Good read

There is a popular narrative, they are reacting to disrespectful cartoons,
and an alternative one saying, its the blowback response to colonialism.

http://ericmargolis.com/2015/01/murder-in-paris/

Thanks Ed

MURDER IN PARIS

Have the long-feared lone wolf attacks, possibly threatened by al Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, begun? The twin massacres in Paris suggest that the Mideast’s mayhem and mass killings are again spilling over into Europe.
 
Paris remains in chaos. Its Peripherique ring highway is still closed, producing traffic madness across the capitol. Some 60,000 troops and police saturated Paris. As I write, there are reports of a new attack in Montpelier, in southern France.
 
I visited the Paris office of the French satirical magazine, “Charlie Hebdo,” while on tour for my last book. It was located on a non-descript street of the non-chic 11th arrondisement, a popular venue for youthful Parisians.

“Charlie’s” brilliant cartoonists were rapier sharp and merciless. They went looking for controversy and notoriety –and found it. Previous death threats and a past fire-bomb attack culminated on Wednesday in a commando-style assault by two masked men with AK-47’s, crying out “Charlie is dead!” Indeed, eight or more of its staff, a visitor, and two police guards were killed and others wounded.

The Muslim world and its leaders were special targets for “Charlie.” The magazine had a modest circulation. Like a right-wing Danish newspaper in recent years, the left-leaning “Charlie” provoked outrage and fury across the Muslim world.

READ MORE: http://ericmargolis.com/2015/01/murder-in-paris/