Spanish Magazine Prints Anti-Islam Cartoon
Spanish political satire magazine El Jueves has published a cartoon of the Prophet Mohammad on its cover, soon after violent protests rocked the Muslim world over a U.S. film and French caricatures deemed insulting to Islam.
El Jueves’ latest edition, which hit Spanish newsstands on Wednesday, shows several Muslims in a police lineup under the title “But…does anyone know what Mohammad looks like?”
Any depiction of the prophet is considered blasphemous by Muslims but the issue has also caused a debate in the West about censorship and freedom of speech.
El Jueves up under the title “But…does anyone know what Mohammad looks like?”
The magazine declined to comment to Reuters on Thursday on the motives for the publication.
But in comments to the Huffington Post, editor Mayte Quilez said it was a decision to take a humorous position on a contentious issue.
“If you can’t depict Mohammad, how do you know it is him in the cartoons?” she asked.
Last week, French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo published cartoons of the Prophet Mohammad soon after protests against a film made in the United States provoked a torrent of anti-American unrest in Egypt, Libya and other countries.
The U.S. ambassador to Libya and three other Americans were killed in one of the first protests, on Sept. 11, and 15 people were killed in protests in Pakistan last Friday.
The Spanish Embassy on Wednesday sent a message to its citizens in Egypt asking for caution in the event of any backlash from the El Jueves cartoon but has not said whether it will step up security in other Arab countries.
“We’re still analysing what steps to take,” a foreign ministry source said.
The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.
Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.
This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism you rely on. Make a gift today!
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Dive In
-
Fast Forward Trump administration restores student visas, but impact on pro-Palestinian protesters is unclear
-
Fast Forward Deborah Lipstadt says Trump’s campus antisemitism crackdown has ‘gone way too far’
-
Fast Forward 5 Jewish senators accuse Trump of using antisemitism as ‘guise’ to attack universities
-
Fast Forward Jewish Democratic Rep. Jan Schakowsky reportedly to retire after 26 years in office
Most Popular
- 1
Opinion The dangerous Nazi legend behind Trump’s ruthless grab for power
- 2
Opinion A Holocaust perpetrator was just celebrated on US soil. I think I know why no one objected.
- 3
Culture Did this Jewish literary titan have the right idea about Harry Potter and J.K. Rowling after all?
- 4
Opinion I first met Netanyahu in 1988. Here’s how he became the most destructive leader in Israel’s history.
In Case You Missed It
-
Culture I have seen the future of America — in a pastrami sandwich in Queens
-
Culture Trump wants to honor Hannah Arendt in a ‘Garden of American Heroes.’ Is this a joke?
-
Opinion Gaza and Trump have left the Jewish community at war with itself — and me with a bad case of alienation
-
Fast Forward Trump administration restores student visas, but impact on pro-Palestinian protesters is unclear
-
Shop the Forward Store
100% of profits support our journalism
Republish This Story
Please read before republishing
We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines.
You must comply with the following:
- Credit the Forward
- Retain our pixel
- Preserve our canonical link in Google search
- Add a noindex tag in Google search
See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.
To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.