Remembering the 17 victims of the Paris attacks
The latest edition of French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo sold out before dawn on Wednesday as Al Qaeda in Yemen claimed responsibility for last week’s massacre at the left-wing publication.
France has tightened security since the horrific attacks that left a total of 20 people dead, including the three gunmen, deploying 10,000 troops to “sensitive sites” around the country as police continue to search for suspected accomplices of the attackers.
More from GlobalPost: #FreedomOfSpeech: What that means in the US, Britain and France
Amid growing tensions in France — and elsewhere in Europe — French police have arrested 54 people for hate speech, anti-Semitism and glorifying terrorism offenses.
Several mosques in France have been attacked since the shootings. Tensions are also running high in Germany where anti-Islam protests have drawn thousands of people, mainly in the eastern city of Dresden. A mosque under construction in the northwestern city of Dormagen was spraypainted with swastikas and racist slurs such as “off with you to the concentration camp.”
The attacks have triggered a national outpouring of emotion in France. Millions of people attended "unity" rallies across the country on Sunday. French Prime Minister Manuel Valls said Tuesday the marches were a "magnificent response," but added that France is at war with jihadism and terrorism, not Islam and Muslims.
In a video posted on YouTube on Wednesday, a senior member of Al Qaeda in Yemen said the group had ordered the attacks in “vengeance for the prophet.” Charlie Hebdo, which lampoons political leaders and world religions, has previously published caricatures of Prophet Muhammad.
Following the Jan. 7 shooting at their offices, the surviving employees of Charlie Hebdo had vowed to publish an edition this week, with a print run of three million compared with the normal circulation of 60,000.
People, even those who had never read the publication, lined up before dawn to buy a copy of the magazine, which features a drawing of the Prophet Muhammad on the cover.
More from GlobalPost: What will supporters think of Charlie Hebdo once they actually read it?
“I've never bought it before, it's not quite my political stripes, but it's important for me to buy it today and support freedom of expression," David Sullo, who was lining up at a kiosk in central Paris, was quoted as saying.
The latest edition of Charlie Hebdo was released a day after funerals for some of the victims were held. Three police officers killed in the attacks were post-humously awarded the Legion of Honor, France’s top honor, during a ceremony at police headquarters in Paris attended by French President Francois Hollande.
Four Jewish men killed at a kosher supermarket were buried in Jerusalem.
Here is a list of the 17 victims.
Stephane 'Charb' Charbonnier
The 47-year-old editor took the reins of the weekly satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo in 2009 and was unapologetic for the publication’s caricatures mocking everyone from the Prophet Muhammad to the Pope. Charbonnier, who had been living under police protection, was on Al Qaeda’s most-wanted list.
After the Paris offices of Charlie Hebdo were destroyed in a firebomb attack in 2011, Charbonnier remained defiant.
“If we can poke fun at everything in France, if we can talk about anything in France apart from Islam or the consequences of Islamism,” he said, “that is annoying.”
Jean 'Cabu' Cabut
The 76-year-old veteran cartoonist founded the Hara-Kiri magazine that was banned in 1970 — the forerunner to Charlie Hebdo — after serving in the French army during the Algerian war of independence. One of his most famous characters was an awkward-looking skinny blond adolescent called Le Grand Duduche.
French newspaper Le Monde said Cabu was “one of the giants of the genre.”
A photo posted by Corinne Purtill (@corinnepurtill) on
Georges Wolinski
The highly respected octogenarian cartoonist, known as “Wolin” among friends, contributed drawings to several French publications, including Charlie Hebdo, Le Nouvel Observateur, Journal du Dimanche and Paris Match. Tunisia-born Wolin, whose caricatures were known for being racy, received France’s highest honor, the Legion of Honor, in 2005.
On death, the twice-married father-of-two once said: "I want to be cremated. I told my wife: You will throw my ashes in the toilet, that way I will see your ass every day."
Bernard 'Tignous' Verlhac
The 57-year-old cartoonist was a prolific illustrator highly critical of market capitalism and the former French President Nicolas Sarkozy. Verlhac drew for Charlie Hebdo as well as other publications including Marianne, Telerama and Fluide Glacial. He leaves behind a wife and four children.
“The best cartoons give rise to laughter, thought and set off a certain kind of shame,” Verlhac was once quoted as saying.
Philippe Honore
The 73-year-old self-taught artist tackled a diverse range of subjects in his work, including foreign affairs, popular culture and sport. Honore, who was described as a “bearded giant” and was known for being gentle and kind, was a regular contributor to Charlie Hebdo. His depiction of Islamic State leader Abu Bakr Al Baghdadi wishing readers a happy new year was posted on Twitter shortly before the attack.
