defended the paper by saying, “that to be French is to defend the right to laugh, jest, mock and caricature.”
For the Jewish community, it’s obvious the terrorist picked the Hyper Cacher kosher supermarket because he was targeting Jews. The resulting murder of four Jewish shoppers was born out of hatred — pure and simple.
Attacks on French Jews are not rare. But the intersection of the attack on Charlie Hebdo with the assault on the kosher market is perplexing. In this rare instance, a violent attack on a newspaper was intertwined with an anti-Semitic-inspired assault on a Jewish grocery store. One attack was meant to restrict freedom of expression while the other was an affront to the freedom of religion.
Even while this trial may motivate France to debate secularism, rights and freedoms, it’s critical that one other significant lesson is not lost on anyone: that the main objective of terrorism is to suppress freedom, sow fear, intimidate and coerce the population — and even force policy and political change for governments.
The terrorists failed in their attempt to force Charlie Hebdo and the French public to capitulate. On the other hand, the Jewish family that sat at my table fled and now enjoy a peaceful life — away from the threat of anti-Semitism — in their new country. French society may remain defiant on the matter of free expression, but for the Jewish community, the daily incidence of violence and harassment is simply too much to bear.Avi Benlolo is a human rights activist.