Figuratively, Paris did become the capital of the world, as French President Francois Hollande proclaimed last Sunday when more than three million people gathered in a unity rally to stand up for the value of free speech after the recent terrorist killings at the Parisian satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo.
It is hard to think of a larger collection of individuals anywhere uniting for any cause on a single day. With the leaders of some 40 countries attending, including mutually hostile entities such as Israel and Palestine, the gathering in the French capital can said to have been international in character.
The event marked a refreshing turn in recent world events, especially since there appeared to be an absence of anger in the spirit and the mood of the people who were continually interviewed by international news channels.
However, it is hard to think that all those present were speaking up for free expression. Indeed, many of the international leaders who attended do not have free speech in their own domains. What is likely is that in its true sense the Paris rally was against terrorism. Some West Asian states (and others) that are authoritarian but have been victims of Islamist terrorism were present.
The French are proud of their hard secularism, which shuns all public manifestation of religion. It was, therefore, surprising to see President Hollande visit a synagogue in the company of Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu merely because some terrorists had holed up inside a Jewish departmental store.
