Justice

People Are Freaking out About This Cartoon Comparing Muslim Women to Terrorists

March 31st 2016

In light of recent terror attacks that struck Europe in recent months, a cartoon depicting Muslim women as terrorists is drawing outrage on social media.

Plantu cartoonFacebook/Plantu [official page] - facebook.com

The cartoon titled "Dolce and Gabbana launches a new collection of hijabs" was created by French cartoonist Plantu. It first appeared on a blog for Le Monde, a French newspaper, and Plantu's social media pages.

According to BuzzFeed, Plantu's illustration is in response to the Italian designer's new line of hijabs and abayas for Muslim women. The cartoon depicts two women wearing fashionable hijabs while one of them is wearing a belt of explosives. Then one says to other, "When will the fashion belt be out?"

The cartoon quickly drew some criticism from social media users, claiming that Plantu's illustration is Islamophobic and unfairly targets Muslim women. These are some of the comments, which were translated from French to English.

Facebook/ Plantu [official page] - facebook.com

Facebook/Plantu [official page] - facebook.com

Facebook/Plantu [official page] - facebook.com

Facebook/Plantu [official page] - facebook.com

Coincidentally, Plantu is the same artist responsible for the iconic cartoon that emerged from the terrorist attack at Brussels Zaventem airport last week. The image, which depicted France embracing a very somber Belgium, became a global symbol of solidarity that was shared across the world.

Although praised for that cartoon, Plantu is known to cause controversy with other provocative illustrations. In 2013, he received backlash after one his cartoons made similarities between trade unionists and Islamists, according to BuzzFeed.

But his latest cartoon comes at a time when Europe is subject to increased terrorist activity and anti-Islamic sentiments.

Last week, more than 30 people lost their lives in a terrorist attack in a Brussels airport. And in November, more than 120 people were killed when terrorists struck the city of Paris. And in February, a string of anti-Islam protests broke out in Germany, France, Poland, the Czech Republic, Ireland, Denmark, Finland and Estonia according to the Wall Street Journal.

Germany's social group "Patriotic Europeans against the Islamization of the West," or Pegida, has become a hub for anti-Islamic sentiments since 2014, and have inspired protests across Europe rallying against Islam, Reuters reports.

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