Charlie Hebdo stirs another row with migrant cartoons

9/16/2015 7:13:06 AM

(MENAFN- The Peninsula)Syrian refugees wait at the bus station in Istanbul Turkey yesterday. According to local reports thousands of refugees are trying to walk to the Greek-Turkish border for onward passage to Germany.

PARIS: French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo is courting controversy again by running cartoons deriding the response of predominantly Christian European countries to a flood of migrants from mainly Muslim war zones such as Syria and Iraq.

The magazine became a symbol of freedom of speech after it was the target of a deadly attack by Islamist militants in January for publishing cartoons mocking the Prophet Mohammad.

The latest edition has attracted renewed attention — and criticism on social media.

One drawing plays on the harrowing photo of Aylan Kurdi the drowned Syrian child whose body washed up on a beach in Turkey after a failed attempt to cross by boat with his family to Greece. The photograph galvanised world attention on the refugee crisis. The cartoon shows a toddler in shorts and a T-shirt face-down on the shoreline beside an advertising billboard that offers two children’s meal menus for the price of one. “So close to making it...” the caption says.

Another cartoon also penned by a cartoonist who survived the militant attack on Charlie Hebdo’s Paris premises in January runs under a caption saying: “Proof that Europe is Christian”.

It shows a Jesus-like figure walking on the water while another smaller figure wearing shorts is up-ended in the water with the former saying “Christians walk on water” and the latter “Muslim children sink”.

“Aylan Kurdi’s death mocked by Charlie Hebdo” read a headline in the Toronto Sun. “Charlie Hebdo criticised for dead Syrian toddler’s cartoon” said the Times of India.

Britain’s Daily Mirror published a headline on its website saying: “Charlie Hebdo publishes cartoons mocking dead Aylan Kurdi with caption ‘Muslim children sink’. Reuters

Legal Disclaimer:
MENAFN provides the information “as is” without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the provider above.