Charlie Hebdo attack

Witness History

BBC

History, Personal Journals, Society & Culture

4.4 • 1.6K Ratings

🗓️ 7 January 2024

⏱️ 10 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

On 7 January 2015, 12 people were shot dead at the offices of a satirical magazine in Paris, the capital of France.

The two gunmen had targeted Charlie Hebdo because it had published cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed.

Rachel Naylor speaks to Riss, a cartoonist who was shot in the shoulder.

Eye-witness accounts brought to life by archive. Witness History is for those fascinated by the past. We take you to the events that have shaped our world through the eyes of the people who were there. For nine minutes every day, we take you back in time and all over the world, to examine wars, coups, scientific discoveries, cultural moments and much more.

Recent episodes explore everything from football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.

(Photo: A mural of some of the victims of the attack, near the former office of Charlie Hebdo. Credit: Bertrand GUAY / AFP)

Transcript

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0:00.0	You're about to listen to a BBC podcast, but this is about something else you might enjoy.
0:05.4	My name's Katie Lecky and I'm an assistant commissioner for on demand music on BBC Sounds.
0:10.7	The BBC has an incredible musical heritage and culture and as a music lover, I love being part of that.
0:17.4	With music on sounds, we offer collections and mixes for everything, from workouts to
0:22.4	helping you nod off, boogie in your kitchen, or even just a moment of calm. And they're all
0:28.1	put together by people who know their stuff. So if you want some expertly curated music in your life,
0:34.9	check out BBC Sounds.
0:41.3	Hello. in your life. Check out BBC Sounds. Hello and welcome to the Witness Issue podcast from the BBC World Service with me, Rachel Naylor.
0:46.0	I'm taking you back 10 years to when two militant Islamists shot dead 12 people at a magazine in Paris.
0:52.2	It was the beginning of a wave of jihadist attacks across France.
0:55.8	I've been speaking to someone who was injured.
0:59.1	It's the morning of the 7th of January 2015 and were at the offices of the French satirical
1:03.9	magazine, Charlie Hebdo. We're midway through the weekly editorial meeting.
1:09.6	We started to discuss all the topics of the week.
1:13.2	Michel Wehlbeck had a book out, so we were discussing that.
1:18.0	And then we also started talking about young people leaving France to become jihadists in Syria.
1:24.8	And we were wondering, but what would push them to become jihadist?
1:30.6	And little did we know there were two behind the door about to come in.
1:36.6	That's the cartoonist Laurent, Rhys, Surousseau.
1:39.9	He's been working at Charlie Hebdo since 1992.
1:43.2	It's a magazine known for mocking religion, politics and culture.
1:46.8	He's seen it make plenty of enemies, especially amongst Islamist extremists,
	...

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