Three questions on the boycott of French products by part of the Muslim world

"We will not give up cartoons, drawings."

This sentence pronounced by Emmanuel Macron on Wednesday evening during the national tribute to Samuel Paty, victim of the Conflans-Sainte-Honorine attack, set fire to the powders with Turkey and part of the Arab-Muslim world.

Several boycott calls emerged on social networks on Friday with hashtags in Arabic calling for no longer buying products from France.

More than 200,000 tweets relayed these calls in 24 hours. 

Which countries are affected?

Besides

, with which tension has been mounting since Emmanuel Macron's speech on "Separatisms", the populations of

,

and even

are among the many countries to have followed the boycott.

For its part,

, which brings together Muslim countries, deplored "the words of certain French officials liable to harm Franco-Muslim relations".

In the

, the head of the Algerian Islamist party Front de la justice et du développement Abdallah Djaballah called for a boycott of French products and requested the summons of the French ambassador.

In

, the opposition party Istiqlal (center right) denounced "the repeated persistence in publishing the cartoons insulting against the prophet" Muhammad as well as the "stigmatizing statements of Islam which affect the common religious sentiment of Muslims of the world, primarily those of France ".

In the Middle East, a symbolic call for a boycott also took place in Bab al-Hawa, a border crossing point in northwestern

, in rebel hands and where few French products reach.

As this movement gathered momentum on Saturday, Turkish President Erdogan once again tackled Emmanuel Macron: "Everything we can say about a head of state who treats millions of members of different religious communities from this way, it's: go get some mental health exams first. "

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What are the consequences of this movement?

This boycott is already having very concrete effects in these countries.

In

for example, the distribution chains Al-Meera and Souq Al-Baladi have announced that they are "withdrawing" French products from stores until further notice, in particular the widespread St Dalfour jam.

The University of Qatar for its part announced the postponement of the French cultural week following "the deliberate attack on Islam and its symbols". 

But that's not all, in Kuwait images have circulated on social media showing the removal of Kiri and Babybel products from shelves, while some 430 travel agencies across the country have suspended bookings for flights to France.

In Israel, around 200 people gathered in front of the residence of the French Ambassador to

.

And, in the Gaza Strip, demonstrators burned photos of the French president. 

Photo credit: OMAR HAJ KADOUR / AFP

In the

locality

of El Kamour, at the gates of the Sahara, an anti-France parade brought together a few dozen people on Sunday, according to images released by a local collective.

In

, Rabaa Allah, the latest of the pro-Iran armed factions - and the most powerful - said he was ready "to respond", without further details, after what she called "an insult to a billion and a half of people ". 

French reaction

France on Sunday called on the governments of the countries concerned to "put an end" to calls for a boycott, coming from a "radical minority", also asking them to "ensure the security" of French people living on their soil.

"The boycott calls are pointless and must cease immediately, as well as all the attacks directed against our country, instrumentalized by a radical minority," the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

The ministry deplored that "in several countries of the Middle East have developed in recent days calls to boycott French products, especially agrifood, as well as more generally calls to demonstrate against France, in sometimes hateful terms, relayed on social networks ".

These calls "distort the positions defended by France in favor of freedom of conscience, freedom of expression, freedom of religion and the refusal of any call to hatred," said the ministry.

We will continue.

We will always stand on the side of human dignity and universal values.

- Emmanuel Macron (@EmmanuelMacron) October 25, 2020

On Sunday evening, the French president posted several tweets, also in English and Arabic, stressing his rejection of "hate speech" and that he will continue to defend "reasonable debate".

"Freedom, we cherish it; equality, we guarantee it; fraternity, we live it with intensity. Nothing will make us retreat, ever", wrote the Head of State. 

"Our history is that of the fight against tyrannies and fanaticisms. We will continue," he tweeted, before adding: "We respect all differences in a spirit of peace (...) We will stand by always on the side of human dignity and universal values ​​".