Charlie Hebdo has once again caused outrage with a cartoon of Aylan Kurdi, the little Syrian boy whose drowned body washed up in September on a Turkish beach, in the latest indication that its caustic brand of humor is disgusting.
In the latest issue of the French satirical weekly, published on Wednesday, cartoonist and chief editor Laurent Sourisseau, known as Riss, sketched a pervert in pursuit of a woman under a banner that reads, “What would have become of little Aylan if he grew up?” alluding to a rash of assaults targeting women at New Year’s festivities in Cologne, France, that has been blamed on migrants and has triggered xenophobic reactions across Europe.
“It’s disgusting,” Tima Kurdi, Aylan’s aunt wrote in a Twitter message about the cartoon, reports france24.com
Kurdi, who recently helped her brother and his family to resettle in Canada, also told public broadcaster CBC: “I hope people respect our family’s pain.”
The drawing prompted sharp criticism on social networks and revived a debate about whether the cartoon is overtly racist.
The father of a drowned Syrian toddler wept when he saw the cartoon and said the family is “in shock.”
“When I saw the picture, I cried,” Abdullah Kurdi told AFP, adding: “My family is still in shock.”
He also said in a written statement that the cartoon was “inhuman and immoral” and as bad as the actions of the “war criminals and terrorists” who have caused widespread death and displacement in Syria and elsewhere.
Abdullah’s three-year-old son Aylan’s body was photographed lying face down on a Turkish beach after he drowned on the crossing to Greece, a bleak image that helped focus international attention on the plight of refugees making the perilous journey to Europe. Aylan’s four-year-old brother and his mother also died in the incident.
The ABC’s Middle East correspondent Sophie McNeill said on Twitter the cartoon was “outrageous.” The magazine, contacted Thursday by AFP, declined to comment.
