Charlie Hebdo developments round up: The crass, intelligent and not so intelligent responses

My feed is overflowing with so many articles about the Charlie Hebdo tragedy that I’m combining several of interest in one post.

World Cartoonists Day

Mylasian cartoonist Zulkifli Anwar Ulhaque (AKA Zunar) has called for a World Cartoonists Day every January 7 as a day of remembrance. Michael Cavna has the story.

Take your Je Suis Charlie and shove it

Charlie Hebdo cartoonist Bernard Holtrop is not impressed with the global outreach of support. (NY Daily News)

Je Suis Charlie? Not so fast. A cartoonist at the Paris-based satirical magazine says surviving Charlie Hebdo employees are unimpressed by the rising tide of worldwide support.

“We vomit on all these people who suddenly say they are our friends,? Bernard Holtrop, a cartoonist for the satirical weekly, told Dutch daily Volkskrant.

Those damn Charlie Hebdo covers!

The Daily Beast has posted 16 of the most shocking Charlie Hebdo covers.

Meanwhile the Hamburger Morgenpost, a newspaper in Germany that republished the Charlie Hebdo cartoons out of solidarity, was firebombed over the weekend. Officials say it’s “too soon” to tell if it was related to the reprint.

Thoughtful words

Jack Ohman, President of the Association of American Editorial Cartoonists, pens “After Charlie Hebdo, a cartoonist?s world has changed”

National Cartoonist Society’s President Tom Richmond suggests “Stay Calm and Keep Cartooning”. He also makes the case why comparing Charlie Hebdo (which I have done) is incorrect:

He writes:

The comparison does not fit. While MAD is not afraid to take on controversial topics like religion (and does), it does so within certain boundaries. It attacks hypocrisy, abused authority, and dishonesty, not the core beliefs that people hide behind when performing those acts. MAD also make fun of Kim Kardashian, the latest Hobbit movie and has jokes about boogers. The cartoonists at Charlie Hebdo ignored boundaries and, in fact, made it a point to obliterate them. Two very different animals, but MAD isn?t without its controversial comments on hot button issues.

Je Suis Molly Norris. Wherever you are

Remember Molly Norris, the cartoonist who suggested a “Everybody Draw Mohammed Day” back in 2010? She’s still in hiding after being placed on a hit list by terrorist leader Anwar al-Awlaki (who has since been killed). (NY Daily News)

Back to business

Libération?s (French newspaper) reporter Isabelle Hanne was allowed to attend the first editorial meeting of the surviving Charlie Hebdo staff.

Tone deaf and stupid

Politico notes that President Obama and his administration, aside from initial statements condemning the shooting, has been largely absent in the show of support for France and its citizens.

Don?t look for the president or vice president among the photos of 44 heads of state who locked arms and marched down Boulevard Voltaire in Paris. Nor did they join a companion march the French Embassy organized in Washington on Sunday afternoon.

Indeed, Obama?s public reactions to the attacks in Paris last week have been muted. His initial response Wednesday to the killing of 12 people at the Charlie Hebdo newspaper offices was delivered as he sat calmly in an armchair in the Oval Office speaking about the ?cowardly? acts and defending freedom of the press. Two days later, as a gunman took hostages and went on to kill four people in a kosher grocery, Obama took a few seconds away from a community college proposal rollout in Tennessee because he said with events unfolding, ?I wanted to make sure to comment on them? ? but neither then nor afterward specifically condemned that attack.

Meanwhile Sarah Palin went on a rant on “Fox and Friends” about the shooting wherein she displayed the ignorance of, well… Sarah Palin, by continuing calling “Charlie Hebdo” “Charlie Brown”. From International Business Times:

The Daily Currant had reported that the American politician, who appeared on Fox News, blasted Islamic extremists for killing the cartoonists behind the “Charlie Brown” comic strip.

They went on to add that the crew of “Fox and Friends”, a morning news show that airs on FOX, were baffled at her tirade, until they realised that she was in fact speaking about “Charlie Hebdo”, which was targeted by militants last week.