Michael Deibert on the boycott of the PEN award to Charlie Hebdo last spring.

I don’t think I had ever been ashamed to be a writer until that moment. It was a scandalous display born out of ignorance of the role of Charlie Hebdo, the function of satire, and the history of modern France as a whole. It was obvious from the nature of the letter that few, if any, of the signatories had probably ever read Charlie Hebdo before the attacks, and had instead formed their opinion on a handful of out-of-context cartoons culled from the publication’s 40 plus year history.

The authors seemed oblivious to the fact that satire’s function is to sting, not cause guffaws, and that

Dorian Lynskey dissects the puritanism of the murderers.

The Parisians who left home to have a meal, drink with friends, watch a football match or see Eagles of Death Metal headline the Bataclan never thought of themselves as marked for death. It’s likely that among those who lost their lives were some who found Charlie Hebdo’s cartoons of the Prophet offensive and opposed military intervention in Syria. That didn’t matter to the terrorists because simply by enjoying life in Paris they deserved to die.

By choosing those communal events in those lively, multiracial arrondissements, the terrorists turned pleasure itself into a crime. The Islamic State statement claiming responsibility for the attacks said that “hundreds of pagans had gathered in

John Kerry decided to throw Charlie Hebdo under the bus.

Secretary of State John Kerry suggested on Tuesday that there was a “rationale” for the assault on satirical French weekly Charlie Hebdo, unlike the more recent attacks in Paris.

“There’s something different about what happened from Charlie Hebdo, and I think everybody would feel that,” Kerry said in Paris, according to a transcript of his remarks. “There was a sort of particularized focus and perhaps even a legitimacy in terms of — not a legitimacy, but a rationale that you could attach yourself to somehow and say, OK, they’re really angry because of this and that.”

“This Friday was absolutely indiscriminate. It wasn’t to aggrieve one particular sense of

Charlie Hebdo has the most perfect cover this week.

Ils ont les armes.

On les emmerde, on a le champagne!

They have the guns.

Fuck them, we have the champagne!

… Read the rest

The BBC alerted me to the music photographer Emmanuel Wino who took snaps at the Eagles of Death Metal concert at the Bataclan before the massacre started.

Mr Wino says that before the attack, the theatre was full of smiles that should not be forgotten.

As a result, he decided to share pictures of the Eagles of Death Metal on his Facebook page.

Wino was among seven or eight photographers taking pictures of the concert.

He was in the bar next to an emergency exit when the shooting started, so he got out safely without even seeing the killers. At first he wanted to forget the whole thing, but then he changed his mind.

“I wanted to remember the

Kate Benyon-Tinker again:

A sea of flowers & candles outside La Belle Equipe & Sushi Maki. Sign reads “United & Strong”. #ParisAttacks

 … Read the rest

Via Kate Benyon-Tinker, Senior World Affairs Producer for BBC News, on Twitter:

Tributes outside Le Carillon & Le Petit Cambodge. The message on the ballon: “For you, we will live”. #ParisAttacks

… Read the rest

The names of some of the people killed in Paris are being shared on social media, the BBC reports.

• Djamila Houd, 41, originally from Dreux, west of Paris – “All the mothers of families share Djamila’s mother’s pain,” the local newspaper said (in French)
• Thomas Ayad, 34, from Amiens – he worked for Mercury Records, a division of Universal Music France, and was at the Bataclan with two colleagues. The amateur hockey club he played for said on its Facebook page it would hold a minute’s silence for him on Sunday.

Perhaps from Algerian backgrounds, perhaps Muslims themselves, eating in those haram restaurants or listening to that haram music.

• Universal Music France president Pascal Negre named the other two

Originally a comment by AJ Milne on In an area specially set aside for wheelchair users.

Disgusting, sure. Maybe the apex of it, in all of this, and that, that’s saying something. But then, if you’re already standing there, with a rifle, shooting into a crowd of unarmed, terrified, screaming people, who can only run away and are as likely to hurt each other in their panic as escape, I don’t imagine it’s much more of a leap to shoot at someone who can’t even run.

And I feel a little sick even having had to imagine that. This is no exaggeration.

I guess you have to think about the dehumanization that has preceded this. Read that rhetoric … Read the rest

The cartoonist Joann Sfar explained Paris in a series on Instagram. (I saw it, appropriately, via Salman Rushdie.)

https://instagram.com/p/-C9kLunZWH/

Paris est notre capitale. Nous aimons la musique, l’ivresse, la joie.

https://instagram.com/p/-C9moBnZWO/?taken-by=joannsfar

Depuis des siècles, des amoureux de la mort ont tenté de nous faire perdre le goût de vivre.

And one in English:

https://instagram.com/p/-C-NNrHZXh/?taken-by=joannsfar

Friends from the whole world, thank you for #prayforParis, but we don’t need more religion! Our faith goes to music! kisses! life! champagne and joy! #Paris is about life!

 

 … Read the rest

Right now in Piccadilly Gardens in Manchester. (I’ve been there. The window of my hotel room looked out on Piccadilly Gardens, and the Pennines beyond.)

… Read the rest

Here’s a disgusting new detail, from the Telegraph:

The Foriegn Office has confirmed that a British man was among those who died in the attack on the Bataclan venue.

Nick Alexander, 36, from London, was killed at the venue. He was shot in front of Helen Wilson, an American expat who herself was wounded in both legs.

In a statement his family said he was “everyone’s best friend” and died “doing the job he loved”.

“It is with huge sorrow that we can confirm that our beloved Nick lost his life at the Bataclan last night,” the statement said.

“Nick was not just our brother, son and uncle, he was everyone’s best friend – generous, funny and fiercely

Jon Henley at the Guardian reports from Paris:

François Molins told a news conference on Saturday that at least 129 people were killed and 352 more injured – including 90 critically – in the attacks on Friday night on the Stade de France, a city-centre concert hall and a series of packed cafes and bars.

Molins said three French nationals had been arrested in Belgium, where they all lived, in connection with the attacks, France’s deadliest since the second world war and the worst witnessed in Europe since the 2004 Madrid railway bombings.

…

Isis said it had dispatched eight jihadis – leaving open the possibility that one may still be on the run – wearing suicide bomb

Via CNN on Twitter:

CNN iReport ‏@cnnireport 4 minutes ago
“Peace is a universal message,” says French artist @jean_jullien after #ParisAttacks: http://cnn.it/1kVdfAB

India Today ‏@IndiaToday
#ParisAttacks: From Akshay Kumar to Alia Bhatt, B-Town celebs pray for the victims

http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/parisattacks-from-akshay-kumar-to-alia-bhatt-b-town-celebs-pray-for-the-victims/1/522910.html …

Via Twitter – Belfast City Hall:

 … Read the rest

4:37 The New York Times also reports 1oo killed at Le Bataclan, on its live update page.

A French police official says at least 100 people have been killed inside Bataclan, the live-music venue where attackers seized hostages Friday night, The Associated Press is reporting.

Reporters for The New York Times heard gunfire and explosions at the venue about 12:15 a.m., and then an explosion at 12:30. The sounds were apparently connected with a police assault.

They also have an eyewitness story from someone who escaped:

Jenny Watson was on the first floor of the Bataclan, a popular music venue, when gunmen opened fire on Friday night. She told France 24 what it was like when the deadly terror