The scandalous satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo publishes cartoons, discussions, jokes and reports. The magazine became known all over the world after the terrorist attack that took place on January 7, 2015, but even before that, scandalous cartoons published in the weekly have been discussed in the press every now and then. The editors of Charlie Ebdo have repeatedly explained to other media and the discontented public that generally accepted concepts of morality and ethics are simply not for them.
A brief history of the magazine
The French satirical weekly was founded in 1969 on the basis of the previously produced Hara-Kiri ("Harakiri"). "Harakiri" is a real art provocation, a challenge to society, indeed the most scandalous publication not only in France but throughout the world. The newspaper has repeatedly spoken harshly about tragic events (however, like "Charlie Ebdo"). Several times authorities tried to close the weekly. The same style was adopted by the weekly Charlie Ebdo.
Already after a year of existence of the new magazine, the French government banned its distribution. Hara Kiri Hebdo joked extremely unsuccessfully about the death of the founder of the Fifth Republic Charles de Gaulle. Then the newspaper simply changed its name to Charlie Ebdo, abandoning Harakiri, and continued to work in the same vein as before. In the literal translation, the new name sounds like “Charlie's Weekly” (Charlie is the same as Charlie), in a sense reflecting the background of his existence.
The first issue was released on November 23, 1970. Ten years later, the publication lost popularity among readers and closed, and in 1992 the magazine was successfully restarted. The number of the updated Charlie newspaper was purchased by more than one hundred thousand people.
The French magazine Charlie Ebdo publishes cartoons, articles, columns and various satirical materials. Often materials of a genuinely obscene nature go to print. The editorial staff adheres to extremely leftist and anti-religious views. “Under attack” by Charlie Hebdo are leading world politicians, leaders of religious and public organizations. Repeatedly published cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad and Islam in principle, the presidents of the United States, Russia and other states, terrorist attacks and catastrophes.
Manifesto of the Twelve 2006
In 2006, the French magazine Charlie Ebdo published the Manifesto of the Twelve. The appeal appeared as a reaction to the publication of cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad in Denmark. Caricatures reprinted editions in many other states. Most of those who signed the manifesto are writers from Islamic states. They are forced to hide from the revenge of the supporters of Islam for their statements or works of art that allegedly offend the religious feelings of Muslims. In such aggressive Islamism, the authors of the Manifesto of the Twelve see a totalitarian ideology that threatens all of humanity (after, of course, fascism, Nazism, and Stalinism, as the editors of Charlie claim).
2008 caricature scandal
In 2008, a magazine published a caricature of the son of French President Jean Sarkozy. The authorship belongs to 79-year-old artist Miros Sina (in the professional environment, he is better known simply as Sina). The cartoonist is a staunch communist and atheist.
The caricature did not double-hint at the incident of October 14, 2005, when Sarkozy crashed into a car on a scooter, and then disappeared from the scene of an accident. After a couple of weeks, the court found the son of Nicolas Sarkozy innocent. Cine, in the first place, noted in the signature under the caricature that Jean Sarkozy was “an unprincipled opportunist (a person following his interests, even if by deceit), who would go far.” Secondly, he noted the fact that "the court almost awarded him applause after the accident." Thirdly, Cine concluded that for the sake of a profitable marriage, the son of a politician is even ready to go over to Judaism.
Here is a reference to the details of the personal life of Jean Sarkozy. A young and already quite successful politician married (at that time only engaged) to the heiress of the Darty household appliance network Jessica Sibun-Darty. The girl is Jewish by nationality, so for some time the press spread rumors that Jean would accept Judaism instead of Catholicism.
The management of “Charlie Ebdo” demanded that the artist abandon his “creation”, but Sine did not do this, for which he was dismissed from the editorial staff, as he was accused of anti-Semitism. The editor-in-chief of the French weekly was supported by more than one authoritative public organization. The Minister of Culture of France also criticized the caricature, calling it "a relic of ancient prejudice."
Attack after caricature of a prophet
In 2011, the French satirical weekly Charlie Ebdo was renamed Sharia Hebdo for one issue, jokingly calling it the new (temporarily) chief editor of the Prophet Muhammad. On the cover marked the image of the Prophet of Islam. Followers of Islam found this offensive. The day before the publication of the magazine, the editorial office was bombarded with Molotov cocktails. In addition, a few hours before the incident on Twitter, “Charlie Ebdo” appeared an insulting caricature of the leader of ISIS. As a result of the attack, the building completely burned out.
Reason for another attack
On January 7, 2015, a terrorist act occurred in the editorial office of Charlie Ebdo magazine in Paris. This attack was the first in a series of terrorist attacks that occurred in the French capital from January 7 to 9.
The reason for the attack was the anti-religious rhetoric of the French weekly, ridicule of the religious and political leaders of Islam, religion in general. Discontent among the radical followers of Islam has been growing for a long time. The most resonant caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad were published in 2011 (followed by an attack on the editors) and in 2013 (it was a comic about the life of the prophet). The reason for the attack is another publication. The editorial staff of the magazine published a response to the amateur video “Innocence of Muslims” and riots in Arab countries.
