The Movement of the Enterprises of France (MEDEF), the country's largest union of business owners, has called on French businesses to not "respond to stupidity by stupidity" and refrain from reciprocating the calls of a few Muslim countries to boycott French products
PARIS (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 28th October, 2020) The Movement of the Enterprises of France (MEDEF), the country's largest union of business owners, has called on French businesses to not "respond to stupidity by stupidity" and refrain from reciprocating the calls of a few Muslim countries to boycott French products.
The Turkish-championed trend of Muslim nations calling for a boycott of French-produced goods emerged in response to France refusing to ban public display of caricatures of Islamic prophet Muhammad as a matter of national values in the wake of a brutal murder of a history teacher in Paris who showed caricatures to his students.
"Of course, this [boycott calls] is bad news for the companies that work in those countries ... But we cannot succumb to blackmail. There are times when we need to put our principles above the business development opportunities," the head of MEDEF, Geoffroy Roux de Bezieux, told the RMC broadcaster.
The businessman asserted the federation's solidarity with the French government, but urged for not overestimating the significance of the boycott calls, saying that they were of "very local" nature and that French business should brace for resisting any such "blackmail."
"Let us not respond to stupidity by stupidity. We have principles, values, and among those values is the respect for others. It is not about boycotting somebody, it is about standing up to our republican values," de Bezieux said.
On October 16, Paris was in shock over the horrific murder of a school teacher who was beheaded by an 18-year-old teenager after showing cartoons depicting prophet Muhammad during a lesson. The incident reportedly prompted outrage among some Muslim parents. The killer, a French citizen of Chechen descent, was subsequently shot dead by police.
The French government declared the incident a terrorist attack and pledged to reinforce the counter-extremist measures in the country.
