Kuwaiti-Saudi Arabian retailer boycotts French products related to Prophet Muhammad cartoon

A number of Kuwaiti and Saudi Arabian retail companies have withdrawn products from France related to the use of cartoon content of the Prophet Muhammad in a school. The content was used in a class about freedom of expression and led to the murder of a history teacher teaching by a young Chechen. The hashtag calling for a boycott of French products has also appeared on social networks in Saudi Arabia, which is the largest economy in the Arabian Peninsula region.

A report by Reuters on Sunday, October 25, 2020, the Consumer Union Society in Kuwait also issued a circular calling for a boycott on October 23.

The Kuwaiti Consumers Union Society or the Union of Consumer Co-operative Societies has 70 members. A number of shops selling French products such as hair and beauty products have pulled products off the shelves.

The head of the Union, Fahd Al-Kishti, said French products were pulled from shelves in response to repeated insults to the prophet. A number of retail establishments in Kuwait are as large as hypermarts. Kuwait imported around 255 million dinars or around IDR 12.3 billion from France in 219 as reported by the Kuwait Central Bureau of Statistics.