France was on high alert Wednesday after a Paris-based satirical magazine published caricatures mocking the Muslim Prophet Mohammad.
It happened at a tense moment, with the past seven days seeing protests in Muslim countries over an amateurish video, made in the United States that ridicules the prophet. The American Ambassador to Libya, Christopher Stevens, and three other Americans were killed during one protest, last week.
The French magazine Charlie Hebdo not only mocks Mohammad, it also makes fun of the recent anti-American protests over the online video. Stephane Charbonnier, Charlie Hebdo’s editor, says that just as with the Danish caricatures of Mohammad back in 2005, it’s his right, even duty, to publish these 20 cartoons, offensive or not.
“If we start saying we can’t do these cartoons because there’s a risk someone will be shocked, then we’ll back down from publishing other cartoons,” he said to BBC, “because there always will be pressure for something less offensive, and so on and so on until we stop making them altogether.”
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