Millions took to the streets of Paris in a historic “unity” march in the wake of a shocking string of events including the Charlie Hebdo attack and a hostage standoff at a kosher supermarket which killed a total of 17 people. The march not only attracted Parisians wanting to mourn the traumatic events of the previous week, but also world leaders including Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. Reports have surfaced that the French government wanted to keep them both away, but Netanyahu ignored French wishes when he learned his Israeli political rival would be attending. Netanyahu used the trip to make the case that French Jews should immigrate to Israel.

In the wake of the Charlie Hebdo massacre in Paris last week Haaretz published a daring cartoon juxtaposing journalists killed in Gaza by Israel last summer during the brutal summer slaughter with the journalists killed at the office of the satirical magazine in Paris. This set off a chain reaction which ultimately led to calls for murdering Haaretz journalists after Ronen Shoval, founder of the neo-Zionist and proto-fascist, Im Tirtzu movement, called for an investigation of the newspaper’s editors.

Scott Long writes about the killings at Charlie Hebdo and the debate over free speech, Islamophobia and the meaning of solidarity. He writes, “There’s a perfectly good reason not to republish the cartoons that has nothing to do with cowardice or caution. I refuse to post them because I think they’re racist and offensive. I can support your right to publish something, and still condemn what you publish. I support free speech. I oppose all censors. I abhor the killings. I mourn the dead. I am not Charlie.”

David Samel offers a math test and a morality test that look at the same numbers from different perspectives. Do you come up with the same answer in both tests?

Oxford philosopher Brian Klug says the masses of people have turned the victims of the horrific Charlie Hebdo assassination into heroes of France and free speech think they are defining the difference between them and the killers. But they too have their limits, they just don’t know it. He says this dangerous self-righteous moral passion is just what we don’t need as the storm clouds gather on the European horizon.

After 20 years of dealing with Islamic terrorism, you’d think western intellectuals might be thoughtful about its causes in western actions. Instead, too many in our midst are blaming Islam itself.

Jo Roberts, author of Contested Land, Contested Memory: “I don’t see a viable future for Israelis or Palestinians that doesn’t involve some kind of reworking of collective memory for each people, one that allows for – not a common narrative, but a space that can hold both people’s histories, that gives room for both peoples to live in the land.”

On January 8, Eric Fingerhut, the head of Hillel International, spoke to an audience of over 100 people at Temple Sinai in Roslyn, Long Island. He packed a lot into his speaking engagement. Fingerhut said that Jewish Voice for Peace is “frustrating,” the Open Hillel movement has no legs, Christians United for Israel is an “amazing” organization and progressive causes are becoming “infected” with anti-Israel sentiment.

On Friday, Palestinian infant Ashraf al-Qidra died due to severe cold in Gaza. The infant’s family lives in an area heavily damaged during Israel’s summer war on Gaza and they continued living in their damaged home. Ma’an News writes, “Due to lack of alternative shelter, many of the nearly 110,000 Palestinians left homeless by Israeli bombardment have done the same, including many living in just tents.”

Within days of Palestinians announcing they would join the International Criminal Court (ICC), Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced his country would stop transferring customs revenue to the Palestinian Authority. The punitive move was expected to lead to a crisis for the Palestinian leadership as government services would collapse across the West Bank. But the Palestinian Authority had an unexpected back up plan. The Arab League has agreed to provide emergency funds to cover the VAT-taxes frozen by Israel. This Arab League safety net will help the Palestinians avoid the expected temporary bankruptcy and allow them to move forward with pressing for war crimes at the ICC. In fact, financial support from the Arab League was a key component, along with joining the ICC, of long-term strategy to pressure Israel into negotiations.