Backlash over French President Emmanuel Macron’s criticism of Islam has intensified after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan questioned his counterpart’s mental health, while Muslims in several countries demand a boycott of France.
Erdogan, who marked his second strong criticism of Macron in two days, said on Sunday that the French president had “lost his mind”, prompting the French foreign minister to withdraw the country’s ambassador in Ankara.
The French debate on Islam deepened after the beheading of a professor who had shown cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad, previously published by a satirical magazine, in a class on freedom of expression. Muslims believe that any representation of the Prophet is blasphemy.
On Friday, the cartoons were screened at government buildings in France. Earlier this month, Macron described Islam as a religion “in crisis” around the world and vowed to introduce a bill in December to strengthen a law that officially separated church and state in France.
Since Friday, social media has been inundated with criticism of Macron in countries from west to east, including the United Kingdom, Kuwait, Qatar, Palestine, Egypt, Algeria, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Turkey.
People express their feelings under the hashtags in English #BoycottFrenchProducts and #Islam and #NeverTheProphet in Arabic.
The social media campaign has prompted several Arab trade associations to announce their boycotts of French products.
The dispute has attracted world leaders as people in Muslim-majority countries organize street protests.
A poster denouncing French President Emmanuel Macron, which reads: ‘Clouds are not damaged by the barking of dogs’, in Nablus, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. [Mohamad Torokman/Reuters]
Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif wrote on Twitter: “Muslims are the main victims of the ‘cult of hatred’, empowered by colonial regimes and exported by their own clients. Insulting 1.9B Muslims – and their sanctities – for the heinous crimes of such extremists is an opportunistic abuse of free speech. It just fuels extremism. “
Muslims are the main victims of the “cult of hatred”, promoted by the colonial regimes and exported by their own clients.
Insulting 1.9B Muslims – and their sanctities – for the heinous crimes of such extremists is an opportunistic abuse of freedom of expression.
It only fuels extremism.
– Javad Zarif (@JZarif) October 26, 2020
PakistanThe Foreign Ministry summoned the French ambassador to Islamabad on Monday to complain about Macron’s comments.
“The seeds of hatred being cultivated today will polarize society and have serious consequences,” Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said in a statement.
The move comes a day after Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan wrote a letter to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg requesting a ban on Islamophobic content, similar to the website’s measures against Holocaust deniers.
My letter to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg to ban Islamophobia, just as Facebook has banned questioning or criticizing the Holocaust. pic.twitter.com/mCMnz9kxcj
– Imran Khan (@ImranKhanPTI) October 25, 2020
Qureshi said Pakistan had urged the United Nations to “take note and act against the hate-based narrative against Islam.”
Protesters held protests on Sunday in war-torn regions Syria still out of government control during which they burned images of Macron, according to the war monitor of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
The men display the victory sign as they pose next to a sign condemning French President Emmanuel Macron depicting him with a pig’s snout and ears. [Omar Haj Kadour/AFP]
Around 70 people protested in LibyaTripoli, the capital, said an AFP correspondent. Some set fire to French flags and stamped photographs of the French president.
“As Muslims, it is our duty to respect all the prophets, so we expect the same from all other religions,” said 56-year-old housewife Fatima Mahmud before the protest in Tripoli. “Demonizing Islam and Muslims is not going to maintain social peace in France.”
In Deir al-Balah in the Gaza StripThe Palestinians burned portraits of Macron, calling his comments “an attack and an insult against Islam.”
“We condemn the comments of the French president … and of whoever offends the Prophet Muhammad, whether with words, actions, gestures or drawings,” said Maher al-Huli, leader of the Palestinian group Hamas.
Palestinians gather to protest the reissue of offensive cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad in Rafah, Gaza [Mustafa Hassona/Anadolu Agency]
In Lebanon, Hezbollah condemned the “deliberate insult” to the Prophet.
Rabaa Allah, a pro-Iran faction in Iraq, He said in a statement that 1.5 billion people around the world had indeed been insulted, and warned that his men were “ready to respond whenever and wherever they wanted.”
MoroccoThe Ministry of Foreign Relations also “strongly” condemned the continued publication of the cartoons, in a statement released by the official MAP news agency.
JordanIslamic Affairs Minister Mohammed al-Khalayleh said that “insulting” the prophets “is not a matter of personal freedom, but a crime that encourages violence.”
Meanwhile, Jean-Luc Melanchon, leader of the left-wing France Unbowed France party and a member of parliament, also attacked Macron.
“Macron has totally lost control of the situation. Because of Erdogan’s statements, France is degraded, humiliated and ridiculed. What is Macron’s strategy? What do you plan to do besides tweet? “
Macron totally lost control of the situation. For the declarations of Erdogan, France is abasement, humbled and ridiculed. What is Macron’s strategy? What compte-t-il faire à part des Tweets? #FranceInter
– Jean-Luc Mélenchon (@JLMelenchon) October 26, 2020
But the French president found support in some leaders of the European community.
Sunday the European UnionForeign policy chief Joseph Borrell said Erdogan’s words were “unacceptable” and called on Turkey to stop “this dangerous spiral of confrontation.”
Les propos du Président @RTErdogan à l’égard du Président @EmmanuelMacron they are unacceptable. Appel à la Turquie à cesser cette spirale dangeruse de confrontation.
– Josep Borrell Fontelles (@JosepBorrellF) October 25, 2020
Also in response to comments, European Commission Vice President Margaritis Schinas said on Twitter: “I’m sorry to disappoint you, but this is our way of life as defined in our Treaty. The European way of life ”, as he added a screenshot of an article of the treaty that defines the fundamental values of the EU.
Sorry to disappoint you, but this is our way of life as defined in our Treaty. The European way of life. https://t.co/5V8wVqnWGZ pic.twitter.com/peKQi0ovW7
– Margaritis Schinas (@MargSchinas) October 25, 2020
“Actually, this is their way of life now,” Turkey’s Foreign Minister Fahrettin Altun replied, posting a link on Twitter suggesting that Frontex, the EU agency in charge of border control, has been complicit. of illegally pushing back refugees.
Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis also said on Sunday that “hate speech directed at France by Turkish leaders is unacceptable, it fuels religious hatred.”
Actually this is your way of life now: https: //t.co/tdMjqkR554 https://t.co/HHEWYD044O
– Fahrettin Altun (@fahrettinaltun) October 25, 2020
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