Everyone has been wondering, but now we know… Charlie Hebdo released their first cover since the mass murder of their staff. The normal press run is about 60,000. This one is planned to be 3 million.
The cover shows the prophet shedding a tear and holding up a sign reading “Je suis Charlie” in sympathy with the dead journalists. The headline says “All is forgiven”.
Zineb El Rhazoui, a surviving staffer at Charlie Hebdo magazine who worked on the new issue, said the cover was a call to forgive the terrorists who murdered her colleagues last week. She also said she did not feel hate towards the brothers Kouachi, despite their deadly attack , and urged Muslims to accept humour.
“We don’t feel any hate to them. We know that the struggle is not with them as people, but the struggle is with an ideology,” she told BBC Radio.
This cover is sure to become the best-selling issue ever of the magazine. More importantly is strikes the perfect tone.