The film "Innocence of Muslims"
The film itself, to the appearance of which the editors of the weekly had nothing to do, was shot in the United States. This is a picture that has clear anti-Islamic rhetoric. There are hints in the video that Muhammad was born from an extramarital affair, was a homosexual, a woman lover, a ruthless killer and a “complete idiot”. The film was directed by Makr Basley Yusuf (also known as Nakul Basel Nakula, Sam Badzhil and Sam Basil) - an Egyptian Christian. He took such a provocative step, as he considers Islam “a cancerous tumor on the body of mankind”. This film was commented even by US President Barack Obama, calling it "rude and disgusting."
The riots began after the trailer of the film was published on the Internet, and several episodes were shown on Egyptian television. In 2012, protests were held at US embassies in Egypt, Tunisia, Australia, and Pakistan (public meetings were bloody, nineteen people were killed and about two hundred participants in the rally were injured) and other countries. The theologian Ahmed Ashush, the Minister of Railways of Pakistan, and radical Islamists called for the murders of the filmmakers and the attacks. The US ambassador and diplomats were killed in Libya, a terrorist attack was committed in Kabul (a suicide bomber blew up a minibus with foreigners, 10 people were killed).
January 7, 2015
At about 11:20, two terrorists, armed with submachine guns, machine guns, a grenade launcher, and a pump-action shotgun, drove up to the weekly archive. Realizing that they had made a wrong address, Said and Sheriff Kuashi took the steps and asked the address of the Charlie Ebdo editorial office from two local residents. The terrorists shot one of them.
Armed people managed to get into the editorial office, as they were helped by an employee of the publication, artist Corinne Rey. She went to pick up her daughter from kindergarten when two people in camouflage appeared in front of the entrance. Karinn Rey was forced to enter the code, the militants threatened her with weapons. The girl later said that the French terrorists were impeccable, and they themselves openly claimed that they were from al-Qaeda.
Armed people burst into the building shouting "Allahu Akbar." The first to be killed was an office employee, Frederic Boissot. After the militants went up to the second floor, where the meeting was held. In the conference hall, the brothers called Sharba (editor-in-chief Stefan Charbonne), shot him, and then opened fire on everyone else. The shots did not subside for about ten minutes.
The police received the first data about the attack at about 11:30. When the police arrived at the building, the terrorists were already leaving the editorial office. The shootout began, during which no one was hurt. Not far from the editorial staff, militants attacked a policeman who was wounded and then shot dead point blank.
Terrorists took refuge in a small town 50 km from Paris. They were eliminated on January 9, 2015.
Dead and wounded
As a result of the attack, 12 people were killed. Among the dead:
- weekly editor-in-chief Stefan Charbonne;
- editor-in-chief bodyguard Frank Brensolaro;
- Police Officer Ahmed Merabe;
- famous cartoonists and artists J. Volinsky, F. Honore, J. Kabyu, B. Verlak;
- Journalists Bernard Maris and Michelle Renault.
- corrector Mustafa Urrad;
- office worker Frederic Boissot;
- psychoanalyst, columnist of the magazine "Charlie Ebdo" (France) Elsa Kaya.
Public outcry after the attack
The French president said that no terrorist attack could drown out the freedom of the press (and Charlie Ebdo’s cartoons or jokes, even if they speak negatively about political or religious leaders, cannot justify the killings), he personally visited the site of the attack. On January 7 evening, a mass demonstration began on Republic Square in Paris as a sign of solidarity with the families and loved ones of those killed or injured in the attack. Many came out with the inscription Je suis Charlie ("I am Charlie") written in white letters on a black background. Mourning was declared in France.
After the attack, a number of media outlets offered the editors assistance. The new issue was released on January 14 thanks to the joint efforts of Charlie Ebdo, the Canal + media group and Le Monde newspaper.
Later, the Paris authorities awarded the satirical weekly the title of “Honorary Citizen of the City of Paris”, decided to rename one of the squares in honor of the magazine and posthumously awarded the editorial staff degrees of the Knight of the Legion of Honor. The organizers of the International Comic Festival awarded the dead cartoonists a special Grand Prix (also posthumous).
Caricatures after the crash of Tu-154
Despite the attack, the magazine continued to work. For example, on December 28, 2016, Charlie Ebdo published a caricature of the Tu-154 disaster near Sochi (92 people died, including members of the Russian Army ensemble, Dr. Lisa, three film crews, the director of the Department of Culture of the Ministry of Defense, military personnel) and on the assassination of the Russian ambassador to Turkey.
Magazine circulation and cost
After the terrorist attack in 2015, 1178 issues were issued with a circulation of three million copies. The weekly sold out in just 15 minutes, so the magazine set an absolute record for the entire history of the French press. The circulation of "Charlie Ebdo" was increased to 5 million copies, later - up to 7 million. In early February, the newspaper was suspended, but a new issue appeared on February 24.
The average cost of "Charlie Ebdo" is an average of 3 euros (a little more than 200 rubles). At the auction, the cost of the new issue (issued immediately after the attack) reached 300 euros, i.e. 20 861 rubles., And that was the last before the attack - 80 000 US dollars (more than 4.5 million rubles).
