French Magazine Firebombed over Islam-Themed Edition

November 02, 2011 from Al Jazeera English

A firebomb attack has caused serious damage to the headquarters of French satirical weekly, Charlie Hebdo, that "invited" the Prophet Muhammad to be a guest editor and printed an image of him on its cover. Claude Gueant, the French interior minister, condemned the attack saying the attack was against press freedom. While Islam prohibits any representation of Allah and the prophet, the cartoon can be seen as offensive by some Muslims. Similar cartoons published in Denmark in 2005 caused violent worldwide reactions with one cartoonist being attacked. The French Muslim Council condemned the attack but deplored the deeply mocking tone of the newspaper towards Islam and its prophet. Several press organizations have offered their support to help Charlie Hebdo hit the stands next Wednesday, saying, it is a matter of principle, defending the freedom of the press. Al Jazeera's Estelle Youssouffa reports from Paris.

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Charlie Hebdo

Charlie Hebdo is a French satirical weekly newspaper, featuring cartoons, reports, polemics and jokes. Irreverent and stridently non-conformist in tone, the publication has a strongly antireligious, left-wing, publishing articles on the extreme right, Catholicism, Islam, Judai... Explore this topic

France

France, officially the French Republic, is a unitary semi-presidential republic located mostly in Western Europe, with several overseas regions and territories. Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine ... Explore this topic

Islam

Islam is a monotheistic and Abrahamic religion articulated by the Qur'an, a book considered by its adherents to be the verbatim word of God and by the teachings and normative example of Muhammad, considered by them to be the last prophet of God. An adherent of Islam is called ... Explore this topic

Depictions of Muhammad

The permissibility of depictions of Muhammad, the founder of Islam, has long been a concern in the religion's history. Oral and written descriptions are readily accepted by all traditions of Islam, but there is disagreement about visual depictions. The Quran does not explicitl... Explore this topic

Freedom of the press

Freedom of the press or freedom of the media is the freedom of communication and expression through mediums including various electronic media and published materials. While such freedom mostly implies the absence of interference from an overreaching state, its preservation ma... Explore this topic

Media

The news media are those elements of the mass media that focus on delivering news to the general public or a target public. These include print media, broadcast news, and more recently the Internet. Explore this topic

Muhammad

Abū al-Qāsim Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib ibn Hāshim, also transliterated as Muhammad, was a religious, political, and military leader from Mecca who unified Arabia into a single religious polity under Islam. He is believed by Muslims and Bahá'ís to be a messen... Explore this topic

Molotov cocktail

The Molotov cocktail is a generic name used for a variety of improvised incendiary weapons. Due to the relative ease of production, they are frequently used by amateur protesters and non-professionally equipped fighters in urban guerrilla warfares. They are primarily intended ... Explore this topic

Fire

Fire is the rapid oxidation of a material in the exothermic chemical process of combustion, releasing heat, light, and various reaction products. Slower oxidative processes like rusting or digestion are not included by this definition. The flame is the visible portion of the f... Explore this topic

Minister of the Interior (France)

The Minister of the Interior in France is one of the most important governmental cabinet positions, responsible for the following: ⁕The general interior security of the country, with respect to criminal acts or natural catastrophes ⁕including the major law-enforcement forces ⁕... Explore this topic

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France

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