The attack on the French satirical publication Charlie Hebdo has prompted a multitude of questions. Here’s a brief guide by the staff of PRI’s The World.
Question: What is Charlie Hebdo?
A: The satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo was founded in 1969 and published until 1981, when it folded. It was revived in 1992. Its name derived from the “Peanuts” cartoons featuring Charlie Brown, not that of then-French leader Charles de Gaulle, says journalist and former cartoonist Benjamen Walker, who’s currently in Paris.
Q: This isn't the first attack on the magazine. What prompted the firebombing that destroyed its Paris offices in 2011?
A: Using the Prophet Muhammad as “guest editor” and depicting his image on the cover of the same issue. The issue threatened 1,000 lashes to people who didn’t think it was funny. The firebombing was just one attack; the magazine had been threatened by Islamic militants since it republished a Danish cartoon of Muhammad in 2006, and a high alert was declared after threats in 2012.