Caricatures of Muhammad added fuel to the fire

The French weekly Charlie Hebdo published cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad. The cover of the publication depicts a Muslim in a wheelchair being driven by a Jew. At the same time, the Muslim says: “Nothing funny,” and next to it is the inscription “The Untouchables 2” (this is a parody of the French film “The Intouchables” about a disabled aristocrat and his dark-skinned assistant). The magazine itself contains cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad naked.

The scandalous edition has already been almost completely sold out, writes Le Figaro, and even those French people who usually do not read this magazine bought the issue with cartoons. "I never bought it (Charlie Hebdo magazine - editor's note), but now I bought it - to support it. We must somehow react to this obscurantism!" - confirm comments to the news on the Le Figaro website.

However, part of the circulation was bought by Muslims themselves or their supporters. The owner of a newsstand in the Belleville quarter of Paris said one man had been waiting for the kiosk to open since early morning to buy a magazine. “He asked me for all the copies of Charlie Hebdo in stock, and then said that he was going to destroy them and do the same with the magazines from the neighboring kiosks,” the seller said. The Belleville neighborhood is home to a large community of African immigrants.

Photo: europe1.fr

Charlie Hebdo editor-in-chief Stephane Charbonnier admitted that the new cartoons could “cause controversy,” but he sees no reason to make excuses. After all, “if you ask the question, is it possible to draw Muhammad in a publication, is it not dangerous, then the next question will be: “Can we depict Muslims in a publication?” And then, “Can we depict people in general?” And in the end we will have to don't draw anyone."

Photo: Reuters

French officials have already reacted to the publication of the cartoons. French Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said that in the current context he condemns any abuses and calls on everyone to be “judicious and responsible,” while Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius warned against provocations, recalling that there is freedom of expression in France. After the publication of Charlie Hebdo, increased security measures were introduced at French embassies in a number of Middle Eastern countries, and after that it became known that French diplomatic missions and schools would be temporarily closed in 20 countries.

This is not the first time that Charlie Hebdo magazine has published cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad. In the fall of 2011, unknown persons set fire to the editorial office of this publication after an issue with a caricature of the Prophet Muhammad was published. The issue was dedicated to the elections in Tunisia, which were won by a radical Muslim party.

At the same time, French Islamists are preparing to hold a new protest against the film “The Innocence of Muslims” in the center of Paris. Last week, Muslims already held an unauthorized rally near the US Embassy in the French capital, as a result of which 152 demonstrators were detained and four police officers were injured.

Photo: Reuters

A new protest against the American film “The Innocence of Muslims” may take place on Saturday in the center of Paris, Le Figaro newspaper wrote on Wednesday. Through emails, SMS messages and on social media on Facebook and Twitter, event organizers are calling for a demonstration on Saturday at Trocadero Square to respond to the "vile film made by an American dog" that defames the Prophet Mohammed. In addition, another similar action may take place on the same day - near a Parisian mosque.

After the release of the trailer for the American film "The Innocence of Muslims", the existence of which remains in question , a wave of protests swept across the countries of the Middle East. In a number of cases, demonstrators used violence; 4 US Embassy employees were killed in Libya .