Arab condemnations of French President Emmanuel Macron’s insulting statements of Islam and Muslims continued on Sunday, amid growing calls for boycotting French products.

Macron on Wednesday said he won't prevent the publishing of insulting cartoons of Prophet Muhammad under the pretext of freedom of expression, a statement that sparked outrage in the Arab and Muslim world.

In Egypt, the Grand imam of Al-Azhar, Sheikh Ahmad el-Tayeb termed the anti-Islam remarks as a “systematic campaign to drag Islam into political battles”.

“We don’t accept to see our symbols and holy sites being a victim to cheap bargaining in electoral battles,” he said in a statement.

In Libya, Mohammad Zayed, a member of the Presidential Council, condemned Macron’s insults against Islam. “Prophet Muhammad’s status will not be affected by malicious statements or trivial drawings,” he said.

Yemeni Minister of Religious Affairs Ahmad Attiya retweeted calls for boycotting French products in response to the anti-Islam campaigns.

In Jordan, the Muslim Brotherhood group described Macron’s statements as "an aggression on the [Islamic] nation and amounted to malice and hateful racism".

In northern Syria, scores of civilians demonstrated in protest of Macron’s statements and the republications of the anti-prophet cartoons.

Protesters in the cities of Jarabulus and Tell Abiad burned photos of Macron and held banners defending the prophet.

"Islam is a religion of peace and has no place to terrorism, France is the source of terrorism,” said Wael Hamdu, head of the Tell Abiad local council during the protest. “We didn't forget the killing of 1.5 million people in Algeria by France.”

In recent weeks, Macron attacked Islam and the Muslim community, accusing Muslims of "separatism". He described Islam as a “a religion in crisis all over the world".

This coincided with a provocative move by Charlie Hebdo, a left-wing French magazine infamous for publishing anti-Islamic caricatures, which have drawn widespread anger and outrage across the Muslim world.

Earlier this year, the Charlie Hebdo magazine republished cartoons insulting Islam and Prophet Muhammad.

The caricatures were first published in 2006 by a Danish newspaper Jylllands Posten, sparking a wave of protests.

EU Rebukes Erdogan's Remark Macron Needs Mental Treatment Over Attitude to Muslims

Emmanuel Macron has landed in Erdogan's crosshairs over promising the French government would stay strong against the Islamist threat after a recent gruesome attack on a schoolteacher. The latter was decapitated by an 18-year old immigrant after showing caricatures, some of them satirically depicting the Islamic Prophet Muhammad, in his classroom.

EU Commission President Josep Borrell tweeted on Sunday that the Turkish president's statements regarding French President Emmanuel Macron are unacceptable.

"We are calling for Turkey to stop this dangerous confrontational spiral”, EU Commission President Josep Borrell tweeted on Sunday.
 
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan earlier lashed out at his French counterpart commenting on his policies toward Muslims and saying that Emmanuel Macron should have "mental checks".

New Legislative Steps
Separately, a draft law seeking to prohibit the justification of a crime due to ethnic or religious motives on constitutional grounds, was passed to the French Senate. Commenting on the bill, Erdogan, apart from his rant against Macron, said that "the main goal of such initiatives led by Macron is to settle old scores with Islam and Muslims". On Saturday, promptly after Erdogan's remarks, Paris recalled its ambassador to Turkey.

The death of the 47-year-old history teacher has since triggered a wave of protests across France, with Paty becoming the symbol of Paris' struggle against Islamist terrorism, akin to the Charlie Hebdo massacre on 7 January 2015.

French cartoons provocative to Islam, beliefs: Hamas

Hamas on Saturday slammed France for publishing cartoons that degrade Islamic symbols.

"[French President Emmanuel] Macron's encouragement to publish insulting cartoons of the Prophet [Muhammad], peace be upon him, is an attempt to revive the Crusades where France was the source of its debut," said Sami Abu Zuhri, a senior spokesman for the Palestinian group.

Abu Zuhri said publishing the cartoons was "provocative to the feelings of the [Islamic] Nation and an aggression on its religion and beliefs."

Publishing the insulting cartoons of Prophet Muhammad, along with Macron’s remarks about Islam and the Muslim community,
sparked widespread condemnation in the Arab world on the official and other levels with official statements decrying his remarks.

Activists launched boycott campaigns against French products in several Arab countries.