Journalism is a competitive industry. We always try and find ways to find different and better angles to approaching a story in a bid to outdo each other. But on occasions, we do come together. And a perfect example was yesterday's gathering in Valletta for Malta's journalists to pay a simple, yet heartfelt tribute to those who died at the offices of Charlie Hebdo this week.

As a united front, Malta's journalists paid tribute to the unwavering commitment that those who died held within them in their quest to report the truth and to open people's eyes to what is going on in the world and their opinion of that.

Some say they brought it on themselves. This sort of statement and approach is completely out of order. Charlie Hebdo was based on a particular form of journalism that crossed over with art. Steeped in satire, its cartoonists drew the world as they saw it, in terms of opinion of news and current issues. Radical Islam was, of course, one of them. Freedom of expression is a fundamental right and a way of life that permeates through Western culture. In attacking Charlie, those Muslim fanatics who shot people in cold blood two days ago attacked each and every one of us. But perhaps what is even worse is that the most damage has been done to Islam itself. This is not about religion, this is about brutality. It is about an attack on our way of life. It is an attempt to silence, threaten and frighten and stop Western society at large from being a free and uncensored culture. It is simply barbaric and there is no place for it here.

There is more irony to the sorry tale. One of the police officers who was murdered - aged only 42 - was named Ahmed. The name Ahmed is a derivative of the name Mohammed, which of course is the name of Islam's prophet. The gunman who so desperately wanted to silence Charlie Hebdo did so by shooting and killing a man who shared his Prophet's name.

There is no place for extremism. Europe is not an Islamic State. Europe is the unique collection of cultures and societies that it is. Stephane Charbonier, one of the editors who was killed in the attack, said he would rather die on his feet rather than live on his knees. He knew the risks he was taking but he took them because he had no wife or children and wanted to remain a free-drawing cartoonist who took it upon himself to view the world through satire and art. This is what journalists do every day. We seek the truth and we investigate. We give our opinions as well as news. We are the fourth establishment. An attack on us is an attack on you and our society. Our actions yesterday were simple, we read out a short statement and stood for one minute in silence to show our respect. We stand united in the face of terror and oppression. We are free media.