We call for the boycott of French goods in IndonesiaBogor, W Java (ANTARA) - Patron of the Jakarta-based Al Azhar Youth Leader Institute (AYLI), Sariat Arifia, has called for a boycott of French products in Indonesia in response to French President Emmanuel Macron's ‘anti-Islam’ remarks.
"We call for the boycott of French goods in Indonesia," he told ANTARA here on Tuesday, while commenting on Macron's "Islamophobic behavior” and defense of the right to depict and publish cartoons of Prophet Muhammad for the sake of freedom of expression.
Arifia also appealed to the Indonesian government to break diplomatic relations with France saying there are more countries that are friendly and keen to develop cooperation without "insulting the Messenger of God".
As the world's largest Muslim population, Indonesia's concrete response to Macron’s comments on Islam, Prophet Muhammad, and Muslims has been awaited by many other countries, he said.
According to Arifia, President Macron has abused freedom of expression by attacking Islam, Prophet Muhammad, and Muslims inside and outside France.
"We cannot glorify an unlimited freedom because the novel coronavirus pandemic has partly taken the French people's freedom. Speaking about one's faith, it is so fundamental that freedom of expression should not be abused to attack or humiliate it," he argued.
Macron's remarks following the beheading of Samuel Paty, a history and geography teacher, for showing cartoons of Prophet Muhammad during a class on October 6, 2020, have sparked controversy and fueled a backlash from Muslims worldwide over the past few days.
Abdullakh Anzorov, 18, who killed Paty on October 16, 2020, was later shot dead by the French police. Anzorov had felt offended over Paty showing the cartoons in class.
"France will not give up our cartoons," Macron said while responding to Paty's death, as reported by the BBC.
Following his death, Paty was bestowed the Légion d'honneur, France's highest honor.
In the aftermath of his murder, cartoons depicting Prophet Muhammad, made by Charlie Hebdo, were projected onto public buildings.
In response to Macron's “Islamophobic behavior” and “hostility" towards Islam, Prophet Muhammad, and Muslims all over the world, the Islam Defenders Front (FPI) denounced the French leader and categorized him as a "kafir harbi", or infidel.
"Macron's decision to bestow Samuel Paty with the Légion d'honneur is obviously a crime against the teachings of Islam," the FPI central executive board disclosed in its letter dated October 24, 2020.
In the letter signed by FPI general chairman Ahmad Shabri Lubis and FPI secretary general Munarman, the Muslim-based organization also urged Muslim communities globally to rise from the oppressions of the "modern civilization of ignorance" that projects Islam as an enemy.
Prior to the Paty case, French satirical weekly magazine Charlie Hebdo had frequently published cartoons on Prophet Muhammad that had triggered public ire in several Muslim-populated nations.
Two people had attacked the offices of the magazine on January 7, 2015, after Charlie Hebdo published cartoons on Prophet Muhammad saying their publication was in accordance with the freedom of expression. At least 12 persons were killed and 11 others were injured in the attack. (INE)
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