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Iran Group Launches $12,000 Contest for Cartoons That Deny Holocaust

A global cartoon competition based on the theme of Holocaust denial was launched in Iran Thursday in response to the Charlie Hebdo magazine cover.
epa04578552 Iranians hold placards reading in Farsi 'Muhammad, we sacrifice our lives for you' during a demonstration condemning decision by controversial French magazine, Charlie Hebdo, to publish a depiction of the Prophet Muhammad, follwoing Friday prayers, Tehran, Iran, 23 January 2015. According to local reports demonstrators once again took to streets shouting slogans such as "We love Muhammad" and "Down with the Zionist France" even as the Iranian Government condemned the attack on the offices of Charlie Hebdo which left 12 members of staff dead, but also criticised the publication's choice to publish depictions of the Prophet, which in many modern interpretations of Islam is considered to be forbidden. EPA/ABEDIN TAHERKENAREH
epa04578552 Iranians hold placards reading in Farsi 'Muhammad, we sacrifice our lives for you' during a demonstration condemning decision by controversial French magazine, Charlie Hebdo, to publish a depiction of the Prophet Muhammad, follwoing Friday prayers, Tehran, Iran, 23 January 2015. According to local reports demonstrators once again took to streets shouting slogans such as "We love Muhammad" and "Down with the Zionist France" even as the Iranian Government condemned the attack on the offices of Charlie Hebdo which left 12 members of staff dead, but also criticised the publication's choice to publish depictions of the Prophet, which in many modern interpretations of Islam is considered to be forbidden. EPA/ABEDIN TAHERKENAREHEPA

TEHRAN — A global cartoon competition based on the theme of Holocaust denial was launched in Iran Thursday in response to the Charlie Hebdo magazine cover that featured a caricature of the Prophet Muhammad, the official news agency Fars reported.

Organized by Tehran-based House of Cartoons and the Sarcheshmeh Cultural Complex, the contest sets out questions for entrants to address in their artwork, including: “If the West says that freedom of speech has no borders then why don’t they let historians and experts properly research the Holocaust?” and "Why should the Palestinian people pay for the Holocaust?”

All cartoons must be submitted by April Fools’ Day because “April 1 is the day of big lies, and the Holocaust is a big lie that the Zionists invented to suppress the Palestinians,” said Masoud Shojaei-Tabatabaii, head of House of Cartoons and one of the competition's organizers.

Holocaust denial is common in certain quarters Iran - most notably by former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad - and for some lawmakers it is appears to be almost an oath of allegiance. However, both President Hassan Rouhani and foreign ministers Mohammad Javad Zarif have publicly rejected Holocaust denial.

It is the second such competition of its kind. In 2006, there were violent protests outside the Danish embassy in Tehran in response to a Danish newspaper depicting the Prophet Muhammad. In response, Iran launched its first holocaust denial cartoon contest and a holocaust denial conference that was attended by American ex-Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke and many neo-Nazis.

Fars said the winner will receive a cash prize of $12,000, the runner-up $8,000 and third place $5,000.

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- Ali Arouzi