'Charlie Hebdo' Puts Prophet Muhammad On Its First Cover Post-Attacks

This article contains the image of the magazine cover, which some may find offensive.

The satirical magazine Charlie Hedbo continues to express its freedom of expression, featuring another cartoon image of the Prophet Muhammad on its first cover since the terrorist attacks.

The new cover features a caricature of the Islamic Prophet shedding a tear while holding a "Je Suis Charlie" sign, which has become the slogan to show support after 12 people died when terrorists opened fire in the magazine's Paris office last week.

"We will not give in otherwise all this won't have meant anything," the magazine's lawyer Richard Malka said. "A Je Suis Charlie banner means you have the right to criticize my religion, because it's not serious."

And while the previous cover image that sparked the attacks was offensive to many, Charlie Hebdo is not bowing down to terrorists; however, they are turning the other cheek. The headline on the new issue reads "All Is Forgiven."

A surviving columnist at Charlie Hebdo, Zineb El Rhazoui who worked on the new issue said she does not hate Chérif and Saïd Kouachi, the alleged gunmen who were armed with AK-47s.

"We don't feel any hate to them. We know that the struggle is not with them as people, but the struggle is with an ideology," she said.

The cartoonist Luz, the same artist who drew a controversial cover image of Muhammad for the magazine three years ago, created the new image. Luz, whose real name is Renald Luzier, survived the attack last week because he was late for work.

The weekly magazine printed up to three million copies of this week's issue, up from its typical 60,000 copies. The eight-page issue will be distributed in 25 countries, printed in 16 languages and will be sold for eight weeks. The French newspaper Libération offered the staff of Charlie Hebdo space to work on the issue following the attack.

Newspapers including Libération, Le Monde and Frankfurter Allgemeine have used Charlie Hebdo's new cover online. The Washington Post, USA Today, LA Times, Wall Street Journal, The Daily Beast and CBS News ran the cover but the New York Times did not.

Seventeen people in total were killed in the three days of violence. About 3.7 people marched in support of Charlie Hebdo and the freedom of expression on Sunday in France.

Photo Credit: Ben Ledbetter, Architect/Flickr