Italy outraged over Charlie Hebdo earthquake cartoons

Italian public opinion has been outraged after French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo published a satirical cartoon about the earthquake that struck eastern Italy last week, killing 294 people and leaving thousands homeless.

The rubble after the terrible earthquake. (Source: Rex)

The angry drawing depicts injured Italians, with the names of traditional Italian dishes as captions, and features people lying under rubble, with the words "Lasagna," a popular Italian dish.

The drawing was printed on the last page of the August 31 issue of Charlie Hebdo magazine.

On the same page, the newspaper ran another line that, according to Italians, was extremely provocative and even satirical of Islam: "I wonder if the earthquake had shouted Allah U Akbar before shaking the earth." Allah U Akbar is a phrase that extremist Islamic terrorists often shout before carrying out suicide attacks.

The mayor of Amatrice, Sergio Pirozzi, called the creation of a caricature of the dead "terrible" and hoped the drawing "does not reflect the true feelings of the French people about the recent earthquake."

"Satire is good, but satire about the dead is insensitive and cruel," he said.

The cartoon caused outrage.

A Twitter user named Francesca wrote that "it is unusual that the French, repeatedly attacked by man, can draw a caricature of us, who are affected by natural disasters."

Another account named Kristina Dream called it a "shame" for Charlie Hebdo.

An online poll by the daily Il Messaggero found that 80% of respondents thought the picture was not a satire but a provocation.

Meanwhile, in a widely read editorial, the Italian version of the Huffington Post website said that Charlie Hebdo had betrayed the Italians who had supported and cried for them when the newspaper was attacked by terrorists in January 2015, killing seven people at the newspaper, including several famous cartoonists.

The newspaper's editorial asserted that Charlie Hebdo had taken advantage of freedom of speech to "stab a knife into the pain" of Italians after the earthquake.

Charlie Hebdo has long been famous for its provocative satirical cartoons and articles that spare no one, including the Prophet Mohammed, the Pope, and French and world politicians./.

According to Vietnamplus