This Wednesday, twelve people were shot dead in an apparent Islamist attack at the office of Charlie Hebdo, the French satirical magazine. According to BBC, four of the magazine's well-known cartoonists, including its editor, were among those killed, as well as two police officers.

The attack is being labeled as Islamist for multiple reasons. BBC reports that witnesses said they heard the gunmen shouting "We have avenged the Prophet Muhammad" and "God is Great" in Arabic ("Allahu Akbar"). Furthermore, one gunman was seen to have raised his right index finger in a gesture that has been adopted by radical Islamists, including al-Qaeda.

Charlie Hebdo has courted controversy in the past - a caricature of the prophet Muhammad it carried in 2011 led it to be firebombed. Just before the recent shooting, the latest tweet on Charlie Hebdo's account was a cartoon of the Islamic State militant group leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.

In the past, a cartoonist responsible for poking fun at Islam stated, "We treat the news like journalists. Some use cameras, some use computers. For us, it's a paper and pencil... A pencil is not a weapon. It's just a means of expression."

Chief editor Stephane Charbonnier, who was among those killed in the recent attack, stated, "Muhammad isn't sacred to me... I don't blame Muslims for not laughing at our drawings. I live under French law. I don't live under Quranic law."

Indeed, many people see poking fun at religion as nothing but freedom of expression, whereas religious radicals may see it as a crime punishable by death. For this reason, anti-Islamist sentiment is beginning to spread - not only throughout France, but throughout Europe as a whole.

According to The Telegraph, anti-Islamist attitudes are beginning to move away from the far-Right extreme and more into the mainstream of popular discontent. This can be seen in Germany, where an organization called PEGIDA that campaigns against the "Islamization" of Europe is gaining quickly in popularity.

As for how France sees the attack, President Hollande told reporters at the scene, "We are threatened because we are a country of liberty," appealing for national unity. BBC reports that French government officials are holding an emergency meeting, and President Hollande is due to give a televised address later.