Je suis Charlie
[4] The statement was used as the hashtag #jesuischarlie and #iamcharlie[5] on Twitter,[6] as computer printed or hand-made placards and stickers, and displayed on mobile phones at vigils, and on many websites, particularly media sites.
[7] Je suis Charlie was adopted worldwide, was used in music, displayed in print and animated cartoons (including The Simpsons), and became the new name of a town square in France.
The cover features a cartoon of the Islamic prophet Muhammad shedding a tear while holding a Je suis Charlie sign, below the words "Tout est pardonné" ("All is forgiven").
[8] About one hour after the attack, an image of the slogan was posted to Twitter by Joachim Roncin [fr],[9] a French artist and music journalist for Stylist magazine.
[13] French media in particular noted its similarity to the phrase "Tonight, we are all Americans," ("Ce soir, nous sommes tous Américains") spoken on air by France 2 reporter Nicole Bacharan on the evening of 11 September 2001.
Sophie Kleeman of Mic wrote, "#JeSuisCharlie sends a clear message: Regardless of the threat of hatred or violence, journalists and non-journalists alike refuse to be silenced.
In his opinion, Policinski stated that instead of being successful at silencing anyone, these attempts at censorship and the Paris massacre have backfired and instead brought more awareness and support to freedom of speech.
"Ironically, such violence directed at journalists, authors and others is recognition that free expression and the marketplace of ideas—enshrined in the U.S. [Constitution] in the First Amendment—is a powerful weapon against tyranny", he wrote; "For more than 220 years, in the U.S., the 45 words of the First Amendment have defined the nation's core freedoms of religion, speech, press, assembly and petition.
[19][20][21] Le Monde reported that a fake bomb was left in the faculty lounge of a French high school containing the message: "Je ne suis pas Charlie".
[26] In a The New Yorker essay, Teju Cole objected to the claim that Charlie Hebdo cartoonists and writers were equal opportunity offenders; to him, the magazine, in recent years, had taken a turn "specifically for racist and Islamophobic provocations (...) featuring hook-nosed Arabs, bullet-ridden Korans, variations on the theme of sodomy, and mockery of the victims of a massacre".
[28] Glenn Greenwald accused supporters of Je Suis Charlie of either keeping silence about, or downright supporting, what he sees as free speech violations perpetrated by the French state in the year that followed the massacre, including the following events: the arrest of comedian Dieudonné M'bala M'bala for hate speech, and of further dozens of people for "acts insulting religious faiths, or for cheering the men who carried out the attacks"; the criminal conviction, by France's highest court, of pro-Palestinian protesters for having advocated a boycott of Israeli products at a supermarket; the shutting down of mosques and coffee shops; and France's use of "emergency powers", after the November 2015 Paris attacks, to ban a rally by environmental activists in protest to the 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference which was taking place in the French capital.
He has accused most Je Suis Charlie supporters of being, not true advocates of free speech rights, but anti-Muslim agitators who used the massacre at the magazine's headquarters as a "cynical weapon".
[30] Todd claims that the marches on 11 January 2015 to show solidarity with the Charlie Hebdo victims were not an expression of positive French values but of right-wing and anti-immigrant elements in France.
The biggest of such protests, says Todd, "had occurred in the country's most historically Catholic and reactionary regions", with the working class and children of immigrants being notably absent therefrom.
[7] The U.S. Embassy in Paris and the Association française pour le nommage Internet en coopération were among the people and organizations which changed their Twitter profile pictures to the Je suis Charlie placard.
[81] On 11 January, The Simpsons episode, "Bart's New Friend" featured Maggie holding a black banner reading Je suis Charlie in a manner similar to either Eugène Delacroix's Liberty Leading the People, or an iconic drawing by Emile Bayard of the character of Cosette from Victor Hugo's novel Les Misérables, made famous as a publicity image for the novel's musical adaptation.
")[85] At the show, stars including George and Amal Clooney, Kathy Bates, Helen Mirren, Diane Kruger, Joshua Jackson and William H. Macy, wore Je Suis Charlie on pins affixed to their clothes or handbags, held signs with the slogan or used the phrase in red carpet interviews.
[94] The day after the attack, Jean-Pierre Tallieu, mayor of the city of La Tremblade, a suburb of Royan, Charente-Maritime, named a public square "Je suis Charlie Place" to perpetuate the memory of the victims.
[103] By 12 January, eBay had more than 5,000 items on its site, including T-shirts, mugs, artwork, pins, posters, hats, phone cases, keychains and dogtags.
[108] After the Baga Massacre the hashtag #Jesuisnigeria was used to express support for Nigeria as well as point out the lack of media coverage of the event compared to the Charlie Hebdo shooting.
[114] On 18 January, thousands of Ukrainians marched in Kyiv and Odesa to commemorate the victims, holding signs reading Je Suis Volnovakha and Я Волноваха.
[115][116][117] French far-right activists, including Generation Identity and National Front MEP Jean-Marie Le Pen, adopted the slogan "Je suis Charlie Martel", in reference to the Frankish king who defeated an Islamic invasion in 732 AD.
[118] Roger Cukierman, president of CRIF, a Jewish umbrella organisation in France, spoke against supporters of the Charlie Hebdo attackers who were using the hashtag "#IamKouachi" on social media, which he called "an apology for murder.
[120] British Liberal Democrat MP David Ward, known for his opposition to Israel, tweeted "Je suis Palestinian" while watching the Republican marches, which together with other comments drew condemnation from his party leader, Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg.
[121] On 16 January 2015, protests against the continued creation of cartoons depicting Muhammad turned violent in several countries, including Algeria, Nigeria and Pakistan.
