Even earlier, in 1993, launched a caricature competition asking cartoonists to draw Satanic Verses’ author Salman Rushdie in order to “depict the veritable conspiracy concealed behind the blasphemous novel”. The winner would receive 160 gold coins. In response, Charlie Hebdo published 20 satirical cartoons about the Islamic Republic. In the end, without the competition launched by the Iranian ayatollahs who wanted to lampoon Rushdie, we might never have had the idea, 13 years later, of publishing the caricatures of Mohammed nor today those of the current Supreme Leader. For that one reason at least, we can thank them!
