<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="yes"?><oembed><version><![CDATA[1.0]]></version><provider_name><![CDATA[Occupied Palestine | فلسطين]]></provider_name><provider_url><![CDATA[https://occupiedpalestine.wordpress.com]]></provider_url><author_name><![CDATA[occupiedpalestine]]></author_name><author_url><![CDATA[https://occupiedpalestine.wordpress.com/author/hajarhajar/]]></author_url><title><![CDATA[ei: Boycott roundup: Ahava products off the shelves, for&nbsp;now]]></title><type><![CDATA[link]]></type><html><![CDATA[<p><span class="text14">Report, <em>The Electronic Intifada,</em> 20 January 2011</p>
<p><span class="content"> </span></span></p>
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<td><span class="text11">Boycott activists protest the sale of Ahava products at a US store (<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/ari/">Steve Rhodes</a>).</span></td>
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<p><span class="text14"><span class="content"><br />
Canadian and United Kingdom solidarity activists have scored recent  victories towards deshelving cosmetics made in an illegal Israeli  settlement in the occupied West Bank.</p>
<p>Canadians for Peace and Justice in the Middle East (CPJME) reported that  on 11 January, Canadian retail chain The Bay dropped Ahava products  from its stores. Ahava cosmetic products are made from materials from  the Dead Sea in the West Bank, assembled in the Israeli settlement of  Mitzpe Shalem, and are labeled &#8220;made in Israel.&#8221;</p>
<p>The company itself is partially owned by Mitzpe Shalem and another  settlement, Kalia. An international campaign focusing on the boycott of  Ahava products has been <a href="http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article11341.shtml">making waves across Europe and North America over the last two years</a>.</p>
<p>CPJME stated that The Bay dropped Ahava products because they had not  &#8220;been meeting expectations,&#8221; and that the company had &#8220;quietly informed&#8221;  its customers who had objected to the store stocking Ahava products  that they would not continue to do so (&#8220;<a href="http://www.cjpme.org/DisplayDocument.aspx?DocumentID=1380&amp;SaveMode=0">The Bay drops controversial AHAVA products</a>,&#8221; 13 January 2011).</p>
<p>However, two days later, The Bay (known also as HBC), issued a joint  statement with Canada-based Jewish groups who had immediately protested  the retail chain&#8217;s decision. The move to drop Ahava products was &#8220;solely  for commercial reasons,&#8221; and that &#8220;at no point did political  considerations enter into&#8221; the decision, the statement claims (&#8220;<a href="http://www.jta.org/news/article/2011/01/14/2742561/the-bay-drops-ahava-but-not-because-of-boycott">The Bay drops Ahava, but not because of boycott</a>,&#8221; <em>Jewish Telegraphic Agency</em>,&#8221; 14 January 2011).</p>
<p>The announcement adds that Ahava products will be rebranded and will be  back on shelves across Canada by this spring. The Bay &#8220;neither  subscribes to nor endorses politically-motivated boycotts of merchandise  from countries with which Canada has open and established trading  relationships, including Israel,&#8221; the statement says.</p>
<p>The Stolen Beauty campaign, which has been a key organizer of  international boycotts of Ahava products, released an action alert this  week encouraging boycott supporters to thank HBC, regardless of its  future plans and reasons for stopping its sales of Ahava. &#8220;Your message  of thanks is crucial as right-wing, pro-occupation groups berate and  pressure The Bay to reinstate sales of Ahava,&#8221; the alert stated (&#8220;<a href="http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/424/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=5536">Thank you for dropping Ahava products!</a>&#8220;).</p>
<p>Nevertheless, The Bay&#8217;s decision followed a similar move by British  retail chain John Lewis, which had publicly announced on 7 January that  it has stopped stocking and selling Ahava products.</p>
<p>The Palestine Solidarity Campaign issued a press release welcoming John  Lewis&#8217; decision, and reprinted part of a letter drafted by the company  to the activist group (&#8220;<a href="http://www.bigcampaign.org/john-lewis-stops-stocking-ahava-products-in-britain/">John Lewis stops stocking Ahava products in Britain</a>,&#8221; 14 January 2011).</p>
<p>Andy Street, John Lewis&#8217; managing director, wrote: &#8220;As a socially  responsible retailer, John Lewis takes very seriously the treatment of  workers and their working conditions. We expect all our suppliers not  only to obey the law, but also to respect the rights, interests and  well-being of their employees, their communities and the environment &#8230;  In relation to your specific enquiry about Ahava Dead Sea products, I  can confirm that John Lewis has ceased stocking these particular  products.&#8221;</p>
<p>Sarah Colborne, director of operations with the Palestine Solidarity  Campaign, stated that Ahava and other companies that profit from  Israel&#8217;s illegal occupation are being sent a clear message by consumers.</p>
<p>&#8220;Although governments, including our own, are failing to end Israel&#8217;s  violations of international law and human rights, we can all take action  by refusing to buy Israeli goods and joining the movement for [boycott,  divestment and sanctions],&#8221; Colborne said. &#8220;The [Palestine Solidarity  Campaign] will continue to ensure that companies which profit from  Israel&#8217;s occupation pay the price for their complicity in Israel&#8217;s  crimes.&#8221;</p>
<p>Meanwhile, across the world, solidarity activists continue to campaign  with the Palestinian-led call for boycott, divestment and sanctions.</p>
<p><strong>Ireland artist join boycott pledge</strong></p>
<p>The Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign (IPSC) announced that two  hundred Irish artists have signed onto its Israel boycott pledge, with  singer-songwriter Dylan Walshe joining as the latest signatory.</p>
