A Charlie Hebdo cartoon depicting drowned Syrian child Aylan Kurdi, published the week of September 9, 2015. (Charlie Hebdo)
ARBIL, Iraq — The father of a drowned Syrian toddler wept when he saw a cartoon depicting his son as an adult involved in sexual harassment, and said Saturday that the family is “in shock.”
“When I saw the picture, I cried,” Abdullah Kurdi told AFP by telephone, adding: “My family is still in shock.”
He also said in a written statement that the cartoon in French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo was “inhuman and immoral” and as bad as the actions of the “war criminals and terrorists” who have caused widespread death and displacement in Syria and elsewhere.
Abdullah’s three-year-old son Aylan’s body was photographed lying face down on a Turkish beach after he drowned on the crossing to Greece, a bleak image that helped focus international attention on the plight of refugees making the perilous journey to Europe.
A paramilitary police officer carries the lifeless body of Aylan Kurdi, 3, after a number of migrants died and a smaller number were reported missing after boats carrying them to the Greek island of Kos capsized, near the Turkish resort of Bodrum early Wednesday, September 2, 2015. (AP/DHA)
Aylan’s four-year-old brother and his mother also died in the accident.
Get The Times of Israel's Daily Editionby email and never miss our top stories
Charlie Hebdo ran a cartoon depicting Aylan as a man chasing after a woman with a caption asking: “What would have become of small Aylan if he grew up?”
“Someone who gropes asses in Germany,” it said, alluding to a rash of crime targeting women at New Year’s festivities in Cologne that has been blamed on migrants.
New Charlie Hebdo cartoons depicting drowned Syrian child Aylan Kurdi, published in the magazine’s issue of September 9, 2015. (Charlie Hebdo)
The Charlie Hebdo drawing has triggered sharp criticism on social networks while Aylan’s relatives in Canada expressed “disgust.”
Advertisement
The magazine, contacted Thursday by AFP, declined to comment.
Help us report truthfully on social media
As a multimedia journalist, my job is to take the quality, fact-based journalism produced by The Times of Israel newsroom and make it accessible across every platform — from Instagram posts to podcasts to short-form videos.
This is how many, especially young people, consume news these days. But misinformation is rampant on social media. Our team at ToI produces accurate, responsible short-form reporting on Israel and the Jewish world.
If you believe in the importance of factual social media journalism, please consider joining our reader support group, The Times of Israel Community. Your financial support is essential to sustain responsible multimedia reporting.
We’re really pleased that you’ve read X Times of Israel articles in the past month.
That’s why we started the Times of Israel - to provide discerning readers like you with must-read coverage of Israel and the Jewish world.
So now we have a request. Unlike other news outlets, we haven’t put up a paywall. But as the journalism we do is costly, we invite readers for whom The Times of Israel has become important to help support our work by joining The Times of Israel Community.
For as little as $6 a month you can help support our quality journalism while enjoying The Times of Israel AD-FREE, as well as accessing exclusive content available only to Times of Israel Community members.
Thank you, David Horovitz, Founding Editor of The Times of Israel
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on Google
