Offices of French Magazine Ruined After Printing Mohammed Cartoon
Petrol bombs destroyed the offices of the popular, French satire magazine, Charlie Hebdo, on the morning of November 2, 2011. The magazine was attacked after its most recent issue portrayed an image of the Islamic prophet, Mohammed. Not only is this forbidden by Islam, the periodical also lampooned the Islamic prophet by making him editor-in-chief and renaming the magazine 'Sharia Hebdo' in honor of the Islamist party winning the October 23rd election in Tunisia. The cartoon also donned the quote "100 lashes if you don't die of laughter."
Charlie Hebdo is known for mocking any issue regardless of religion, political stance and most importantly, feelings. This cartoon struck a cord in the most Muslim-populated country in Western Europe though, and the offices were attacked around 1 AM. The attackers aimed mostly for the computer system, destroying the majority of the valuable equipment in the office. This has halted the production of the magazine at least for the time being. The magazine's editor-in-chief simply known as Charb said, "We no longer have a newspaper. All our equipment has been destroyed or has melted. We could not put a paper together today, but we will do everything possible to produce one next week. Whatever happens, we'll do it. There is no question of giving up." Despite the violence of the morning, the provocative issue of the magazine remained on newsstands and will continue to be. The police have not made any arrests, but witnesses have given their accounts of the events to the police.
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