Channels

Photo: AFP
Charlie Hebdo continues to defy norms after attack.
Photo: AFP

Charlie Hebdo to print Mohammad on cover of first issue of paper since attack

The defiant issue is already in print and will feature a caricature of the Prophet Muhammad crying on the cover, with 'I am Charlie' sign with words 'All is forgiven' above him.

Charlie 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.

 

The cover of the upcoming issue of Charlie Hebdo. (Photo: AFP)
The cover of the upcoming issue of Charlie Hebdo. (Photo: AFP)

 

"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 humour."

 

Speaking at a news conference in Paris on Tuesday at which he repeatedly broke down crying, he described weeping after he drew the picture.

 

Four cartoonists who were killed during Charlie Hebdo attack. (Photo: EPA) (Photo: EPA)
Four cartoonists who were killed during Charlie Hebdo attack. (Photo: EPA) (Photo: EPA)

 

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.

 

It also heartily thanked the millions around the world who have supported it.

 

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.

 

Charlie Hebdo had faced repeated threats for depictions of the prophet, and its editor and his police bodyguard were the first to die.  

 

One of Egypt's top Islamic authorities has 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.

 

Reuters and the Associated Press contributed to this report.

 


פרסום ראשון: 01.13.15, 23:53
 new comment
Warning:
This will delete your current comment