Queen Rania of Jordan has hit out with total class at Charlie Hebdo’s Alan Kurdi cartoon.
The drawing showed Alan, the drowned Syrian refugee whose death shook Europe out of inertia, as an adult chasing a woman.
It was paired with a caption saying the two-year-old would have grown up into a ‘groper’ in Germany.
The cartoon referred to two horrific incidents – the death of Kurdi,
whose tiny body washed up on a Turkish beach last year, and the New
Year’s Eve sex attacks in Cologne.
Unsurprisingly, people were outraged – and Charlie Hebdo was widely accused of racism.
While these were valid responses, it’s fair to say Queen Rania – one
of the most well-known monarchs in the Arab world – reacted in the best
possible way.
She tweeted out a different cartoon – this one drawn by
Jordanian artist Osama Hajjaj – which showed an alternative future for young Alan, who was initially referred to as Aylan.
Responding to the backlash, Charlie Hebdo claimed it was satirising Islamophobia.
However, many called the image ‘disgusting’ – including Alan’s relatives in Canada. (Source: Metro)
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