europe30708237