Charlie Hebdo: Love is stronger than hate

The satirical French weekly Charlie Hebdo has published a new edition just one week after its offices were destroyed by a firebomb. Its message: Love is stronger than hate. On the cover is a cartoon of a Muslim man kissing the newspaper’s cartoonist.

Last week, the paper published a special edition dedicated to the Arab Spring, dubbed ‘Sharia Hebdo’ for the occasion. The cover showed a cartoon depicting the prophet Muhammad with the text: “100 lashes if you haven’t already died laughing”. The prophet had been ‘invited’ to stand in as the paper’s guest editor.

Shortly afterwards, the offices were firebombed and the website hacked. For some time the site displayed a picture of a mosque, a Qur'an text and a complaint that press freedom had been abused. The editorial office was largely destroyed. Editor-in-Chief Stéphane Charbonnier said the paper had received threats recently. In a statement, he said he opposed religious fanaticism but had nothing against practising Muslims.

Libération and Le Monde
No one had expected Charlie Hebdo to publish a new edition so soon, given the extent of the damage, but French dailies Libération and Le Monde came to the satirical paper’s rescue. They provided meeting rooms and computers, so that Charlie Hebdo’s staff could continue working. The result, with two men kissing on the cover, is on sale in French shops from today.

(nc/imm)

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