Twitter erupted in outrage, and messages began to fly on Facebook and in WhatsApp groups for Yemeni-Americans in New York expressing fear that the newspaper cover would incite anti-Muslim violence. By Saturday morning, 10 of the most prominent Yemeni bodega owners in New York had agreed to stop selling the paper, and Yemeni taxi drivers began delivering fliers explaining the boycott to other Yemeni-owned stores.

On Sunday, the influential Yemeni American Merchant Association announced a formal boycott of the paper at a news conference outside the News Corporation building in Midtown Manhattan that houses The New York Post and The Wall Street Journal.

“We support free speech, but we will not accept the incitement of violence against Muslims,” said Debbie Almontaser, the secretary of the board of directors for the merchants association.