The Islamic world unleashes its anger against the symbols of the West (including diplomacy), but France is not there and through the weekly satire Charlie Hebdo (which already in November 2011 had challenged Mohammed by changing the masthead to "Charìa Hebdo") launch the counterattack. On the cover that appeared on the site last night, which in the space of a few hours, before being pirated from the web this morning (as happened a year ago, complete with attacks on the headquarters of the newspaper), had already achieved 5 likes on Facebook and over 3 shares, not counting the tamtams on Twitter, in fact, a sarcastic cartoon entitled: "Untouchables 2" stands out.
The disputed drawing depicts an elderly Muslim in a wheelchair pushed by a Jewish peer, and both say: “Faut pas se moquer”, translatable with “Let's not make fun of ourselves”. The cartoon, which according to Le Figaro sold over 75 copies of the paper version on newsstands this morning in the space of two hours (a record circulation is expected, over 200, with an extraordinary re-edition on Friday), is evidently provocative and immediately triggered reactions from the web and also from the political world.
In fact, the French Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault who, interviewed by Rtl radio, first vetoed the request for a demonstration against the anti-Islam film (therefore pro-Islam, the demonstration) "Innocence of Muslims", the original cause of the discord, and then increased the price, when asked about the case of the cartoons, that “France is a country where freedom of expression is always guaranteed, and therefore also that of caricature: we will not be intimidated by a minority of Muslims who want to exploit the situation to create unrest. If someone feels offended or offended, we are under the rule of law and they can always turn to justice”. In support of the premier came his predecessor (and presidential candidate of the largest center-right party, the UMP) François Fillon and, needless to say, the leader of the Front National Marine Le Pen, who blurts out: "A tug of war is not negotiable". President François Hollande is silent for now, while Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius has distanced himself, declaring that the cartoons "do nothing but add fuel to the fire".
But it is to be sworn that, even before the matter eventually reaches the Court, it will leave several aftermaths, also in memory of what happened a little less than a year ago. And even more so if you think that this time, unlike the first, the choice of Charlie Hebdo has divided public opinion, which largely considers it an unscrupulous commercial move, which has gone beyond the boundaries of good taste. “Charlie Hebdo is not Islamophobic – he writes on Twitter Pascal Boniface, director of the Institute of International and Strategic Relations –: he is simply opportunist, cynical and unscrupulous”.
However, this opinion is not shared by most of the French, who generally feel better represented by the editorial of Le Figaro, which even headlines: “Pourquoi Charlie Hebdo sauve l'honneur”. Thus the author Ivan Roufiol makes it a matter of national pride: “Agreeing to apologize to political Islam is a form of submission. I myself find the cartoons of the weekly repugnant, which I however support in its desire to stand up to the Islamists who demand respect by effectively demanding the establishment of the crime of blasphemy”.
“I understand believers – continues Le Figaro -, I too feel the same indignation when the Pope or Christians are ridiculed. But, like most French people, I am a consenting heir of the Enlightenment: which desecrated religions, placing them in the rank of freely criticizable ideologies. And Islam is, when it follows to the letter the violent and sexist dictates of its sacred text, the Koran, built on the cult of the perfect people”.
The fact is, however, that while the issue is being discussed more or less serenely in France and newsstands are being taken by storm, the alarm has already gone off abroad: the government ordered the closure of French embassies, consulates and schools in 20 countries of the Muslim world considered at risk, from the Middle East to Indonesia. Minister Fabius expressed "strong concern".
