Signs of economic war between Morocco and Spain

October 29, 2020

Media reports warned of an unprecedented economic war between Morocco and Spain, following the steps taken by the Moroccan authorities to prevent smuggling activities by permanently suspending trade activities via the Ceuta and Melilla crossings.

Madrid recently announced the imposition of a $700 fine against trucks entering the Spanish territory carrying more than 200 litres of fuel, while only monitoring vehicles coming from Morocco.

The Moroccan newspaper Akhbarna reported that these measures coincided with a period of intensive exportation of Moroccan agricultural products to Europe, causing massive losses for international shipping companies, and affecting the delivery dates of cargo to buyers.

According to the newspaper, Morocco responded by announcing a new measure that requires Spanish trucks to show a contract of partnership with a Moroccan company to obtain permission to cross the kingdom’s territory.

If the new regulations are violated, Spanish vehicles will be seized at the Tanger Med port.

This decision came into effect on Tuesday.

Source: Middle East Monitor.

Link: https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20201029-signs-of-economic-war-between-morocco-and-spain/.

Egypt shops take French goods off their shelves

October 28, 2020

A number of Egyptians on social media are calling for the boycott of French products after comments made by the French president following the murder of a school teacher on 16 October.

Samuel Paty was beheaded in a gruesome terrorist attack after he showed caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) to his pupils in France.

In response, France shut down a prominent mosque, closed Muslim aid groups and defended what it said is its right to caricature Islam’s prophet.

In the days following the killing of Paty, two Muslim women were stabbed next to the Eiffel Tower.

Emmanuel Macron has positioned himself as a defender of French secularism and the right to free speech, saying he wants to “build an Islam in France that can be an Islam of Enlightenment.”

He has said he will fight “Islamist separatism” and that Islam is in “crisis all over the world today.”

France’s Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin suggested ethnic food aisles in supermarkets should be closed down.

In response, social media users published lists of French brands and called on consumers to boycott them and for an economic war against France.

A supermarket chain in Egypt, 4 Shopping Mall in Sadat City, has removed French products.

In Bangladesh 40,000 people called for a boycott of French products whilst Pakistan’s parliament passed a resolution urging the government to recall its envoy from Paris.

French goods have been taken off the shelves in Kuwait and Qatar. One restaurant in Doha, Le Train Bleu, no longer use any imported French ingredients for their meals.

Protests have taken place in Iraq, Turkey and Gaza and a number of Arab trade associations have also announced a boycott.

An Iranian newspaper has labelled Macron, the “Demon of Paris,” and a picture of the president and the French flag was burnt outside the French embassy in Baghdad.

In 2006 there was a similar campaign to boycott Danish products and goods after a Danish newspaper published caricatures of the prophet considered offensive.

Source: Middle East Monitor.

Link: https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20201028-egypt-shops-take-french-goods-off-their-shelves/.

Turkish leaders condemn Charlie Hebdo cartoon of Erdogan

October 28, 2020

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkish officials on Wednesday railed against French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo over its cover-page cartoon mocking Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and accused it of sowing “the seeds of hatred and animosity.”

The cartoon could further heighten tensions between Turkey and France, which erupted over French President Emmanuel Macron’s firm stance against Islamism following the beheading of a teacher who showed his class caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad for a free speech class.

The Prophet cartoons upset many in the Muslim world. But it was Erdogan who led the charge against France and questioned Macron’s mental state. France then recalled its ambassador to Turkey for consultations, a first in French-Turkish diplomatic relations.

“We strongly condemn the publication concerning our president of the French magazine, which has no respect to faith, the sacred and values,” Erdogan’s spokesman, Ibrahim Kalin, wrote on Twitter. The Ankara Chief Prosecutor's office launched an investigation into Charlie Hebdo managers over the cartoon, the state-run Anadolu Agency reported. Insulting the president is a crime in Turkey punishable by up to four years in prison.

Erdogan himself said he had not looked at the drawing and had nothing to say about the “dishonorable” publication. “My sadness and anger does not stem from the disgusting attack on my person but from the fact that the same (publication) is the source of the impertinent attack to my dear Prophet,” Erdogan told his ruling party's legislators in parliament.

