Aujourd'hui, Nous Sommes
11/01/15
Today, in Paris, millions of citizens from all faiths and countries, in the words of French Prime Minister Manuel Valls, 'will come to express their love of liberty, their love of fraternity' to honour the 17 people killed last week in attacks on the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, a kosher supermarket and the gendarmerie.
We hope with all our heart that the march in Paris, in defiance of terrorism, will be entirely peaceful and restore the feeling that the overwhelming majority of people in the world can live in unity, without condemnation of another's faith, gender or sexual identity.
We know at Bablake that in a community with such a rich mixture of faiths and cultural experiences that, in accordance with our status as an International Cross of Nails school, peace and reconciliation are very viable. If only broader society would learn from not only the smaller communities living in peace, but also the errors made in atrocities throughout history.
The horrors that swept through Paris especially this week have brought direct commentary from a number of distinguished former pupils. Dr Qanta Ahmed, the eminent medic, has been interviewed widely on US news channels. She was been quick to condemn extremism and affirm the abhorrence among Muslims worldwide towards the terrorism in Paris.
BBC News presenter Martine Croxall has been praised once again for her professional, objective and sensitive reporting on the breaking news, while illustrator Alex T Smith's poignant sketch, accompanying this article, has been one of many drawings from across the world that have shown solidarity towards the cartoonists from Charlie Hebdo that lost their lives.
One former pupil though, former Wheatleyan editor Katie Carlson, who is spending a gap year in France before taking a place at University College, Oxford to read English, has been an eye-witness in the streets of Paris and attended the first gathering of solidarity at the Place de la Republique, Republic Square, on Wednesday night. An aspiring journalist herself, she has blogged two outstanding reports from the beautiful city.
Katie saw the best and the worst of the press in Paris on the night of the shootings as the world media sought an angle to report and her account of that day is mature, gripping and a brilliant social commentary. She has also written excellently since about a Paris 'under lockdown'. (To read her account, please click here.)
It may not be our place to judge the appropriate limits for satire, but many assert journalism is not a weapon of war and that one of the privileges of democracy is, within, vitally, the realms of legality, freedom of speech. Indeed, many have turned to Evelyn Beatrice Hall, who under the pseudonym S. G. Tallentyre, in her biography of French writer Voltaire ('The Friends of Voltaire') voiced these words through the author: 'I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.'
Today, #NousSommesAhmed, #NousSommesJuif, #NousSommesTousCharlie'... as we will be tomorrow and beyond.
Footnote
This commentary was written by Mr Mark Woodward, Head of Careers.
We hope with all our heart that the march in Paris, in defiance of terrorism, will be entirely peaceful and restore the feeling that the overwhelming majority of people in the world can live in unity, without condemnation of another's faith, gender or sexual identity.
We know at Bablake that in a community with such a rich mixture of faiths and cultural experiences that, in accordance with our status as an International Cross of Nails school, peace and reconciliation are very viable. If only broader society would learn from not only the smaller communities living in peace, but also the errors made in atrocities throughout history.
The horrors that swept through Paris especially this week have brought direct commentary from a number of distinguished former pupils. Dr Qanta Ahmed, the eminent medic, has been interviewed widely on US news channels. She was been quick to condemn extremism and affirm the abhorrence among Muslims worldwide towards the terrorism in Paris.
BBC News presenter Martine Croxall has been praised once again for her professional, objective and sensitive reporting on the breaking news, while illustrator Alex T Smith's poignant sketch, accompanying this article, has been one of many drawings from across the world that have shown solidarity towards the cartoonists from Charlie Hebdo that lost their lives.
One former pupil though, former Wheatleyan editor Katie Carlson, who is spending a gap year in France before taking a place at University College, Oxford to read English, has been an eye-witness in the streets of Paris and attended the first gathering of solidarity at the Place de la Republique, Republic Square, on Wednesday night. An aspiring journalist herself, she has blogged two outstanding reports from the beautiful city.
Katie saw the best and the worst of the press in Paris on the night of the shootings as the world media sought an angle to report and her account of that day is mature, gripping and a brilliant social commentary. She has also written excellently since about a Paris 'under lockdown'. (To read her account, please click here.)
It may not be our place to judge the appropriate limits for satire, but many assert journalism is not a weapon of war and that one of the privileges of democracy is, within, vitally, the realms of legality, freedom of speech. Indeed, many have turned to Evelyn Beatrice Hall, who under the pseudonym S. G. Tallentyre, in her biography of French writer Voltaire ('The Friends of Voltaire') voiced these words through the author: 'I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.'
Today, #NousSommesAhmed, #NousSommesJuif, #NousSommesTousCharlie'... as we will be tomorrow and beyond.
Footnote
This commentary was written by Mr Mark Woodward, Head of Careers.
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