French Magazine Now Publishes Photo of Muslim Kissing Another Man

A firebombing clearly isn't enough to dissuade the French satire magazine Charlie Hebdo from publishing controversial and offensive Islamic cartoons. In fact, the publication, working remotely after its headquarters was destroyed, has upped the ante.

A new cover image depicts a Muslim man (which may or may not be the prophet -- we're unsure) engaged in a homosexual kiss with a cartoonist. Here's the picture:

This new image, which may prove even more controversial than the original, could potentially create more controversy for the magazine. The Guardian reports, "On the front page of the latest edition is a drawing of a male Charlie Hebdo cartoonist passionately kissing a bearded Muslim man, under the headline: L'Amour plus fort que la haine (love is stronger than hate)."

In the background, you will also notice some blue and grey objects. These are intended to represent the damage caused by the bombing. Clearly, the editors and cartoonists are sending a message: They aren't giving up on their free speech rights.

Now, there's no indication that the man drawn in the cartoon is Muhammed, although some have speculated that it is; perhaps the magazine is purposefully keeping it ambiguous. Either way, Charlie Hebdo's staff don't seem ready to throw in the towel on their apparent penchant for poking fun at Islam.

In addition to losing its headquarters, the magazine's web site was taken down by Turkish hackers. But that, too, apparently posed no real barrier, as a new blog was setup to temporarily replace Charlie Hebdo's former web presence. Since the attack on their headquarters, employees have been working from the offices of the French daily Liberation newspaper.

Following the incident, Luz, the cartoonist who put the original image together, didn't seem prepared to blame Islamic extremists for the attacks. He wrote, "Let's be cautious. There's every reason to believe it's the work of fundamentalists, but it could just as well be the work of two drunks." 

In reference to the new cartoon, Gawker's Seth Abramovitch says, "This is not going to end well." Considering recent happenings, he may be correct. But -- let's hope he's wrong.

(H/T: Gawker)