Russell Brand: 'Fight Paris terror with love'

Russell Brand has urged the world to take a stand against the recent attacks in France by fighting terrorism with "compassion and love".

Millions of protesters around the world gathered on Sunday (11Jan15) for 'unity marches' in the aftermath of three days of attacks in France which killed 17 people, including journalists and cartoonists at satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo in Paris.

The magazine was reportedly targeted for publishing depictions of the Islamic Prophet Muhammed, and Brand, who is currently "on holiday in a low signal land" has now waded into the debate over the killings.

Brand has published a lengthy rant on his blog in which he urges citizens around the world to unite in "love and tolerate and reach across the fear".

He writes, "Devastation in the City of Love, the New Year already feels tainted, blood stained in January by murder and sieges and grieving widows... As a believer in God I respect the beliefs of all faiths, as a human being I respect freedom of speech...

"I suppose there will now be calls to curb our freedom. There will be tension and fear in mixed communities like the one I live in... The awful fact is that violence of this type is almost impossible to stop...The only answer is in the territory of the spirit, in the deep interconnectedness within us all. In the acceptance that all action on this plane is the manifestation of an inner realm and violence of an inner malady. Our only hope is compassion and love. To marshall vigorously the only terror and violence we can absolutely control; that which is within us individually... I am saying that we must love as passionately as they hate. We must respect as vehemently as they desecrate. It is not easy to be peaceful and loving in the face of dreadful violence but it's all we have."