Charlie Hebdo, the satirical French magazine that was the target of a deadly attack today, is part of a long tradition of French satire dating to the days before the French Revolution.
The left-wing magazine is known for its biting takedowns. Its past targets include the political right wing, capitalism, Christianity, Judaism and Islam.
It most recently came to the world’s attention when it published cartoons of Islam’s Prophet Muhammad soon after the deadly 2012 attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi that killed Chris Stevens, the U.S. ambassador to Libya. Initially, it was thought that an anti-Islam film had fanned the violence. The magazine, in its cartoons, referred to that film. At the time, editor Stephane Charbonnier said the cartoons would “shock those who want to be shocked.”
Many Muslims consider the depiction of their prophet to be blasphemous.
A year earlier, Charlie Hebdo’s offices were firebombed after it published an issue that invited the Prophet Muhammad to be guest editor; the issue included an article about what a soft version of Sharia might look like. The magazine was renamed Charia Hebdo for the issue, and its cover included an image of the prophet with the line, “A thousand lashes if you don’t die laughing.”