Charlie Hebdo to Print Mohammad on Cover.
By YnetNews.comCharlie Hebdo's defiant issue is in print, with a caricature of the Prophet Muhammad on the cover and a double-page spread claiming that more turned out Sunday to back the satirical weekly "than for Mass." The cover shows a weeping Muhammad, holding a sign saying "I am Charlie" with the words "All is forgiven" above him.
"I wrote 'all is forgiven' and I cried," Renald Luzier, who drew the image, told journalists at the weekly's temporary office at the headquarters of the left-wing daily Liberation. "This is our front page ... it's not the one the terrorists wanted us to draw," he said. "I'm not worried at all... I trust people's intelligence, the intelligence of humor."
Speaking at a news conference in Paris on Tuesday at which he repeatedly broke down crying, he described weeping after he drew the picture. The issue maintained the irreverent, often offensive attitude Charlie Hebdo is well-known for in France. The first two pages included drawings by the slain cartoonists. One showed a much-loved late French nun talking about oral sex. Another showed a Muslim, Christian and Jewish leader dividing up the world.
The lead editorial laid out a vigorous defense of secularism, and of their right to lampoon religions and religious leaders and hold them accountable - and ended with a critique of the pope. "For the past week, Charlie, an atheist newspaper, has achieved more miracles than all the saints and prophets combined. The one we are most proud of is that you have in your hands the newspaper that we always made," it read.
Twelve people died when two masked gunmen assaulted the newspaper's offices on January 7, including much of the editorial staff and two police. It was the beginning of three days of terror around Paris that saw 17 people killed before the three Islamic extremist attackers were gunned down by security forces.
One of Egypt's top Islamic authorities warned the French satirical magazine against publishing the new cartoon of the Prophet Muhammad on the cover of its first issue since the attack. Egypt's Dar al-Ifta, which is in charge of issuing religious edicts, on Tuesday called the planned cover an "unjustified provocation" for millions of Muslims who respect and love their prophet.
The statement said the cartoon is likely to cause a new wave of hatred in French and Western societies and called on the French government and others to reject "the racist act" by Charlie Hebdo.
A record 3m copies are to be printed, in 16 languages, after the massacre triggered a worldwide debate on free speech and brought more than 4 million people on to the streets of France in a unity march on Sunday. The eight-page edition went to the presses on Monday night, according to LibA[c]ration, the newspaper that offered Charlie Hebdo staff temporary working space following the attack.
Omer el-Hamdoon, president of the Muslim Association of Britain, said: aMy reaction to the cartoon is disgust, but tending more to annoyance as well because I feel that whatas happening here is not that different from what we witnessed back in 2005 with the Danish cartoons when media outlets went into a cycle of just publishing the cartoons just to show defiance. And what that caused is more offense.a
Prince Hassan bin Talal of Jordan said the latest cartoon had added more salt to the wound. He said: aIf the cartoon had read aJe suis Ahmeda, given that many were carrying that badge after the police Ahmed Merabet who was killed, might not have put more salt to the wound but taken it to another level.a
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| Publication: | Israel Faxx |
|---|---|
| Date: | Jan 14, 2015 |
| Words: | 605 |
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