Irish School Grovels for ‘Subjecting’ Muslim Student to Charlie Hebdo

A multi-denominational school in Limerick, Ireland profusely apologized for “subjecting” a Muslim pupil to a copy of the recent Charlie Hebdo magazine cover depicting an image of Muhammad apologizing on it.

“This picture has caused great insult within the Islam community in Ireland and the world,” said the unnamed mother of the 11-year-old pupil, according to the Irish Times.

The pupil’s classmate brought a copy of the French satirical magazine into school, while the class was having a discussion about the French Revolution and free speech. The cover in question was released a week after Muslim terrorists took the lives of half of the Charlie Hebdo staff in Paris.

The school’s chairman, Richard Allen, said it was an “unfortunate incident.” He said that the school respects “all religions and none.” The Times reports that Allen maintained that the school both believes in right to freedom of speech while recognizing that it comes with responsibility.

The pupil’s mother reportedly said she and other Muslims found it challenging to instill in their children respect for other religions “within our country if our educators are not mindful of the different cultures and religion in our classrooms.”

Charlie Hebdo has published satirical issues on Christianity and Judaism as well.

Follow Adelle Nazarian on Twitter: @AdelleNaz