© RITZAU SCANPIX/Martin Sylvest via REUTERS
A German feminist artist who has been honored by a journalist group for her caricatures, is now facing a fiery backlash over a series of "racist" and "Islamophobic" cartoons -
many of them relentlessly poking fun at Sharia law.
Franziska Becker's works have come under the spotlight after the Female Journalists Association (
Journalistinnenbund) awarded her a prize for her "keen-witted and sharp-tongued" depiction of men and women.
The group hailed Becker as "one of the most prominent, feminism-oriented successful personalities" - but the praise hit a nerve with some Germans.Criticism began amassing on social media shortly after news of the award broke. Sibel Schick, a contributor to women's
Missy Magazine and TAZ outlet - and, ironically, a self-described pro-choice feminist - was one of the first to
post some of Becker's cartoons which she dubbed "anti-Islam and racist."
One caricature depicts a kindergarten where children - girls all wearing headscarves - are seen playing with toy "suicide" trucks or hijacked planes. Others are building a mosque and erecting a minaret.
Comment: The Daily Record reports the explosion and flash of light came from a high voltage underground cable fault: