Charlie Hebdo: French Satire Paper Firebombed

by NowPublic Staff | November 2, 2011 at 08:54 am

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Charlie Hebdo Office Firebombed over 'Muhammad Guest Issue'

The offices of Charlie Hebdo, a French left-wing satire paper similar to The Onion, was firebombed. The bombing was carried out by radical Islamists, who took offense at a weekly issue "guest edited by the Prophet Muhammad" and temporarily renamed "Charia Hebdo".

However, the bombers could not have actually read the issue that so offended their sensibilities, since the bombing took place the night before the paper was distributed.

The Charlie Hebdo website was also hacked, but the site admins seem to have it back under control.

Many Muslims feel that the French government is out to get them, as the right wing taps into xenophobia to consolidate power. Firebombing media offices, though, only hands Nicolas Sarkozy more ammunition.

France Bans Full-Face Veils

A single Molotov cocktail was thrown at the offices of Charlie Hebdo in Paris’s 20th arrondissement at around 1am. The ensuing fire was rapidly put out, but a large amount of material in the office was destroyed, police said.

The underlying message behind the Charlie Hebdo special issue was serious, though: "No religion is compatible with democracy from the moment a political party representing it wants to take power in the name of God”.