Bernard Maris
The 68-year-old Keynesian economist was a popular commentator on French television and radio and had a regular column in Charlie Hebdo called Uncle Bernard. He taught economics at the University of Paris 8 and was a member of the governing board of France’s central bank.
"Bernard Maris was a man of heart, of culture and of great tolerance,'' Bank of France President Christian Noyer said. "We will miss him very much."
Elsa Cayat
Elsa Cayat, psychiatrist, psychoanalyst and columnist for Charlie Hebdo, was the only woman among the magazine’s victims. The 54-year-old was the author of gender relations book “One Man + One Woman = What?”
Mustapha Ourrad
Self-taught Mustapha Ourrad, a proofreader at Charlie Hebdo, was born in Algeria and arrived in France when he was 20. Ourrad previously worked for French magazine Viva. Known for his learning and self-deprecation, Ourrad leaves behind a wife and children.
Frederic Boisseau
Frederic Boisseau, a 42-year-old maintenance worker, was in the lobby when gunmen burst into the Charlie Hebdo building. Boisseau, who was employed by Sodexo, was married and had two children aged 10 and 12.
Sodexo Chief Executive Michel Landel said in a statement: “All together, we share the feeling that it is intolerable that one of our colleagues lost his life in such tragic and unfair circumstances, in the name of a cause so contrary to our values.”
Michel Renaud
The former journalist for Le Figaro and Europe 1 was visiting Jean Cabut at Charlie Hebdo when the attack happened. Renaud was the founder of a travel writing festival in his home city of Clermont-Ferrand in central France and was catching up with Cabut, who had been the guest of honor at the previous festival. One of Renaud’s colleagues survived the shooting.
Clarissa Jean-Philippe
Clarissa Jean-Philippe, who was from the French Caribbean island of Martinique, was shot dead on Jan. 8, a day after the Charlie Hebdo massacre. The “lively and dynamic” trainee police officer, aged in her mid-twenties, was attending to a traffic accident near a Jewish school in Montrouge, Paris, when she was fatally shot in the back by Islamic fanatic Amedy Coulibaly. The school may have been Coulibaly’s intended target.
Franck Brinsolaro
Franck Brinsolaro, a police bodyguard, had been assigned to protect Charlie Hebdo editor Stephane Charbonnier after the offices of the magazine were firebombed. The 49-year-old father of two is said to have fired two shots before he was gunned down by the attackers.
His brother and fellow policeman Philippe Brinsolaro paid tribute: "We mustn't forget that what happened yesterday, whatever may happen next – a police officer, whenever it's needed, will put him or herself in harm's way when the security of the country is at stake. And today I want to pay tribute to all of my colleagues, to all those who get up every day to do a difficult job."
Ahmed Merabet
Ahmed Merabet, a 42-year-old Muslim police officer assigned to the 11th Arrondisement in Paris, inspired the hashtag #JeSuisAhmed after he was shot dead by one of the gunman as he lay injured on the ground. His execution-style death was caught on an amateur video, which was distributed widely.
“My brother was Muslim, and he was killed by fake Muslims,” Malek Merabet was quoted as saying.
Memorial to officer Ahmed Merabet at scene of his death on Blvd Richard Lenoir #globalpost
A photo posted by Corinne Purtill (@corinnepurtill) on
Yoav Hattab
Yoav Hattab, a 21-year-old student and son of a rabbi in Tunisia, was at the Hyper Cacher supermarket buying bread for his family’s Sabbath meal when he was shot and killed by Amedy Coulibaly.
Philippe Braham
Philippe Braham, a 45-year-old IT salesman, had popped into the Hyper Cacher supermarket to buy some items for his wife when the attack happened.
His wife was collecting their children from a Jewish school nearby where trainee police officer Clarissa Jean-Philippe was killed.
Yohan Cohen
The 22-year-old economics student was working at the Hyper Cacher supermarket. Cohen lived with his mother, who is originally from Tunisia, in the suburb of Sarcelles.
Francois-Michel Saada
Tunisia-born Francois-Michel Saada, 63, was a retired executive who had been married for more than 30 years and had two children, Jonathan and Emilie, both of whom live in Israel.
Every day, reporters and producers at The World are hard at work bringing you human-centered news from across the globe. But we can’t do it without you. We need your support to ensure we can continue this work for another year.
Make a gift today, and you’ll help us unlock a matching gift of $67,000!