French media Le Canard enchain has come under fire on social media for issuing controversial cartoons. The cartoon describes the host of the 2022 World Cup, Qatar, as a terrorist.
The cartoon was issued by Le Canard enchain for the October edition yesterday. The issuance also sparked controversy after social media users saw messages related to 'Islamophobia' and 'racism' behind the cartoon.
In this cartoon Le Canard enchaine describes seven men wearing costumes with the writing 'Qatar' on top of the back number. Two of them are all black with faces covered in balaclava, while the other five are in dark blue.
There were also five other men in white between the seven men. The seven men were seen chasing the ball on the sand carrying machetes, firearms, and rocket launchers. One of them even wore a belt full of explosives.
"Le Canard enchain published a despicable cartoon showing her racism and blatant hatred of Islam. They described Qatar as an authoritarian emirate and its national team as a terrorist," wrote someone on Twitter, reported by Al Jazeera, Tuesday, November 8.
"The special issue of Le Canard enchain is related to Qatar. You can't imagine the extent of hatred, the deep insults from France towards Qatar, its people, its government, and its symbols. I wonder why Qatari's ambassador is still in Paris???!!" said another.
Meanwhile, a state minister and president of the Qatari National Library, Hamad Al-Kawari, asked France to show "a little sportsmanship".
"Even satire scathing accepted!! But Canard Enchane decided to use lies, hatred and revenge to attack Qatar and demean it," tweeted Al-Kawari in French.
Qatari's treatment of migrant workers and human rights records has been in the spotlight since they were appointed to host the 2022 World Cup. Some parties even plan to boycott the quadrennial event using these reasons.
Several places in France, including the Paris capital, are reportedly not going to show the World Cup in fan zones citing concerns over violations of migrant worker rights and the social impact of the tournament.
Earlier this month, the International Labor Organization (ILO) said Qatar had made progress in its employment reforms but the challenges in its implementation remained.
Currently reforms have improved working conditions and life conditions for hundreds of thousands of workers estimated at 85 percent of the Qatari population. However, there needs to be additional effort to ensure that all workers can benefit.
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