KUWAIT CITY: Calls to boycott French goods are growing around the Islamic world after President Emmanuel Macron’s comments against Islam and Muslims.
Macron on Wednesday accused Muslims of separatism and vowed not to give up cartoons depicting Prophet Mohammed.
The leader’s comments came in response to the beheading of a teacher, Samuel Paty, a 47-year-old teacher, who was attacked on his way home from the junior high school where he taught in Conflans-Sainte-Honorine, 40km northwest of Paris.
Egypt’s world renowned Islamic institution denounced Macron’s remarks about Islam.
Scholars at Al Azhar University called Macron’s statement ‘racist’.
They say that French President’s remarks have nothing to do with the true essence of Islam.
On Saturday, Jordan’s foreign ministry said it condemned the “continued publication of caricatures of Prophet Mohammed under the pretext of freedom of expression” and any “discriminatory and misleading attempts that seek to link Islam with terrorism.”
In Saudi Arabia, the Arab world’s largest economy, a hashtag calling for the boycott of French supermarket retailer Carrefour was the second most trending yesterday.
Jordan’s opposition Islamic Action Front party called on the French president to apologise for his comments and urged citizens in the kingdom to boycott French goods.
Such boycotts are already underway in Kuwait and Qatar. Many Arab companies began removing French products from their shelves
Images on social media show workers removing French Kiri and Babybel processed cheese from shelves of supermarkets in Kuwait.
Also in Kuwait, the non-governmental Union of Consumer Co-operative Societies, which groups more than 70 establishments, issued a boycott directive in an October 23 circular.
“All French products have been removed from all Consumer Cooperative Societies,” union head Fahd Al Kishti said, adding that the move was in response to “repeated insults” against the Prophet and had been taken independently of Kuwait’s government.
In Qatar, Alwajba Dairy Company and Al Meera Consumer Goods Company said they will boycott French products and will provide other alternatives.
Qatar University announced that it postponed its French Cultural Week in protest.
Before Macron’s comments, he had already sparked a backlash in early October when he said “Islam is a religion that is in crisis all over the world”.
GCC secretary general Nayef Falah Mubarak Al Hajraf called Macron’s words “irresponsible” on Friday, and said they would “increase the spread of a culture of hatred”.
Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan also said yesterday that President Emmanuel Macron had “attacked Islam”.
He separately wrote a letter to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg seeking a ban on Islamophobic content on the site.
France recalled its ambassador to Turkey on Saturday after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Macron needed mental help over his attitude towards Muslims.
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