'Satire' on Italian Earthquake: Charlie Hebdo draws Global Ire
The infamous French Charlie Hebdo has once again stirred controversy when its Friday issue of the magazine dedicated a cartoon to last week’s powerful and deadly earthquake in Italy. The cartoon refers to the town of Amatrice, one of the areas hardest hit by the 6.2 magnitude earthquake. The drawings depicted bloodied victims buried under layers of pasta.
Amatrice is home of spaghetti all’amatriciana, a dish with ingredients such as tomato sauce.
The image in the cartoon shows an injured man and a woman standing next to a pile of rubble from which feet can be seen. Each figure has been named after a pasta dish. The bandaged man is shown under the words “penne tomato sauce,” a woman with burns depicted as “penne gratin,” and the bodies lying beneath the layers of rubble as “lasagne.”
The drawing was titled “Earthquake, Italian-style.” The cartoon goes on to say, “Approximately 300 dead in an earthquake in Italy. It is still unknown if it shouted Allahu Akbar (God is Great in Arabic).”
The Mayor of Amatrice was quick to blast the controversial magazine calling it an “unpleasant and embarrassing satire. "I’m sure it doesn’t correspond to the real sentiment of the French people. Irony is welcome, but you can’t satirize disasters and the dead. We will show the Italian people are a great people, during the emergency and during the reconstruction,” Gazetta del Sudd quoted Mayor Sergio Pirozzi as saying.
The cartoon which is being circulated on social media has attracted huge criticism globally. Many took to Twitter to express their anger over Charlie Hebdo’s cartoon.
When Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten printed caricatures of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) followed by French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, the acts were defended strongly in the west as “freedom of speech.” It was funny when they mocked about a religion, refugees , death of a child fleeing Syria etc. but now it aint funny and people feel offended, right?
WT, That's impractical in actual life. Humans behave differently than the Hippos ............ we must be aware what is happening around us and respond in your capacity in a positive way ............ Is it difficult for you if you eat / drink 20 - 22 times in a day ..... ?
brit, you are playing double game, you are always selective when it comes to criticize.
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You ' ignore it - move on ' in some cases only, others you blame .............
WT: Rightly said.. In today's world, we are all too tready to take offence.. Ignore it and move on..
I couldn't care less about what anybody writes. Let them write what they want. If I don't like it, I ignore it. That's what I normally do with comments of some people on QL, too.
'Sticks and stones .....' .. I may not agree with it. I may find it distasteful and offensive. But, I will still support freedom of speech and freedom of expression
We have no right to say what he did is right or wrong ........ everybody must have a unique feeling for any event that happens around us ........ we are all different from each other when it comes to art ..........