Malik Yahya/
Islamic nations, including Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, Turkey, and Pakistan are calling for the boycott of French products as widespread condemnation trails President Emmanuel Macron’s support for secular laws that deem caricatures depicting the Prophet Muhammad as protected under freedom of speech.
Supermarkets in Kuwait have reportedly boycotted French products; Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has also called for the boycott, and the Malaysian government, on behalf of Muslims worldwide has sent a copy of Shama’il as an official diplomatic gift to the government of France.
Pakistan’s parliament also passed a resolution urging the government to recall its envoy from Paris.
In Bangladesh, around 10,000 people rallied in the South Asian nation’s capital on Tuesday to protest Macron’s staunch support of secular laws that deem caricatures depicting the Prophet Muhammad as protected under freedom of speech.
Protesters from the conservative Islami Andolon Bangladesh group, which supports the introduction of Islamic law in the Muslim-majority country, carried banners and placards reading: “All Muslims of the world, unite” and “Boycott France.” It was the largest protest yet against the cartoons in recent days.
Some carried Macron’s portraits with an “X” on his face. One protester carried a cutout image of the French president with shoes around his neck as a sign of insult.
Saudi Arabia condemned cartoons offending Prophet Mohammad but held back from echoing calls by other Muslim states for action against images being displayed in France of the Prophet.
A foreign ministry official also says in a statement that the Gulf state condemns all acts of terrorism, an apparent reference to the beheading of a Paris teacher who showed cartoons of the Prophet in a class on freedom of speech.
“Freedom of expression and culture should be a beacon of respect, tolerance and peace that rejects practices and acts which generate hatred, violence and extremism and are contrary to coexistence,” says the statement carried by state media.
Saudi Arabia’s daily Arab News on Tuesday cited the head of the Saudi-based Muslim World League, Mohammed al-Issa, as cautioning that an over-reaction “that is negative and goes beyond what is acceptable” would only benefit “haters”.
The images of the Prophet were first published years ago by a French satirical magazine, whose editorial offices were attacked by gunmen in 2015, killing 12 people. Since the beheading of the teacher this month, the cartoons have been displayed in France in solidarity, angering some Muslims.
In Saudi Arabia, calls for a boycott of French supermarket chain Carrefour was trending on social media, though stores Reuters visited in Riyadh on Monday seemed busy as normal. A company representative in France said it had yet to feel any impact.
United Arab Emirates-based Majid Al Futtaim, which owns and operates Carrefour supermarkets across the Middle East, said the chain supported regional economies by sourcing most items from local suppliers and employing thousands of people.
“We understand that there is some concern among consumers across the region at present and we are monitoring the situation closely,” it says in a statement.
In Kuwait, some supermarkets have pulled French products.
0