Saudi Arabia and Many Arab Governments are With French Boycotts. Unlike Turkey, the Saudis and other Arab governments seem to want to spare the cabbage and the goat.
They condemn cartoons of their Prophet Mohammed, but at the same time also terrorism and thus the murder of the French history teacher Samuel Paty. Elsewhere, Muslim groups are calling for protests and a boycott of French products, but this is not common.
Yesterday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called on Muslims to boycott French products.
In Kuwait, Jordan and Qatar, beauty products from France have been removed from the shelves of shops and department stores, but this was not done on the orders of local governments, but by Muslim groups or concerned shop owners who don’t want noise.
A Saudi government spokesman is in between, condemning the publishing and use of cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed, as well as “all forms of terrorism”, without mentioning the murder of French history teacher Samuel Paty.
Or else: the Saudis, like perhaps other governments in the Islamic world, are bored with the issue, but also do not want to be rushed.
Arch-rival Iran has asked the French ambassador for an explanation, calling the French response “unwise” and regretting “that France allows hatred of Islam under the guise of freedom of expression,” Iranian state television said.
Still, the Iranian regime does not seem to be looking forward to a direct clash with Paris, even as pro-Iranian groups argued before the French embassy in neighbouring Iraq yesterday. France plays a vital role in maintaining the Iran nuclear accord and could become an important trade partner for Iran if the US takes it easy on Iran after the elections, as Tehran hopes.
