Ten years after the Charlie Hebdo attack, satire is under siege
Public support is waning for the right to offend
On the morning of January 7th 2015 two men, Chérif and Saïd Kouachi, stormed the offices of Charlie Hebdo, a French satirical newspaper. Armed with Kalashnikovs, the pair murdered 12 people, including eight editorial staff, in less than two minutes. The perpetrators, who were linked to al-Qaeda, did not pick Charlie Hebdo by chance. For years the irreverent newspaper had poked fun at religion, including Islam. It was the start of the worst-ever year of Islamist terrorist attacks in Paris, which killed nearly 150 people.
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This article appeared in the Culture section of the print edition under the headline “Je suis Charlie. Toujours?”
Culture January 11th 2025
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- Millennials and Gen Z are falling hard for stuffed animals
- Jimmy Lai’s trial is a headline-worthy example of injustice
- Are mystics kooks or valuable disrupters?
- Ten years after the Charlie Hebdo attack, satire is under siege
- Ovation inflation has spread from Broadway to London’s West End
From the January 11th 2025 edition
Discover stories from this section and more in the list of contents
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Ovation inflation has spread from Broadway to London’s West End
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A realist’s refreshing take on mysticism
Sex and Snow White: how Grimm should children’s books be?
The German authors suggest very, but today trends run the opposite way
Jimmy Lai’s trial is a headline-worthy example of injustice
A new biography aims to keep the public’s attention on the pro-democracy tycoon
Millennials and Gen Z are falling hard for stuffed animals
Plushies are cute, cuddly and costly
Why do rebels and revolutionaries love “Paradise Lost”?
John Milton’s epic poem has galvanised rabble-rousers for centuries