“Satire has a virtue that has allowed us to get through these tragic years: optimism. If you want to laugh, it means you want to live. Laughter, irony and caricatures are manifestations of optimism,” writes Laurent Sourisseau, more known as Riss, in an editorial in the special edition of Charlie Hebdo published on the anniversary.
He was one of those who survived the 2015 attack, carried out by two Paris-born brothers of Algerian descent in revenge for the weekly’s publication of caricatures of the Prophet Mohammed.
The newspaper’s editorial staff now works in a secret location and the editors live under constant police protection due to an ongoing threat.
“I’m Charlie”
The front page of the special issue is decorated with a caricature with the headline “Indestructible!”. Four pages inside the newspaper are then devoted to reporting the results of a competition where the publication’s editors, in true Charlie Hebdo spirit, invited cartoonists to send in their funniest and meanest depictions of God and religious leaders.
The massacre at Charlie Hebdo’s editorial office, in which some of France’s most famous cartoonists were killed, triggered a wave of sympathy. The term “Je suis Charlie”, “I am Charlie”, was coined just hours after the attack in solidarity both with those who were murdered and with freedom of expression.
But the backlash has also been strong in some Muslim-majority countries against Charlie Hebdo’s often crude and deliberately offensive humor, which is part of a long-standing French cartooning tradition.
Crossing the line
Since its inception in 1970, Charlie Hebdo has repeatedly tested the limits of French laws on freedom of expression, laws that offer protection to minorities but allow blasphemy and mockery of religion.
There are limits, as before, to anti-Semitism, racism and incitement against people. We do not target people and if we caricature people it is for what they represent, not for who they are, editor-in-chief Gérard Biard recently told AFP.
Critics, however, believe that the weekly sometimes crosses the line into Islamophobia and point to some caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad that appear to associate Islam with terrorism. A cover in August with the Virgin Mary suffering from the mpox virus also led to two notifications from Catholic organizations in France.
The massacre at Charlie Hebdo’s editorial office triggered a wave of sympathy in France. The term “Je suis Charlie”, “I am Charlie”, was coined only hours after the attack. Archive image.
The massacre at Charlie Hebdo’s editorial office triggered a wave of sympathy in France. The term “Je suis Charlie”, “I am Charlie”, was coined only hours after the attack. Archive image.
Photo: Francois Mori/AP/TT
Facts: Famous cartoonists died in the attack
Five of France’s most famous cartoonists lost their lives when the magazine Charlie Hebdo was attacked by terrorists. Everyone was familiar under their signatures.
“Charb”: Stéphane Charbonnier, 47. Associate since 1992. Lived under police protection since the newspaper published a Muhammad cartoon in 2011. The attackers are said to have specifically asked for him.
“Cabu”: Jean Cabut, 76. Lived under threat for his own prophet caricatures.
“Wolinski”: Georges Wolinski, 80. Legendary long before Charlie Hebdo was founded in the late 60s. Born in Tunisia to an Italian mother and Polish father, who was murdered when Wolinski was only a couple of years old.
“Honoré”: Philippe Honoré, 73. Had worked at Charlie Hebdo since 1992.
“Tignous”: Bernard Verlhac, 57. Less well known than the others, but well established in the French press.
Source: AFP