TERRORISTS ATTACK PARIS

By Ioana Barbura, IXth C grade Coordinating teacher: Tamara Motorga; School: Samuil Vulcan National College     

It is a dull and rainyday in Paris. People are after their problems, knowing nothing about panic, fear, bloody fights and chases, as in thrillers, and terror hidden behind the peace of that morning.

       On the 7th of January 2015 a group of terrorists, belonging to the Islamic State and having as leaders the Cherif and Said Kouachi brothers, begins a terrorist attack on the Charlie Hebdo satirical magazine. They could no longer accept the offences and the caricatures of the Prophet Mohammed. Ten people and two police officers die in this attack. The France police and special forces troops try to reduce the number of  victims and to capture the terrorists.

       On the 8th of January, a policewoman is shot deadly and panic grows on the streets of Paris. People are terrified and many of them are worried for the persons they care for and are under the ruthless guns of the terrorists.

       The last day of the attacks brings with the disclosures of the survivors who escaped.

In Dammartin-en-Goele, Lilian Lepere, a young man of 26, stays hidden in a small and narrow closet for 8 hours and a half because the Kouachi brothers are hiding inside. He confesses he lived moments of great fear because he could not move not to be heard.

       Another attack happens in a Kosher grocery store. An old man of 67, says: „I was behind the grocery store when I heard a powerful explosion”. He says he knew it was about taking hostages because he recognized the sound of a Kalasnikov. He tries to hide in a freezer, but he has to join the other group of people and climb the stairs. Taking their telephones and killing hostages are part of the terrorist plan.

       The terrorist group has a good strategy because the attack over the print store and the Kosher grocery store happens on the same day, almost at the same time. The police and French special forces troops have to react quickly to reduce the damage and the number of victims.

The cloud of terror spreading over Paris, is dispelled away once the terrorists are killed.

       On the 11th of January, about 3,7 million of people march in anti-terrorism railles. Even if everything is over now, this attack has left a deep and painthful wound in the souls of the people. These three days are kept in the history of France.

       It is to be mentioned the fact that in 2011, the magazine’s offices were destroyed by a gasoline bomb.

       Jurnalists should be more careful when they satirise or offence people or religions. But, the freedom of the press should never be fenced.

       Unfortunately, there is a possibility that the terrorist attacks of the Islamic State may not stop here. Europe may be in danger. These attacks are the result of history, colonization and of the fact that some magazines transpass the borders of satire.

Even a site of the Romanian Orthodox Church is the target of some hackers, belonging to the group named „FallaGa Team, TUNISIAN CYBER RESISTANCE”. They condemn both the fact that the French forces killed many innocent civilians in Algeria and Tunisia and the attacks of the satirical magazine against the Prophet Mohammed.

        Quran, their holy Bible, contains around 109 verses in which Muslims are called to fight against those who do not obey the Islamic rules. Those who do not want to join this fight, are called „hypocrites”. So, terrorists prove that any country, including Romania, can be the aim of their attacks.