Patrick Chappatte
Patrick Chappatte
Patrick Chappatteis a Lebanese-Swiss cartoonist who draws for Le Temps, Neue Zürcher Zeitungand the International New York Times. Born to a Lebanese mother and a Swiss father he was raised in Singapore and Switzerland. He also worked as an illustrator for the New York Times and as cartoonist for Newsweek. Many of his cartoons reflect events in Swiss and international news, such as the 9/11 attacks, the rise of the Swiss People's Party, and the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. Chappatte lives between...
NationalityLebanese
ProfessionCartoonist
CountryLebanon
You know what they say? They say, 'The print media is dying' - who says that? Well, the media.
Religion and political cartoons, as you may have heard, make a difficult couple, ever since that day of 2005, when a bunch of cartoonists in Denmark drew cartoons that had repercussions all over the world - demonstrations, fatwa, they provoked violence. People died in the violence.
Today, fear of bloodshed is forcing us into recognizing new taboos: those of Muslims.
I don't think any media has to feel obliged to show the cover of 'Charlie Hebdo.'
Every village in Africa now has a cyber cafe.
The big challenge our society faces is that we live in an increasingly open world with increasingly closed communities. This is also due to the evolution of the Internet, where people only read things that won't challenge their beliefs.
Some felt as if 'Charlie Hebdo' was obsessed with its 'Screw Allah' stance. It's a sort of provocation that caused a lot of debates.
Moderate people are able to be moderate and have free speech only because there are some people on the fringe.
A real totalitarianism is at work in the world and wants to impose its views not only on Arab Muslims, but on the West. The same way that they veil women, Islamic radicals want to veil cartoons in the press.
We need to defend absolutely the freedom of speech.
The Internet has empowered us. It has empowered you, it has empowered me, and it has empowered some other guys as well.
Let's not let cartoonists get involved in a war of any kind, except for a war against stupidity.
We have learned the lines of good taste through history and our sense of guilt, be it post-colonial or post-Holocaust.