Another cartoon… another tantrum?

zapiro.jpg

The Times of South Africa reports that “the Muslim community” has been offended by another cartoon. Jonathan Shapiro, aka Zapiro, drew the above cartoon in defence of a columnist who had supported the right of Satanists to believe what they want.

Can you see why Muslims were upset? Yes, that’s right – the letter L box contains a depiction of Allah, their imaginary deity. He is sandwiched in between Jehovah and The Man in the Moon.

I do these things because I believe in freedom of expression,

said the unrepentant Zapiro.

So far the protests have amounted to nothing more than a flurry of angry text messages. A group calling itself The Muslim Judicial Council is “drafting a response”.

(Hat tip The Comics Reporter)

UPDATE: (10 Dec) The editor of The Star, Moegsien Williams, has apologised, saying he would have censored the cartoon had he seen it before publication. The Johannesburg-based Jamiatul Ulama has graciously accepted the apology for what it had described as “a distasteful affront to our religious beliefs”, and has declared the issue closed.

The multiple-award-winning Zapiro himself has not yet commented, saying he wanted to speak to Williams first.


2 Responses to “Another cartoon… another tantrum?”

  1. tom p says:

    He’s wrong though – there’s plenty of evidence that Alice Liddell, the eponymous Alice from Alice in Wonderland, did exist and that it was she who Carroll was writing about. There’s even photographs.