Outrage over Charlie Hebdo's new cartoon

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French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo has once again become the focus of a debate on free speech after it published a front-page cartoon linking Islam to recent vehicle rampage attacks in Spain.

The publication has drawn criticism over the caricature, with critics of the magazine saying it could spark Islamophobia.

The cartoon features two men lying in a pool of blood having been run over by a vehicle next to the phrase "Islam: religion of peace...eternal".

People display flowers and candles to pay tribute to the victims of the Barcelona and Cambrils vehicle attacks on the Rambla boulevard in Barcelona on August 22, 2017, five days after the attacks that killed 15 people. /AFP Photo

A dozen extremist suspects are believed to have plotted last week's van attacks in Barcelona and Cambrils in Spain. Fifteen people were dead and more than 100 injured after the assailants drove a van and car into crowds, respectively.

Investigators believe an extremist Islamic preacher, who died in a blast while the group was working to produce explosives, radicalized the attackers.

Muslims' outrage

Charlie Hebdo ridicules all religions and religious figures, but its depictions of Islam or Muslims lead to anger.

It once published caricatures of the Muslim Prophet Mohammed that led to death threats and, ultimately, violence.

Two gunmen attacked its offices in January 2015, killing 12 people, including cartoonists. The attackers claimed allegiance to al-Qaeda.

A person holds a sign reading "I am still Charlie" during a rally commemorating the second anniversary of the deadly attack on the satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo on January 7, 2017, at the Place de la Republique in Paris. /AFP Photo

Thousands of people took to the streets in France afterward in support of the right to free speech. "Je Suis Charlie" ("I Am Charlie") was their slogan.

Trending topic

The cartoon became one of the top trending topics on Twitter in France. Thousands of people went online to discuss the sketch, with more than 15,000 tweets praising or criticizing it.

Stephane Le Foll, Socialist MP and former minister, termed it "extremely dangerous".

"When you're a journalist you need to exercise restraint because making these associations can be used by other people," he said.

Critics of Charlie Hebdo saw the cartoon as tarring an entire religion, followed by around 1.5 billion people around the globe, by implying it is inherently violent.

French Agriculture minister Stephane Le Foll criticizes Charlie Hebdo's choice. /AFP Photo

Others urged that freedom of expression be respected, with some praising the magazine for "the courage to confront reality".

It had created an unnecessary outrage and media attention, they said, adding nobody cares when the magazine targets other religions.

Editors' Choice

The magazine's editor, Laurent "Riss" Sourisseau, defended the decision in an editorial.

Experts and policy-makers were avoiding hard questions out of concern for moderate, law-abiding Muslims, he said.

"The debates and issues about the role of religion, and in particular the role of Islam, in these attacks, have completely disappeared," he wrote.

Riss said in the wake of the violence that the magazine would stop depicting the prophet, leading one top journalist to quit and accuse its new management of going soft on Islamist extremism. Patrick Pelloux, a former Charlie Hebdo contributor, defended the magazine, saying, "We need to fight Islamist terrorism and religious radicalism, not a magazine."

(With input from AFP)