#JeSuisJuif Hashtag Spreads After Paris Terror
Graphic by Angelie Zaslavsky
(JTA) — In the wake of Wednesday’s deadly attack on the offices of the Charlie Hebdo newspaper, the hashtag #JeSuisCharlie (“I Am Charlie”) swept the internet in solidarity with the victims. Then came #JeSuisAhmed, to honor Ahmed Merabet, the Muslim police officer murdered during the Charlie Hebdo attacks, and who has become a symbol of inclusion and respect for non-Islamist Muslims.
Now, after today’s attack on the Hyper Cacher kosher supermarket in eastern Paris has come #JeSuisjJuif, to show solidarity with the beleaguered Jews of France. Here are a few examples
According to an analytics graph posted by hashtags.org, the tweet took off around 7 a.m. Eastern time, and peaked at around 9 a.m., with just under 4,000 tweets per hour. According to topsy.com, #JeSuisJuif has been tweeted more than 20,000 times.
However, it isn’t entirely clear that it’s making the same impact as some of the other solidarity hashtags. For one thing, it’s numbers remain miniscule to #JeSuisCharlie, which, two days after the original attack, and far below its peak, still posted some 676,000 tweets in 24 hours, according to topsy.com. More significantly, as the Jerusalem Post noted, while some of the tweets have been by non-Jews, a significant majority seem to be tweeted by Jews, making it more an emblem of Jewish pride than a display of ecumenical solidarity.
Some of the tweets also took on a notably defensive, or even combative, tone.
Still, others worked to maintain a sentiment of unity.
This is a moment of great uncertainty. Here’s what you can do about it.
We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news. All donations are still being matched by the Forward Board - up to $100,000 until April 24.
This is a moment of great uncertainty for the news media, for the Jewish people, and for our sacred democracy. It is a time of confusion and declining trust in public institutions. An era in which we need humans to report facts, conduct investigations that hold power to account, tell stories that matter and share honest discourse on all that divides us.
With no paywall or subscriptions, the Forward is entirely supported by readers like you. Every dollar you give is invested in the future of the Forward — and telling the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
The Forward doesn’t rely on funding from institutions like governments or your local Jewish federation. There are thousands of readers like you who give us $18 or $36 or $100 each month or year.
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
