The French satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo was attacked last Wednesday morning by a group of terrorists. The attackers stormed the newspaper because they were upset that the newspaper had published comics making fun of Islamic extremism by featuring the prophet Muhammad. Traditionally, the Muslims believe that Muhammad should not be depicted because they didn’t want people to worship false idols. The terrorists thought it was wrong because they thought they were making fun of their religion. The newspaper had been firebombed and threatened in 2011 because they joked that Muhammad was the “guest editor” of an issue of the paper. On Wednesday the terrorist group killed 12 people at the newspaper and later killed a police woman. Four more people were killed in a Jewish kosher grocery store on Friday when they were taken hostage by a terrorist that was part of the group. This has raised important questions about freedom of the press and freedom of speech. People around the world have supported the French people by using the slogan “Je suis Charlie,” which means “I am Charlie.” Cartoonists around the world created drawings supporting the right of free speech and remembering their lost colleagues from Charlie Hebdo. Here are a few you should check out: MacLeod Drawing and Rafael Mantesso Drawing. On Sunday, France held a unity march where 1.3 million people came from around the world to protest against the terrorists and for freedom of speech. This was the largest demonstration in French history. Many world leaders came to the march including: French President Francois Hollande, British Prime Minister James Cameron, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, Jordanian King Abdullah II and Queen Rania, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
For more drawings go to http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/france/11331506/Cartoonists-show-solidarity-after-Charlie-Hebdo-attack.html?frame=3161159
