Why are Middle East countries calling for a boycott of French products?

Team Udayavani, Oct 27, 2020, 11:22 AM IST

Middle East countries are boycotting French goods after French President Emmanuel Macron criticised Islamists and vowed not to “give up cartoons” depicting the Prophet Mohammed.

French President said, “Islam is a religion that’s in crisis all over the world” and vowed not to “give up cartoons” depicting Prophet Muhammad. Macron’s comments came after the beheading of a teacher for showing cartoons of Prophet Muhammad during a class. Caricatures of Prophet Muhammad are forbidden in Islam

Macron’s comment on Prophet Mohammed cartoons garnered widespread condemnation from Muslims around the globe, particularly from Arab countries.

According to Republic, On October 23, non-governmental consumer society in Kuwait called for the boycott of French products. In Doha, supermarkets have started to remove French-made products from shelves in order to register their protest.

However, Macron tweeted, “”We will not give in, ever. We respect all differences in a spirit of peace. We do not accept hate speech and defend reasonable debate. We will always be on the side of human dignity and universal values”

We will not give in, ever.
We respect all differences in a spirit of peace. We do not accept hate speech and defend reasonable debate. We will always be on the side of human dignity and universal values.

— Emmanuel Macron (@EmmanuelMacron) October 25, 2020