The drawing features a Gaza resident running after a rat and a woman slapping his hand saying “not before sunset.” Published Monday with the title “Ramadan in Gaza”, the drawing by Coco In Release triggered an avalanche of reactions, insults and death threats. The designer Coco, survivor of the attack against Charlie Hebdo in 2015, denounced on Tuesday the wave of hatred targeting her.
The caricature “underlines the despair of the Palestinians, denounces the famine in Gaza”, relentlessly bombed by the Israeli army and where the UN fears widespread famine, “and also mocks the absurdity of religion”, argued Coco Tuesday on X, where she published a “small anthology” of death threats targeting her and her family, as well as the anti-Semitic messages received since its publication.
The publication caused a lot of reaction on the left. Parisian MP Sophia Chikirou (LFI) commented “You won’t get our hatred but you deserve it”, while another LFI MP, Sarah Legrain, judged the drawing “simply filthy”. The national secretary of the PCF, Fabien Roussel, gave his “full support” to Coco. “Forever by your side, and alongside Charlie “, he added.
The designer, who joined Release in 2021 and lives under close protection, saw its editorial support it through the voice of Dov Alfon, the director: “We condemn, we strongly denounce this wave of threats, insults and intimidation, some including death threats which we take very seriously. This violence must not be trivialized. ” A press release of support was to appear in this Wednesday’s edition.