He went on to criticize France and other Europe nations' colonial past saying: “You are murderers!” Tensions between France and Turkey have mounted in recent months over Turkish actions in Syria, Libya and the Caucasus Mountains region of Nagorno-Karabakh.

The cartoon depicted Erdogan in his underwear holding a drink and lifting the skirt of a woman wearing an Islamic dress. “I condemn this incorrigible French rag's immoral publication concerning our president,” Turkish Vice President Fuat Oktay wrote on Twitter. “I call on the moral and conscientious international community to speak out against this disgrace.”

Macron's stance sparked anti-France protests in Turkey and in other Muslim countries as well as calls for the boycott of French goods. In Egypt, the country's top Muslim cleric called on the international community to adopt universal legislation criminalizing anti-Muslim discrimination and activities.

At a gathering celebrating Prophet Muhammad’s birthday, Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayeb, Al-Azhar’s Grand Imam, also condemned the slaying of the French teacher in Paris as “an odious and painful murder." He said that offending Islam and Muslims has become a tool to mobilize votes. He called the “offensive cartoons” depicting Muhammad “a blatant hostility against this noble religion and its prophet.”

He urged Muslims to resort to peaceful and legal means to “resist hate speech,” and those in Western countries to integrate “positively and consciously” in their societies. Speaking at a Cabinet meeting, Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani also weighed in on the debate.

“If Europe and France are after rights, ethics and culture they have to withdraw from intervention in Muslim affairs,” Rouhani said.

Associated Press writers Samy Magdy in Cairo and Nasser Karimi in Tehran contributed.

France tightens security amid fallout from teacher beheading

October 27, 2020

PARIS (AP) — France is increasing security at religious sites as the interior minister said Tuesday that the country faces a “very high” risk of terrorist threats, amid growing geopolitical tensions following the beheading of a teacher who showed his class caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad.

French diplomats are trying to quell anger in Turkey and Arab nations amid anti-France protests and calls for boycotts of French goods in response to President Emmanuel Macron’s firm stance against Islamism in the wake of the Oct. 16 beheading. European allies have supported Macron, while Muslim-majority countries are angered by his defense of prophet cartoons they consider sacrilegious.

France’s national police have called for increased security at religious sites around the All Saint’s holiday this coming weekend, particularly noting online threats from extremists against Christians and moderate French Muslims.

Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said on France-Inter radio that the terrorist threat remains “very high, because we have a lot of enemies from within and outside the country.” He reiterated plans to try to disband Muslim groups seen as peddling dangerous radical views or with too much foreign financing. He accused Turkey and Pakistan in particular of “meddling in France's internal business."

“There is a battle against an Islamist ideology. We must not back down,” he said. But he insisted that “the Muslim faith has all its place in the republic.” Some members of France’s largely moderate Muslim community are calling for calm, and defending the freedom of expression that the beheaded teacher was seeking to demonstrate.

The prophet cartoons deeply upset many Muslims around the world. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has led the charge against France, questioning Macron’s mental state, and France recalled its ambassador to Turkey for consultations, a first in French-Turkish diplomatic relations.

Tensions between the two countries have mounted in recent months over Turkish actions in Syria, Libya and the Caucasus Mountains region of Nagorno-Karabakh. But this new spat has quickly spread to other countries in Europe and the Muslim world.

Anti-France protests have been held from Bangladesh to the Gaza Strip, Kuwaiti stores pulled French yogurt and bottles of sparkling water from their shelves, Qatar University canceled a French culture week, and Pakistan’s parliament passed a resolution condemning the publication of cartoons of the prophet.

EU officials warn that Turkey’s stance could further damage its relations with key trading partners and its long-stalled efforts to join the EU. “A boycott will only move Turkey even further away from the EU,” European Commission spokesman Balazs Ujvaris said Tuesday, insisting that Turkey needs to respect the terms of its trade deal on merchandise and goods with the EU.

Samuel Petrequin in Brussels and Suzan Fraser in Ankara contributed.

Turkey's Erdogan sues Dutch anti-Islam lawmaker for insults

October 27, 2020

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is suing Dutch lawmaker Geert Wilders after the anti-Islam politician posted a series of tweets against the Turkish leader, including one that described him as a “terrorist.”

