Charlie Hebdo editor differentiates Muhammad cartoon contest from magazine's satire


The editor-in-chief of the satirical French magazine Charlie Hebdo says that unlike the organizers behind a Muhammad cartoon contest in Garland, Texas, his publication never intends to denigrate entire swaths of people.
"When we make a cartoon of the prophet Muhammad, or Jesus, or Moses, we don't mock or attack people," Gerard Biard said Tuesday at an event in New York, according to The Guardian. "We mock or attack institutions, representatives, powers, and, again, political powers."
Organized by anti-Islam crusader Pamela Geller, the Texas event challenged participants to draw caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad. Two gunmen attempted to attack the contest but were shot dead after injuring only one person.
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Distancing himself and his publication further from the contest, Biard added that while Geller "wakes every morning and thinks, 'How can I defy these people?,'" he wakes up wondering, "Where's my coffee?"
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Jon Terbush is an associate editor at TheWeek.com covering politics, sports, and other things he finds interesting. He has previously written for Talking Points Memo, Raw Story, and Business Insider.
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