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Rabat – Kuwait’s Foreign Ministry and other countries and organizations condemned the continuous display of Charlie Hebdo’s caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad amid controversial remarks French President Emmanuel Macron made against Islam.
Retail firms in Kuwait decided on October 23 to remove French products from stores to oppose the recent Islamophobia in France and the “repeated insults” against the prophet, according to Reuters.
On October 16, an 18-year-old student from Chechnya murdered Samuel Paty, a history teacher who displayed caricatures of the prophet in a class on freedom of speech.
The murder ignited outrage in France and triggered a wave of Islamophobia against Muslim communities. A speech by Macron earlier in October also angered Muslims after he said Islam is in crisis worldwide, pledging to enforce several measures against “Islamist separatism.”
Macron also defended Charlie Hebdo’s offensive cartoons as emblems of France’s commitment to freedom of expression.
After Paty’s murder, France’s interior ministry launched a campaign against Islamic associations, cracking down on “extremist” organizations and individuals.
The recent developments in France angered Muslims worldwide, with many now using hashtags on social media to call for boycotts of French products.
Read also: Islamophobia in France: Hashtag Calling for Boycott of French Products Goes Viral
Apart from Kuwait, several countries and organizations condemned Islamophobia and insults to the Prophet Muhammad.
Pakistan takes a stand
Among the countries that recently showed an official stance against Macron’s remarks and the caricatures is Pakistan.
Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan published a series of tweets to condemn Macron’s remarks.
The Pakistani official accused Macron of encouraging Islamophobia.
“Hallmark of a leader is he unites human beings,” the Pakistani PM wrote.
He said that Macron could have favored a healing approach “and denied space to extremists rather than creating further polarization and marginalization that inevitably leads to radicalization.”
The official also denounced how Macron has “chosen to encourage Islamophobia by attacking Islam rather than the terrorists who carry out violence, be it Muslims, White Supremacists or Nazi ideologists.”
Anger in the Arab world
The Kingdom of Jordan also condemned the continued use of the cartoons offending Islam and its prophet in the wake of Paty’s murder.
Saudi Gazette quoted the spokesman for the Jordanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs Daifallah Al Fayez, who expressed Jordan’s condemnation, saying the cartoons’ repeated display “represents an insult to the feelings of nearly 2 billion Muslims.”
The Secretary-General of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Nayef Al-Hajraf also denounced Macron’s remarks on Islam, calling them “irresponsible.”
Like the Pakistani PM, Al-Hajraf also believes Macron’s remarks are fueling hatred between Muslims and French people rather than healing the country after the attack.
Read also: Erdogan Questions Macron’s Mental’s Health After Controversial Remarks on Islam
The general secretariat of the Jeddah-based Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) also decried the continued attacks against Islam in France.
The OIC condemned the beheading of Samuel Paty along with “discourse from certain French politicians, which it deems to be harmful to Muslim-French relations, hate-mongering, and only serving partisan political interests.”
The general secretariat reaffirmed that the OIC will always condemn “practices of blasphemy and of insulting Prophets of Islam, Christianity, and Judaism.”