The state-run Anadolu Agency said Erdogan’s lawyer on Tuesday filed a criminal complaint against Wilders at the Ankara Chief Prosecutor’s office for “insulting the president” -- a crime in Turkey punishable by up to four years in prison.

Wilders posted a cartoon depicting Erdogan wearing a bomb-resembling hat on his head, with the comment: “terrorist.” Wilders continued posting tweets targeting Erdogan this week amid a growing quarrel between Turkey and European countries sparked by Erdogan’s sharp comments against French President Emmanuel Macron, including remarks questioning Macron’s mental health over his stance on Islam.

Erdogan has persistently sued people for alleged insults since he took office as president in 2014. Thousands have been convicted. More than 29,000 people were prosecuted on charges of insulting Erdogan last year, according to the Birgun newspaper.

The complaint against Wilders, whose political career has been based largely on his strident anti-Islam rhetoric, accused him of using language “insulting the honor and dignity of our president and of targeting Erdogan’s personality, dignity and reputation,” according to Anadolu.

Wilders, who leads the largest opposition party in the Dutch parliament, shrugged off the Turkish criminal complaint and described Erdogan as a “loser.” Wilders has lived under tight security for 16 years due to death threats following his anti-Islam rhetoric.

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte called the move against Wilders unacceptable and said his government would raise the issue with Turkey. “In the Netherlands, we consider freedom of expression as the highest good. And cartoons are part of that, including cartoons of politicians,” Rutte told reporters in parliament.

He added that a legal case “against a Dutch politician that could possibly even lead to a curtailment of freedom of expression is not acceptable.” On Monday, Turkey's Daily Sabah newspaper, which is close to Erdogan, printed pictures of Wilders and Macron, with the headline: “the two faces of hatred and racism in Europe.”

Mike Corder in The Hague, Netherlands contributed.

King, Queen, in phone call, check on Jordanian man, his sister who were attacked in France

10/25/2020

AMMONNEWS - His Majesty King Abdullah and Her Majesty Queen Rania Al Abdullah on Sunday, in a phone call, checked on a young Jordanian man and his sister, residing in France, who were victims of an "irresponsible" attack.

The victim called Muhammad Abu Eid, is French government secondee to work as a teacher at a public school for the Arabic language in the city of Lille, and his sister Heba Abu Eid is also a scholarship awardee from the French embassy in Amman and the French government to acquire a master's degree in international tourism management in France, Heba told the Jordan News Agency (Petra) Sunday evening.

Heba talked about details of the attack on her and her brother during the latter's visit to her in the French city of Angers, where she is studying, and said that a man and a French woman attacked her and her brother "just because they were speaking in Arabic."

She added that the French woman and man chased her and her brother and beat them inside the university dormitory where she resides, explaining that that the recent events following the republication of blasphemous cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad, God's blessings and peace be upon him, is likely the reason behind the attack.

Heba noted that her brother and she were able to escape from the attackers, and informed the police, which in turn initiated an investigation into the incident, followed up on their case after providing first aid in a nearby hospital and obtained a medical report of their health condition.

She stated that the Jordanian embassy staff in Paris, headed by Ambassador Makram Qaisi, responded very quickly to the incident, and are following up on its repercussions with the French authorities, pointing out that a delegation from the embassy visited them in the city of Angers.

Heba described as "very nice surprise" the royal call, which contributed to mitigating the psychological impact her brother and she suffered due to the attack.

Source: Ammon News.

Link: http://en.ammonnews.net/article.aspx?articleno=44289.

Ministry says following up on assault on two Jordanians in France

10/25/2020

AMMONNEWS - The Ministry of Foreign and Expatriates Affairs on Sunday said it was following up with the Jordanian embassy in Paris on an assault incident against two Jordanians in Angers city in western France on Friday.

Ministry Spokesman Daifallah al-Fayez said the two, a man and his sister, are now in good condition and have been contacted the embassy in Paris, which dispatched the Jordanian cultural attache' to their place of residence to check on their health and offer any assistance needed.

He added that the embassy is currently following up on a complaint lodged with French authorities that are currently investigating the incident.

Source: Ammon News.

Link: http://en.ammonnews.net/article.aspx?articleno=44281.