...the Socialist president of La Belle France, an economic bad joke for la Belle France but seemingly a foreign policy realist...
and leaders from Germany, Italia, Israel, Turkey, Britannia and the Paleostinian territories among others, moved on Sunday off from the central Place de la Republique ahead of a sea of French and other flags. Giant letters attached to a statue in the square spelt out the word
Pourquoi?(Why?) and small groups sang the La Marseillaise national anthem.
Vive la France!
German Chancellor Angela Merkel
...current chancellor of Germany. She was educated in East Germany when is was still run by commies, but in 1989 got involved with the growing democracy movement when the Berlin Wall fell. Merkel is sometimes referred to by Germans as
Mom...
, British Prime Minister
David Cameron... has stated that he is
certainly a big Thatcher fan, but I don't know whether that makes me a Thatcherite,which means he's not. Since he is
not deeply ideologicalhe lacks core principles and is easily led. He has been described as
certainly not a Pitt, Elder or Younger,but he does wear a nice suit so maybe he's Beau Brummel ...
and Italia Prime Minister Matteo Renzi were among 44 foreign leaders marching with Hollande. UN Secretary-General
the ephemeral Ban Ki-moon... of whom it can be said to his credit that he is not Kofi Annan...
, Israel's Benjamin Netanyahu -who earlier encouraged French Jews to emigrate to Israel- and Paleostinian President the ineffectual Mahmoud Abbas
... a graduate of the prestigious unaccredited Patrice Lumumba University in Moscow with a doctorate in Holocaust Denial...
were also present.
Immediately to Hollande's left, walked Merkel and to his right Malian President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita. La Belle France has provided troops to help fight Salafist tough guys there.
While there has been widespread solidarity with the victims, there have been dissenting voices. French social media have carried comments from those uneasy with the
Je suis Charlieslogan interpreted as freedom of expression at all cost. Others suggest there was hypocrisy in world leaders whose countries have repressive media laws attending the march.
Some 2,200 police and soldiers patrolled Gay Paree streets to protect marchers from would-be attackers, with police snipers on rooftops and plain-clothes detectives mingling with the crowd. City sewers were searched ahead of the vigil and underground train stations around the march route are due to be closed down.
The silent march - which may prove the largest seen in modern times through Gay Paree - reflected shock over the worst bully boy Islamist assault on a European city in nine years. For La Belle France, it raised questions of free speech, religion and security, and beyond French frontiers it exposed the vulnerability of states to urban attacks.
Gay Paree is today the capital of the world. Our entire country will rise up and show its best side,said Hollande in a statement.