New Europeans

A Test Site For Everyday Life

Deeply Emotional Feb18 2016, Paris

Hans Aarsman on Ahmed Merabet

One year later
Plaque unveiled at Boulevard Richard Lenoir in honour of policeman Ahmed Merabet, killed by gunfire during the attack on Charlie Hebdo, Paris, 5 January 2016, photo Benoit Tessier / AFP

When two people kiss, it’s hard to tell from a picture who initiated it. You need more information. For instance, when a president is kissed by a fan from the audience, we might assume the president was not the instigator. Especially when that president is Francois Hollande. It’s hard to find a more reluctant kisser than him. It always looks a contrecoeur, as the French would say.

However, in this case it is highly likely that Hollande was the instigator of the kiss. The lady in question is sitting down, which makes it difficult for her to impose herself on a man who shakes her hand. Then there’s the fact that women who wear headscarves are usually not inclined to kiss men in public.

The woman is the mother of Ahmed Merabet, the policeman who died on the morning that half of the editorial board of Charlie Hebdo was murdered. Ahmed tried to stop the attackers on their flight from the magazine’s offices. After a shootout he fell to the ground injured on the Boulevard Richard Lenoir. They proceeded to shoot him point blank in the head from close range.

On the right of the picture, outside of the frame, a remembrance plaque hangs on the green fence, you can just about see the rope of the French flag that Hollande will use to unveil the plaque shortly after. He will unveil it together with Anne Hidalgo, the mayor of Paris. Hidalgo is wearing a blue scarf with a camouflage pattern. She owns two such scarfs, the internet tells me, and this is the darker version.

Behind the gate is a wide green space that continues along the entire length of the boulevard. On the other side of it is the street where Charlie Hebdo has its headquarters. The departure of the attackers was poorly prepared, they had to drive all the way around the green space to access the boulevard that would take them out of the city. That’s where they met Ahmed Merabet.

Smiling, it seems his mother does not mind the kisses from the president. Her son Malek is standing next to her, his head just outside of the frame. After his brother died he called every form of fundamentalism sick, regardless of ethnicity or religion. It was a moving statement. Daughter Nabia stands on the other side. Are her eyes closed or is she sharing a private moment with the mayor? First your brother is killed and one year later your Muslim mother lets Hollande kiss her on the cheek. Another of life’s great mysteries.

Every week Hans Aarsman applies his detective-like analyses to a press photo for the Dutch newspaper De Volkskrant. During the Dutch Presidency of the European Union (taking place in the first half of 2016), he will inspect European press photos and kindly share his observations with the New Europeans.