Following last week’s deadly terror attack against the Paris Offices of Charles Hebdo by the Kouachi brothers which left 12 dead, including 10 employees of the satirical magazine company and 2 police officers (click here if you missed the report). Also, in a separate but connected attack, a policewoman was killed, and four hostages held by the terrorist, Amedy Coulibaly who held them hostage.
World leaders however joined at least 3.7 million protesters according to CNN in an emotional yet peaceful march on Sunday to protest the deadly killings of 17 people by Islamic extremists. Among the leaders present to join host, French President Francois Hollande were were David Cameron of Britain, Angela Merkel of Germany and Benjamin Nethayahu of Israel, just to mention a few. Also in the frontline was former French President Nicolas Sarkozy.
The march began at Place de Republique from the eastern side of Paris and ended in Place de Nation on the west part, effectively traversing the city to give a high profile of a protest in unison against the massacre. The protesters also carried banners defending free speech.
However, the noticeable absence of U.S. top officials from the Paris unity rally has generated a lot of criticisms on President Obama’s government, as over 40 heads of state reportedly came together in Paris to denounce this shocking wave of terrorism that defiled the City of Light famed for its shopping and beautiful landmarks last week.
The United State was further criticized because the country has always being a representative of a nation that stands as the symbolic face of the war on terror, and having the President, Vice-President or Secretary of State as no-shows was simply unjustifiable based on comments from the general public.
