Demonstrators in Jerusalem pay homage to Charlie Hebdo victims
About 50 attendees - some who knew some of the victims personally - held two minutes of silence for victims of shooting attack that left 12 murdered.
By LAURA KELLYDemonstrators pay homage to Charlie Hebdo victims at the French Consulate in Jerusalem(photo credit: LAURA KELLY)
Dozens of Israelis, French, Americans and other demonstrators gathered at the French Consulate in Jerusalem Thursday night to pay homage to the victims of the deadly attack at the Charlie Hebdo offices the day before in Paris.About 50 attendees, some who knew some of the victims personally, held two minutes of silence for the victims of the shooting attack that left 12 murdered.The demonstrators brandished signs in French reading, "I am Charlie" and issues of the weekly publication in solidarity with a campaign in support of free speech following the attack.On Wednesday, gunmen stormed the journal's offices killing journalists, including its founder and its current editor-in-chief, and shouting "Allahu Akbar!" (God is Greatest). They then escaped in a black car, shouting, according to one witness, that they had "avenged the Prophet".Charlie Hebdo has published numerous cartoons ridiculing the Prophet Mohammad. Jihadists online repeatedly warned that the magazine would pay for its mockery.Two of the suspects in the attack were still at large on Thursday as French authorities pursued the brothers brothers Cherif and Said Kouachi, aged 32 and 34 in a massive manhunt.Late Wednesday, an 18-year-old man turned himself into police in as police carried out searches.France held a day of mourning for journalists and police officers shot dead by black-hooded gunmen using Kalashnikov assault rifles. French tricolor flags flew at half mast.Reuters contributed to this report.
