France to Muslims: Stop Protests, Boycott Calls

France, on Sunday, called on Arab and Muslim governments to "stop" the calls to boycott French commodities and calls for protests, saying that they are backed by a "radical minority", according to Agence France-Presse.

[caption id="attachment_153890" align="aligncenter" width="750"] Macron[/caption]

In a statement, Paris urged Middle Eastern countries to prevent retail companies from boycotting their products. 

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that the past few days have witnessed calls in many Middle East countries to boycott French products, especially food products, as well as calls to protest against France over the publication of cartoons insulting to the Prophet Muhammad.

"These boycotting calls are baseless and must stop immediately, as well as all attacks against our country that are being pushed by an extremist minority," the statement said.

Calls to boycott French goods gained momentum in Islamic countries in response to French President Emmanuel Macron's support for the cartoons offensive to the Prophet Muhammad. 

The cartoons were displayed on government buildings in France on Friday, causing an uproar in the Arab world.

The calls for boycotting French goods spread very widely, most notably in Kuwait when 50 mega supermarkets announced that they had removed all French products from their branches.

The Organization of Islamic Cooperation condemned the publication of the cartoons, describing them as "harmful to French Islamic relations."

Macron tweeted on Sunday that his country will not give up on such behavior, adding "We will not give in, ever."

"We respect all differences in a spirit of peace. We do not accept hate speech and defend reasonable debate. We will always be on the side of human dignity and universal values," he added.