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| What is Charlie Hebdo, the provocative satirical magazine attacked by gunmen in Paris? | What is Charlie Hebdo, the provocative satirical magazine attacked by gunmen in Paris? |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| In 2012, a cartoon appeared in the pages of Charlie Hebdo depicting the prophet Muhammad naked and crouching. It was a shot across the bow, a message that the magazine would not be intimidated into softening its critiques of extremists. Just a year earlier, the satirical magazine’s headquarters were destroyed in a firebomb attack. | In 2012, a cartoon appeared in the pages of Charlie Hebdo depicting the prophet Muhammad naked and crouching. It was a shot across the bow, a message that the magazine would not be intimidated into softening its critiques of extremists. Just a year earlier, the satirical magazine’s headquarters were destroyed in a firebomb attack. |
| Charlie Hebdo, irreverent, crass and a foe to just about every religion, has been the target of Islamist rage for the better part of a decade. | Charlie Hebdo, irreverent, crass and a foe to just about every religion, has been the target of Islamist rage for the better part of a decade. |
| Depictions of the prophet are strictly prohibited in the Islamic faith. In 2007, two French Muslim groups sued the magazine for its decision to publish about a dozen Danish cartoons of Muhammad. The case was rejected in French courts, which determined that the “cartoons were covered by freedom of expression laws and were not an attack on Islam, but fundamentalists,” the BBC reported at the time. | Depictions of the prophet are strictly prohibited in the Islamic faith. In 2007, two French Muslim groups sued the magazine for its decision to publish about a dozen Danish cartoons of Muhammad. The case was rejected in French courts, which determined that the “cartoons were covered by freedom of expression laws and were not an attack on Islam, but fundamentalists,” the BBC reported at the time. |
| Perhaps emboldened by its legal victory, the magazine has since published a steady stream of provocative cartoons. For instance, there’s the infamous 2011 cover, when the weekly magazine hit the newsstands as the temporarily renamed Charia Hebdo, a crude play on the word “sharia.” | |
| “100 lashes if you are not dying of laughter,” Muhammad was depicted saying on the cover. Inside, there was more: Muhammad was depicted again with a red clown nose. | “100 lashes if you are not dying of laughter,” Muhammad was depicted saying on the cover. Inside, there was more: Muhammad was depicted again with a red clown nose. |
| Its headquarters was firebombed the next day. The attack destroyed the offices but injured no one. | |
| “This is the first time we have been physically attacked, but we won’t let it get to us,” Stéphane “Charb” Charbonnier, the magazine’s editor in chief and cartoonist, pledged after the attack. | “This is the first time we have been physically attacked, but we won’t let it get to us,” Stéphane “Charb” Charbonnier, the magazine’s editor in chief and cartoonist, pledged after the attack. |
| After the bombing, the paper moved to a nondescript location in an office building in Paris, initially guarded by riot police. | After the bombing, the paper moved to a nondescript location in an office building in Paris, initially guarded by riot police. |
| RELATED: #JeSuisCharlie: Cartoonists react to the Charlie Hebdo massacre in Paris | |
| In September 2012, Charlie Hebdo chose its next moment, after a low-budget American anti-Islam film sparked riots in the Middle East. | |
| The image of a disrobed Muhammad in the magazine came amid an already tense international environment. The French police called Charbonnier and asked the magazine to reconsider publishing the cartoon. When the editor declined to do so, law enforcement once again stationed riot police outside Charlie Hebdo’s offices, and the government moved to close the French Embassy and a French school in Tunisia. | |
| The White House criticized the decision to publish the cartoons in 2012. “We don’t question the right of something like this to be published, we just question the judgment behind the decision to publish it,” Jay Carney told reporters at the time. | The White House criticized the decision to publish the cartoons in 2012. “We don’t question the right of something like this to be published, we just question the judgment behind the decision to publish it,” Jay Carney told reporters at the time. |
| “The accusation that we are pouring oil on the flames in the current situation really gets on my nerves,” Charbonnier told the German magazine Der Spiegel in 2012. “After the publication of this absurd and grotesque film about Muhammad in the U.S., other newspapers have responded to the protests with cover stories. We are doing the same thing, but with drawings. | |
| “And a drawing has never killed anyone,” he added. | “And a drawing has never killed anyone,” he added. |
| Over the years, Muslim anger at the weekly has burned slowly in the background. Charlie Hebdo continued to depict Muhammad and critique Islam in its editorial pages, resisting calls to stop the practice. | Over the years, Muslim anger at the weekly has burned slowly in the background. Charlie Hebdo continued to depict Muhammad and critique Islam in its editorial pages, resisting calls to stop the practice. |
| With Wednesday’s brazen and deadly attack on the paper, that anger roared tragically to life. | With Wednesday’s brazen and deadly attack on the paper, that anger roared tragically to life. |
| After the attack, a media forum supporting the Islamic State militant organization praised the attacks. | After the attack, a media forum supporting the Islamic State militant organization praised the attacks. |
| “Congratulations to France and its people for harvesting what their hands have sown,” the media channel said. “Do those malicious artists think we are a nation that remains silent to those who mock our Messenger, Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him?” | “Congratulations to France and its people for harvesting what their hands have sown,” the media channel said. “Do those malicious artists think we are a nation that remains silent to those who mock our Messenger, Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him?” |
| According to reports, Charbonnier was one of at least 12 people killed by gunmen who stormed the magazine’s offices. | |
| Just hours before the attack, the paper sent out a tweet of a cartoon depicting Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi with the message: ‘Meilleurs vœux, au fait…” (Best wishes, by the way.) | |
| [This post has been updated.] |