Paris attack: venues release public statements

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/nov/19/paris-attack-public-statements-bataclan-le-carillon

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Nearly a week after the deadly events in Paris, two of the venues at the centre of the terrorist attack have made public statements.

The team at Le Carillon cafe bar shared their statement in the form of a message posted on the front door. They hadn’t spoken out earlier due to shock, it read, but urged everyone to stay “united in sorrow” while also “hoping for happier and forever more fraternal days”.

The statement read: “We would like to give our sincere condolences and show our deepest solidarity with all the families of the victims, their loved ones and you, dear friends and regulars who have been the soul of this place for 40 years.”

Fifteen people were killed when a terrorist entered the busy restaurant in Canal Saint-Martin in eastern Paris and opened fire.

The note said: “We haven’t been able to express ourselves sooner due to shock and how to find the right words for such a moment – but all of our thoughts since Friday go towards you who have lost a loved one.”

After thanking everyone for their support, the statement ended with the words “we love you”.

Message des proprios du #Carillon: "courage, restons unis dans la peine mais aussi dans l'espoir de jours heureux" pic.twitter.com/OrsuaTDizK

Meanwhile, Dominique Revert, co-manager of the Bataclan concert hall in Paris, told Billboard that the popular venue would be reopened despite 89 people losing their lives and hundreds more being injured.

Revert, who was not present at the time of the shootings, said: “It will reopen, no question about it. Hearts will be heavy for a few months, a few years. But we will reopen. We will not surrender.”

Built in 1864, the venue has hosted an impressive lineup of musicians including Buffalo Bill, Lou Reed, Jeff Buckley and, more recently, Prince and Kanye West.

On Friday, Californian rockers the Eagles of Death Metal were playing to a packed-out crowd of 1,500 when three armed terrorists entered and began shooting. The ordeal ended in a siege.

Revert’s comments echoed those of Joel Laloux, who owned the venue for 40 years before selling it to move to Israel. He said: “I have huge hope that with the enormous outpouring of solidarity in France and worldwide there is a human desire to make sure that this place is not assassinated,” he said from his home in the southern Israeli city of Ashdod. “It’s my baby, sold or not. Just after [the attack], I told myself that me and the current team were going to turn the hall into a shrine. And you know how artists are superstitious.”

However, he later reconsidered and using the example of satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, which thousands rushed to buy after it was attacked, he wants it to re-emerge even stronger than it was before. When the Bataclan does reopen, Laloux said, he would like to be “in the crowd, in the front row”.

A total of 129 people died in the coordinated attacks in Paris.