Je suis Ahmed. Je suis Flic. Je suis Juif. Je suis Charlie.

I am Ahmed. I am a cop. I am a Jew. I am Charlie.

The Jan. 7 attack on France’s satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, or Weekly Charlie, left social media buzzing with the hashtags mentioned above.

It all started when a negative cartoon of the prophet Muhammad was published, leading to the massacre of 12 people at the magazine. According to the rules of Islam, it is forbidden to visually portray the prophet; the anger over this violation is what led to the killing.

The question that has been discovered in the ashes of this heinous attack is “Were the editors at Hebdo justified?” Were they exercising their right to freedom of speech? Or were they just trying to make a statement?

The magazine is known for its crude humor about many groups of people, leading readers to believe that the paper is “racist.” Despite this, many believe that Hebdo was correct in its publishing of the cartoon.

New questions are arising about whether or not Charlie Hebdo did this on purpose.

Did the editors and cartoonists purposely publish this specific cartoon to get a rise out of supporters of Islam?

Whether or not this was done on purpose, these extreme reactions were not necessary. Though the anger from the cartoon is understandable, the brutal killing of more than 10 people is just too much. Despite this, there are murkier, less clear questions that have arisen from the Paris attacks.

American publications, including The New York Times, are currently discussing the issues of freedom of speech.

In a recent article from the Times, they write about this cartoon and choose to not show it in their newspaper.

Our question is, why won’t they republish this cartoon? Are they too afraid to share it out of fear that a similar outcome could happen to them?

Is freedom of speech really a test about bravery? Were the people at Charlie Hebdo brave for publishing this cartoon with hopes that an issue regarding these people could be resolved or identified?

We wish that we had answers to these questions, but it is often difficult to get into the minds of those we don’t know or even understand.