Reactions to paris

On the night of 13 November 2015, Paris suffered a series of terror attacks. In reaction to those events, many individuals, governments, and other organisations around the world expressed their solidarity with France and with the victims. Many world leaders issued statements, mostly strongly condemning the attacks and vowing to stand by and support France. Public vigils took place in many international cities, and a number of world landmarks were illuminated in the colours of the French flag. Members of the public expressed their solidarity through social media by sharing images, notably the "Peace for Paris" symbol, designed by the French graphic designer Jean Jullien, and through the slogans, "Pray for Paris" and "Je suis Paris" (itself a reference to the phrase "Je suis Charlie", which was shared widely in the aftermath of the Charlie Hebdo shootings in Paris on 7 January 2015). Popular reactions- Vigils and memorials: French foreign exchange students gathered in Union Square in New York City where they lit candles and sang "La Marseillaise". Vigils took place in Sydney, Montreal, London, New York City, Glasgow, and Manila among others. On 14 November, German pianist Davide Martello towed his grand piano by bike to the Bataclan theatre, where a reported 80 people had died in the attack. There, he played John Lennon's "Imagine" to a crowd gathered outside in tribute to the victims. Martello is known for travelling around conflict zones to play the piano and previously performed at the sites of the Charlie Hebdo attacks. At the 800th annual Lord Mayor's Show in London, a two-minute silence was held with flags at half-mast while fireworks were cancelled. At the City Hall of Athens, the flags of France, Greece, and the European Union were at half-mast to mourn for the victims. The Christmas decorations of Athens have been left unlit. Many European countries held a minute's silence on 16 November at 12 p.m. Central European Time to show a sign of respect and solidarity to those who lost their lives in the attacks. In the UK, all public places and many government offices and officials were to have both UK and French flags flown at half mast as a sign of respect. On 17 November, England played France at Wembley Stadium, London with fans of both teams uniting to sing the French national anthem, "La Marseillaise", before a minutes silence. On the first weekend of English Premier League matches since the attack, "La Marseillaise" was played before every game. French football club Paris Saint-Germain was granted permission to wear the message 'Je suis Paris' on the team's jersey for two matches. A number of residents of the Syrian city of Damascus, caught in fierce fighting between the Syrian government, ISIS and Western air strikes wrote an open letter stating, "We extend our hands to all the people that love peace and freedom, most of all the French people." Social media: In the hours after the attack, some Parisians used social media, in particular the Twitter hashtag #PorteOuverte (French for "#OpenDoor"), to offer overnight shelter to strangers stranded by the attacks. The hashtag trended worldwide. A modified version of the International Peace Symbol by London-based French graphic designer Jean Jullien, in which the centre fork was modified to resemble the Eiffel Tower, was also widely spread. The symbol was widely shared with the hashtags #PeaceForParis, #PrayForParis, #PrayForFrance and #JeSuisParis. Facebook reintroduced its safety check-in system so users in Paris could notify friends and family that they were safe. Facebook also encouraged users to temporarily overlay a transparent image of the French flag to "support France and the people of Paris". In the wake of the attack, phrases such as "Je Suis Paris" and "We are all Parisians" appeared on news broadcasts and social media websites worldwide to show solidarity with the victims. This was similar to the reactions after the January 2015 Charlie Hebdo shooting with the phrase "Je Suis Charlie" and reflects the historic phrases ich bin ein Berliner in the 1961 Berlin crisis and the phrase "Tonight, we are all Americans" spoken on air by France 2 reporter Nicole Bacharan after the September 11 attacks. The French embassies and institutions used the hashtag #NousSommesUnis (French We are united). The slogan #PrayforParis has been object to critical discussion due to its religious and imperative character. The Dalai Lama said "Humans created this problem and humans must solve it". The French Artist Joann Sfar suggested to use the hashtag #ParisIsAboutLife instead. Some ISIL supporters used the hashtag #باريس_تشتعل (Paris burns, Paris is burning or Paris is on fire), the same hashtag that appeared in the January 2015 attacks on Charlie Hebdo's office and a Paris grocery store. In response, social media users urged saturation with #Parisburns, re-purposing the hashtag as support for the victims and Paris. Muslims also rebuked the attacks by using the hashtag #NotInMyName and #MuslimsAreNotTerrorist, the former of which had been utilized by Muslims in the past to condemn ISIS actions. Following the attack, a Facebook campaign was created with the goal of getting Eagles of Death Metal's cover of the Duran Duran song "Save a Prayer" to number one on the UK Singles Chart. The song ultimately peaked at number 53 for the chart dated the week after the attack. Google attached a black ribbon to the bottom of their page "in memory of the victims of the Paris attacks". Skype and other websites have allowed users to make free calls to France to allow users to connect and communicate with loved ones or relatives/friends to ensure their safety. Other reactions: NBC's Saturday Night Live opted not to open the show with a comedic cold open as it usually does; instead, cast member Cecily Strong addressed the City of Paris in English on behalf of New York City, which was followed by a French translation of her comments. After saying the show's opening line, SNL returned to its usual format. The show has only removed its usual cold open after two other occasions—the September 11 attacks in 2001 and the Sandy Hook shooting in 2012. In the days following the attacks, the French news and entertainment show Le Petit Journal sent its reporters on to the streets of Paris to document the public's reactions. Their reporter Martin Weill recorded an interview with a six-year-old boy named Brandon, who, when asked if he understood why the attackers had done what they had done, responded: "Yes, because they're really, really mean. Bad guys are not very nice. And we have to be really careful because we have to change houses. Videos of the interview went viral in both the French- and English-speaking world. The hacktivist group Anonymous declared "war" on ISIL in its largest operation to date, and by the second day claimed to have taken down 3,824 pro-ISIL Twitter accounts and doxxed multiple recruiters. Negative reactions: At a football match against Greece, some Turkish supporters booed during a minute of silence in commemoration of the attacks, and a section reportedly shouted "Allahu akhbar", an incident echoing what had previously happened during a minute of silence for the victims of the October Ankara bombings, in which minority Alevis and Kurds made up the majority of the Ankara bombing victims. During a moment of silence in a match between Moldova and Azerbaijan, Azerbaijani soccer fans booed.