After French telecom giant Orange Chairman and CEO Stephane Richard said that his company wished to distance itself from Israel in support of the growing movement to boycott the Jewish State, UWI sent thousands of messages to Orange, protesting Richard’s statement and demanded an apology.

BACKGROUND

On June 3, French telecom giant Orange Chairman and CEO Stephane Richard told reporters in Cairo that his company wished to stop all business activities and distance itself from Israel in support of the growing movement to boycott the Jewish State.

UPDATE

United with Israel played a significant role in this campaign that resulted in Richard visiting Israel and meeting with Prime Minister Netanyahu in order to recant his words.

Responding to United with Israel’s Call to Action, UWI supporters sent hundreds of personal emails directly to Orange employees expressing their anger over Richard’s statement telling them that “There is a price to pay for boycotting Israel.” Thousands shared their feelings on their Facebook pages, Twitter feeds and other social networks.

Among the comments we received:

“I will contact all my friends that use your telephone system to boycott YOU (Orange)!!!”

“Dear Orange, I fully support Israel and ask that you have the courage to do the same, which is also what is Right!”

“Sent letter to each person on the list. I rewrote the letter and pointed out that the technology for the phones was developed by Israel, and so if they wanted to divest, they should stop using the technology.”

“I sent emails to all of the above. God bless Israel!”

On Friday, June 12, Richard flew specially to Jerusalem and expressed “regret” for the “confusion” emanating from his earlier Cairo statement. He reaffirmed that Orange Telecom is against all manner of boycotts and intends to remain in partnership with Israel for many years.

Click here to view more of United with Israel’s calls to action.

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