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DUBAI, United Arab Emirates – Muslims in the Middle East and beyond on Monday expanded their calls to boycott French products and protests, as clashes intensified over representations of the Prophet Muhammad and limits on freedom of expression.
Kuwaiti stores removed French yogurts and sparkling water bottles from their shelves, the University of Qatar canceled a French culture week, and calls to stay away from the Carrefour supermarket chain were trending on social media in Saudi Arabia. and the United Arab Emirates. Protests have taken place in Iraq, Turkey and the Gaza Strip, and the Pakistani parliament passed a resolution condemning the publication of cartoons of the prophet.
The beheading earlier this month of a French teacher who had shown cartoons of the prophet in class has once again sparked a debate about such depictions, which Muslims consider blasphemous. The growing confrontation is increasing political tensions between France and some Muslim-majority nations, especially Turkey, and could put pressure on French companies. Other European countries have also entered the fray in support of France.
The professor, who was murdered by an 18-year-old Chechen refugee, has been heralded at home as a national symbol of France’s cherished secular ideals and its rejection of any trace of religious intrusion into public spheres.
French President Emmanuel Macron has vigorously defended such representations as protected by the right to freedom of expression. At a memorial to the teacher last week, Macron said: “We will not give up on cartoons.”
On Sunday, it seemed to double. In tweets posted in both Arabic and English, he wrote: “We will never give up.” However, he added that France does not accept hate speech and respects all differences.
His government plans a bill aimed at eradicating what Macron calls “Islamist separatism,” which he says has created a parallel culture in France, one that rejects French laws and norms. While he blamed part of this separatism on France’s brutal colonial past in North Africa, he was quoted as saying that Islam is “a religion that is in crisis throughout the world.”
Macron’s stance has drawn the ire of both ordinary people and some political leaders in the Muslim world.
Qatar University indefinitely postponed its French cultural week, saying its administration finds insults to Islam and its symbols unacceptable. In Kuwait, several stores had recalled French products such as Kiri cheese, Perrier sparkling water and Activia yogurt from their shelves.
The owner of Carrefour stores in the Middle East issued a statement saying that, in the region, the brand is owned and operated by Majid Al Futtaim, based in the United Arab Emirates. The company said it employs 37,000 people and is “proud to be from the region and for the region.”
On Twitter, some criticized what they said is France’s hypocrisy and bias against Muslims. A widely shared cartoon made the argument that cartoons of Muslims are defended in the “West” as fair play under free speech protections, while cartoons of Jews are labeled as hate speech.
Egypt’s top cleric, Sheikh Ahmed el-Tayeb, who is also the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar, the highest seat of learning for Sunni Islam, also accused those who “justify insulting the prophet of Islam” of hypocrisy.
In France, a law aimed at addressing the role of the country during the Nazi occupation specifically mentions that anti-Semitism and Holocaust denial are crimes, but it can also be used to prosecute anti-Muslim discrimination, or hate speech, in general.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has been the loudest in his criticism among political leaders, saying Macron needed his head examined and that he was lost. France responded by recalling its ambassador to Turkey. On Monday, Erdogan also asked the Turks not to buy French products.
Both Jordan and Pakistan have summoned the French ambassador to their countries to express their discontent. Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan accused the French leader of choosing to foster anti-Muslim sentiment.
Amid political criticism, neither Erdogan nor Khan publicly condemned the murder of the French teacher.
While many Muslims bemoan the expectation that they should condemn terrorist attacks that they believe have nothing to do with Islam or its values, the general secretariat of the 57-nation Organization of Islamic Cooperation was among several bodies and groups that have reported the murder.
The dispute is also generating debate within the Muslim world. Diana Moukalled, a Lebanese writer and co-editor of the independent news site Daraj, criticized how some people seem to be more offended by the cartoons than by the beheading of the French teacher.
Muslim scholars have condemned the cartoons, but some also tried to curb the mounting anger.
Saudi Arabia’s high council of clerics issued a statement saying that the smear of the Prophet Muhammad only serves extremists who want to spread hatred. While denouncing the insults against Islam, the clerics also cited the prophet’s “mercy, justice, tolerance” in their statement.
The head of the Saudi Arabia-based Muslim World League, Sheikh Mohammed al-Issa, told a Saudi news channel that while the cartoons are insulting, the influence and status of the prophet are greater than any impact of such drawings. He said Muslims should not overreact.
It is certainly not the first time that France has faced terrorism, nor questions about freedom of expression. Five years ago, French-born Al Qaeda extremists assassinated 12 employees of the satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo in response to the publication of cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad. Those cartoons also sparked mass protests in Muslim-majority countries, and some turned deadly.
On Monday, dozens of protesters gathered outside the French embassy in central Baghdad. One held a caricature of the French president with prints stamped on his face.
A small demonstration was also held in the Gaza Strip in front of the French cultural center with people holding banners displaying photos of Macron with an “X” on his face.
In Pakistan, protesters burned a representation of the French flag and the leader of a radical Islamic party at a rally against France on Friday to mark the birthday of the Prophet Muhammad. Protests are also planned in Bangladesh this week.
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Associated Press journalists Omar Akour in Amman, Jordan, Sarah El Deeb in Beirut, Munir Ahmed in Islamabad, Samy Magdy in Cairo, Samya Kullab in Baghdad, and Fares Akram in Gaza City contributed to this report.
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