The French cartoons newspaper «Charlie Hebdo» did not hesitate to mock in its new issue (last Friday) the victims of the earthquake, which struck central Italy. It mocked the earthquake, which killed 300 people in addition to the injured along with the big destruction and devastation. One of its illustrators made a caricature entitled “Earthquake on the Italian way” in which he pictured three Italian victims as pasta scrambling with ketchup. One of them fraught with blood as “PENNE SAUCE TOMATE” which means pasta with tomato sauce, and another wounded, bloodied as “PENNE GRATINEES” meaning pasta in the oven, and lastly bodies buried under the rubble called “LASAGNES” which is Lazania. These victims of the powerful earthquake were made worthless as the remains of the Italian food dishes.
They are not of the extreme right-wing group, not Muslims nor Christians nor black nor impairments owners, not the enemies of this magazine who used to mock them strongly, ignoring them and picturing them as if they were not human beings and citizens. They are Italians and Europeans before they were earthquake victims, not members of ISIS nor extremists nor from the wilds of the far reaches of the world.
French Newspapers and magazines did not hesitate to criticize the foolishness (as some called it) as if disengages itself from the freedom of expression, which crossed the border and is now an assault on man's inhumanity. This is not at all the freedom of expression, not an act of foolishness also, it's meanness and malice. How can anyone make fun of people and their pain and death? Can anyone make fun of people killed in what looks like a mass slaughter, dead bodies under the rubble?
When offices of «Charlie Hebdo» were attacked by terrorists in the 7/1/2015 and has killed 12 people, including graphic artists and editors, the motto “We are all Charlie Hebdo” spread in France and abroad and was adopted by huge numbers all over the world, including Arabs and Muslims. It was necessary back then to defend the satirical newspaper due to terrorism and takfiri ideology, but make fun of death and suffering of people and picturing them as pasta under the rubbles is certainly not acceptable.
I remember how we supported the newspaper and deplored Takfiri terrorism whose victims was a Muslim policeman in Paris, but this newspaper, which is always seeking to provoke minorities and religions and to ridicule even from the victims of calamities and disasters, claiming freedom, really needs to reconsider the concept of freedom and the meaning of the art of caricature. This art which was found to make fun and educate at the same time and to also address the human eye and mind. This art was not found against man's humanity.