Wiesenthal Center Calls "Charlie Hebdo" Hurricane Harvey Cover a Dishonor to the Concept of Free Speech

August 31, 2017

The Simon Wiesenthal Center is condemning the French satirical magazine, Charlie Hebdo, for publishing a cover depicting neo-Nazis and Nazi flags drowning with the headline, “God Exists” and the subhead, “He Drowned All The Neo-Nazis of Texas.” [see below]

“Not so long ago, millions of Americans joined with the French nation and other freedom loving people in expressing solidarity with the ISIS butchery of employees of Charlie Hebdo. The Simon Wiesenthal Center participated in the march that filled the streets of Paris,” said Rabbi Marvin Hier, Founder and Dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Center and Rabbi Abraham Cooper, the Center’s Associate Dean and Director of Global Social Action.

“Now, we suppose, in the name of ‘free speech,’ Charlie Hebdo has succeeded in one cartoon to slander the entire State of Texas by depicting those who drowned in the epic flood that took innocent lives—including a mother ripped from her child by raging currents—as neo-Nazis,” said the Wiesenthal Center officials.

“The truth is quite clear. The citizens of Texas used their freedoms to save thousands of their neighbors with government directives or funds. We are awed and inspired by their heroism,” they added.

“We condemn the artist and editors who hide behind their rights of free speech to bring dishonor to the concept with this garbage,” Rabbi Hier and Rabbi Cooper concluded.

For more information, please contact the Center's Communications Department, 310-553-9036. Join the Center on Facebook, www.facebook.com/simonwiesenthalcenter, or follow @simonwiesenthal for news updates sent direct to your Twitter feed.

The Simon Wiesenthal Center is one of the largest international Jewish human rights organizations with over 400,000 member families in the United States. It is an NGO at international agencies including the United Nations, UNESCO, the OSCE, the OAS, the Council of Europe and the Latin American Parliament (Parlatino).