French magazine banned after some say it offends Islam

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
Algeria, Tunisia and Morocco have banned this week's issue of L'Express International, a French news magazine, saying its cover story titled "The Jesus-Muhammad Shock" offended Islam. The title is the same as a book by one of the magazine's chief editors. The newsweekly L'Express said on its Web site that the series of articles comparing Christianity and Islam was inspired by a meeting this week in Rome between Christian and Muslim scholars, which aims to "help the dialogue between Islam and Christianity." L'Express said it did not understand the ban on its international edition in North African countries, particularly because of the pains it took to adhere to Islamic norms. The magazine covered the face of Islam's prophet, Muhammad, with a white veil in side-by-side cover portraits of Jesus and Muhammad, in line with Islamic law. The French edition of the magazine leaves the face uncovered. Officials at Algeria's Information Ministry said they banned the magazine Monday for breaking a 1990 press law that forbids foreign media from publishing "illustrations or accounts ... contrary to Islamic morality or national values."