“An extraordinary chain of 1.5 million people, led by a group of world leaders linking arms, marched down the Boulevard Voltaire in a show of force Sunday meant to illustrate the power of unity and freedom of expression over the sting of fanaticism and terror.
After a barrage of violence that traumatized the nation and left 17 victims dead, the boulevards of Paris produced a striking counterimage: French President François Hollande, arm in arm with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and flanked by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, and a host of European and African leaders.
An estimated 4 million people nationwide — more than a third of them in Paris — mobilized, with sister demonstrations of support erupting from the West Bank to Sydney to Washington. “Paris is the capital of the world today,” Hollande said.”* The Young Turks hosts Cenk Uygur breaks it down.