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Latest update: 02/11/2011
- France - Freedom of the press - media
Satirical weekly hit by petrol bomb over ‘sharia’ issue
The offices of French satirical paper Charlie Hebdo, which published a special Arab Spring issue Wednesday with the prophet Mohammed as guest "editor”, were destroyed by a petrol bomb attack overnight, police said.
AFP - The offices of French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, which published a special Arab Spring edition Wednesday with the prophet Mohammed as guest "editor", were gutted in a petrol bomb attack overnight, police said.
The fire at the magazine started around 01.00 am (0200 GMT) and caused no injuries, a police source said.
Charlie Hebdo published a special edition Wednesday to mark the Arab Spring, renaming the magazine Charia (Sharia) Hebdo for the occasion.
The cover showed a cartoon of the prophet stating: "100 lashes if you don't die of laughter!"
The depiction of the prophet is strictly prohibited in Islam.
A witness at the scene, Patrick Pelloux, told AFP a molotov cocktail was hurled through the window and set fire to the computer system.
"Everything was destroyed," he said.
The magazine's publisher, known only as Charb, said he was convinced the fire was linked to the special edition.
"On Twitter, on Facebook, we received several letters of protest, threats, insults," which had been forwarded to the police, he said.
On Wednesday, the weekly said it would publish a special edition to "celebrate" the Ennahda Islamist party's election victory in Tunisia and the transitional Libyan executive's statement that Islamic Sharia law would be the country's main source of law.
It would feature the prophet Mohammed as guest "editor", the magazine said.
Charb on Tuesday rejected accusations that he was trying to provoke.
"We feel we're just doing our job as usual. The only difference is that this week, Mohammed is on the cover and that's quite rare," he told AFP.
A Paris court in 2007 threw out a suit brought by two Muslim organisations against Charlie Hebdo for reprinting cartoons of prophet Mohammed that had appeared in a Danish newspaper, sparking angry protests by Muslims worldwide.
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(14) Reactions
So Funny It Got Firebombed!
I can think of no better endorsement of comedy than acts of violence by its target. It's better than "Banned in Boston." If these Islamists don't want to make humor directed at the absurdities of the Muslim faith more popular, then they should ignore it. I have observed that the most delicious giggle is one inspired by the wrath of a bully. It's irrepressible. I have laughed the hardest despite all the dangers inherent in it, when the laughter was directed toward a horrible ogre or battle-axe. It is even harder for me to suppress such mirth when I am in the presence of the tyrant. I suppose that is where the expression "to die laughing" came from.
Hate speech is speech that incites violence
Sorry, I just don't get you all. There has already been a bomb attack, death threats and hacking. So there was violence and 'threats of violence.' According to you, all this was predictable: That's how Muslims are. By your logic then the cartoons were 'incitement to violence.' That does make them hate speech, doesn't it? You know the dog is mad and violent; yet you meddle with it; it bites you. Who is to blame, you or the dog?
One could see it
France imported millions of Muslims into the country and now has come the time to give in to blackmail.
"hate speech" is a red herring
Stop flogging the dead 'hate speech' horse. The world can see that criticising and satirising a certain 'peaceful' religion with some strangely violent followers is desperately needed. Criticism of all ideologies and religions should be legal and defended. NOTHING excuses violence in response to speech. And no government should ban speech except actual threats of violence or clear incitement to violence. Otherwise it's a slippery slope: you might approve of something I find hateful etc.
muhammad pictures
"The depiction of the prophet is strictly prohibited in Islam", it's totally false. In islamic countries taxi, bus and truck drivers hang a picture of muhammad in their vehicles for praise and protection. The islamist have instilled fear all around the world by their continuous acts of violence and the media is generally afraid to stand up to them.
Quote
Imam Quote: "If I'm not Muslim, I would have also fear of Islam".
Got that?
io so che no ce dio oltre allah e mohammed il suo messangero e i
vive l'islam e dio infinito e grande e mohammed
freedom
@pabitra-yes the free world condemns violence, but the islam is provocative in their curan as to have hate speech against other religions and stating that their's is the only god and that they will kill all infidels. The quran is a a document of hate speech that must be condemned and the free speech enjoyed by islam is abused in the free world and used to gain power and to take away the freedom of other people.
Define hate speech first
The original cartoons in Denmark were labelled by much of the media as hate speech, when it was simply an expression of opinion about Muhammad and his ways, based on evidence in Islamic textbooks, and represented by violent elements of the religion today.
If Charlie Hebdo's cartoon can be justified as hate speech (criticism that has no backing) then I'd like to see it.
Everything accepting?
Here a significant statement of an imam:
"If I'm not Muslim, i would have also fear of Islam!"
And WE "kuffars" have to accept everything?
My God!