France Shuts Down Embassies and Schools in 20 Countries over Publication of Muhammad Cartoons

The French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo is similar to the show South Park, in that the writers love to poke at people's most cherished beliefs (often in the most offensive way they can think of). But the Hebdo writers are different from their American counterparts in one crucial respect: they refuse to back down from threats and intimidation. The result? Charlie Hebdo has published cartoons of a naked Muhammad. (You can view the cartoons here.)

While Christians wouldn't like cartoons that insult Jesus, and Jews wouldn't like cartoons that insult Moses, and "New Atheists" wouldn't like cartoons that insult Richard Dawkins, I can't imagine any government in the world raising an eyebrow about cartoons that lampoon Jesus, or Moses, or Dawkins, no matter how offensive. But when someone draws cartoons of Muhammad, the country where the cartoons are printed now has to shut down embassies and schools around the world, to keep their people from being slaughtered by followers of the Religion of Peace.

And yet we'll all keep reciting the same politically correct mantra: "Islam is no different from any other religion."

PARIS — A French magazine ridiculed the Prophet Mohammad on Wednesday by portraying him naked in cartoons, threatening to fuel the anger of Muslims around the world who are already incensed by a film depicting him as a womanizing buffoon.

The French government, which had urged the magazine not to print the images, said it was temporarily shutting down premises including embassies and schools in 20 countries on Friday, when protests sometimes break out after Muslim prayers.

Riot police were deployed to protect the Paris offices of satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo after it hit the news stands with a cover showing an Orthodox Jew pushing the turbaned figure of Mohammad in a wheelchair. On the inside pages, several caricatures of the Prophet showed him naked.

Reacting to the publication, Essam Erian, acting head of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice Party, told Reuters: “We reject and condemn the French cartoons that dishonor the Prophet and we condemn any action that defames the sacred according to people’s beliefs.”

Calling for a UN treaty against insulting religion, he added: “We condemn violence and say that peaceful protests are a right for everyone. I hope there will be a popular western and French reaction condemning this.” (Continue Reading.)