25 Oct 2020; MEMO: The hashtag #BoycottFrenchProducts trended on Twitter accounts in Morocco on Friday, following the publication of offensive caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad on the walls of buildings in France.
Moroccan activists widely circulated the hashtag on different social media platforms in response to the caricatures, and following statements made by French President Emmanuel Macron, which provoked Muslims around the world.
Social media users have changed their profile pictures on Twitter and Facebook with the banner “Muhammad the messenger of Allah”, in rejection of statements made by French officials.
ania Lamlahi tweeted: “As a Moroccan, I do not accept the way the French president is behaving towards Islam, so I support the campaign to boycott French products.”
In turn, activist Siham Sark criticised in a tweet the way Macron handled the issue of offensive cartoons: “Despite his allegation that France is a country that guarantees freedoms.”
As for Jalal Aouita, he posted on Facebook: “There is no difference between France in the past and France today except for make-up trends and the night lights of Paris. The same hatred, the same discrimination, the same intimidation, the same mentalities.”
Aouita added: “I purposely published the caricatures so that everyone would be aware of the French decision-makers’ grudge against Islam.”
In a Facebook post, Rabat municipality Consultant Hisham El-Harch posted: “It is a sad day in the history of Muslims, a sad day in the true sense of the word. Has France gone mad?”
El-Harch added: “The cartoons published by the French magazine Charlie Hebdo targeting the Messenger of Allah are displayed on the walls of some hotels in Toulouse and Montpellier in France, after the French president announced that he would not ban these abusive publications.”
France has recently witnessed a controversy over statements made by French politicians targeting Islam and Muslims, following the beheading of a teacher on 16 October.
In recent days, raids targeting Islamic civil society organisations in France have increased following the attack.
On Wednesday, Macron announced in a press statement that his country will not ban the caricatures insulting the Prophet Muhammad and Islam.
