Charlie Hebdo, the French satirical magazine that was attacked by Islamic militants last week, will publish a cartoon of the Prophet Muhammad on the cover of its next issue, according to Liberation, a newspaper that is helping the magazine continue operations.
The picture, drawn by the staff cartoonist known as Luz, and published online Monday by Liberation, of course risks further enraging fundamentalist Muslims.
It depicts a bug-eyed Muhammad holding a sign that says “Je Suis Charlie,” the now-popular phrase that connotes solidarity with the magazine, and with the principles of free speech that its brand of humor represents.
Under the figure of Mohammed are the words, “All is forgiven.” The normal run for Charlie Hebdo magazine was previously about 50,000 copies, only in French — but the new issue will have a 3 million-copy run, in 16 languages.
Jon Schuppe