<p>IPSC launched its national campaign in August 2010 in an effort to  encourage Irish cultural workers to &#8220;avail of any invitation to perform  or exhibit in Israel, nor to accept any funding from any institution  linked to the government of Israel, until such time as Israel complies  with international law and universal principles of human rights (&#8220;<a href="http://cosmos.ucc.ie/cs1064/jabowen/IPSC/ipsc/displayRelease.php?releaseID=426">Irish artists&#8217; pledge to boycott Israel reaches 200 signatories</a>,&#8221; 13 January 2011).&#8221;</p>
<p>Walshe joins high-profile Irish artists who have committed to the  boycott, such as actor Stephen Rea and musician Christy Moore. Raymond  Deane, IPSC Cultural Boycott Officer and contributor to The Electronic  Intifada, stated in the press release that &#8220;[a]s the Israeli state  becomes ever more racist, expansionist and oppressive, we have seen the  growth in its isolation by international civil society through the  boycott, divestment and sanctions movement.&#8221;</p>
<p>Deane, who is also a composer and himself a signatory to the pledge,  added, &#8220;[t]he success of this boycott pledge is indicative of wider  feelings toward Israel, both in Ireland and around the world. Indeed,  similar pledges and initiatives are being organized in many other  countries.&#8221;</p>
<p><strong>Boycott of Israel Philharmonic&#8217;s US tour urged</strong></p>
<p>Palestine-based activists with the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic  and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI) issued a statement on 16 January  calling for US solidarity groups to boycott the upcoming American tour  of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, scheduled for February (&#8220;<a href="http://www.pacbi.org/etemplate.php?id=1448">Boycott the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra on its US Tour!</a>,&#8221; 16 January 2011).</p>
<p>PACBI said the orchestra is scheduled to perform in Palm Beach, New  York, Seattle, San Francisco and Los Angeles. &#8220;We urge activists to  continue the principled tradition of activists in New York and Los  Angeles in 2007, when they protested the [orchestra&#8217;s] appearance in  their cities,&#8221; states the press release.</p>
<p>&#8220;As befits an institution that identifies with the Israeli state, the  [Israel Philharmonic] proudly announces its partnership with the army  under a scheme whereby special concerts for Israeli soldiers are  organized at their army outposts,&#8221; PACBI adds. &#8220;The orchestra has lent  itself to the official Israeli propaganda campaign titled Brand Israel,  which aims to divert attention from Israel&#8217;s violations of international  law and Palestinian rights to its artistic and scientific  achievements.&#8221;</p>
<p>PACBI encourages boycott activists in the US to protest and boycott the  orchestra&#8217;s concerts, saying that as long as it continues to partner  with the Israeli government in &#8220;planning, implementing and whitewashing  war crimes and international law violations,&#8221; Israel&#8217;s cultural  establishment &#8220;cannot be exempted from the growing boycott movement.&#8221;</p>
<p><strong>Israeli activists initiate boycott campaigns</strong></p>
<p>Activists with the Israeli group Boycott! Supporting the Palestinian BDS  Call From Within (BFW) drafted a letter to British Telecom (BT) on 18  January, calling for the company to cut ties with the Israeli  telecommunications company Bezeq International (&#8220;<a href="http://disconnectnow.org/?p=162">Boycott From Within&#8217;s letter to BT</a>,&#8221; 18 January 2011).</p>
<p>In January 2010, BT incorporated Bezeq International, a subsidiary of  Bezeq Israel, into its Global Alliance. The Bezeq corporation provides  telecommunication services to illegal Israeli settlement colonies in the  West Bank, including East Jerusalem. <a href="http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article11658.shtml">Thousands of British customers of BT have already joined a campaign calling for the companies to cut ties</a>.</p>
<p>&#8220;We are saddened and dismayed by your company&#8217;s complicity in severe  breaches of international law and the violation of human rights through  your relationship with Bezeq International, and call on you to end this  relationship at once,&#8221; states the activists&#8217; letter. &#8220;By partnering with  Bezeq, [British Telecom] is supporting the infrastructure which enables  illegal Israeli settlements, built in violation of international law in  the Occupied Palestinian Territories, to exist,&#8221; the letter adds.</p>
<p>&#8220;We maintain that such willful blindness to Israeli crimes is not only  immoral, but is also in contrast to [British Telecom&#8217;s] fiduciary  responsibility to its investors, as it may put the company&#8217;s high-regard  in the international community at risk.&#8221;</p>
<p>Meanwhile, BFW activists say they helped play a key role in the recent  decision by French pop star Vanessa Paradis to cancel a planned concert  in Tel Aviv.</p>
<p>After the group drafted a letter urging Paradis and her partner,  American film icon Johnny Depp, to cancel their upcoming visit, the  singer announced on 15 January that her performance was cancelled.</p>
<p>The Israeli daily <em>Haaretz</em> reported that insiders close to the  star claimed that Paradis &#8220;acceded to calls to cancel the show made by  Palestinian solidarity groups&#8221; (&#8220;<a href="http://www.haaretz.com/culture/did-pop-star-paradis-cancel-israel-concert-over-politics-1.337312">Did pop star Paradis cancel Israel concert over politics?</a>,&#8221; 16 January 2011).</p>
<p>BFW activists have launched a similar campaign directed at American  singer Macy Gray, who this week posted on her Facebook page that she was  considering canceling her performance in Tel Aviv due to Israel&#8217;s  &#8220;disgusting&#8221; treatment of Palestinians.</p>
<p>&#8220;I&#8217;m getting alot [sic] of letters from activists urging/begging me to  boycott by NOT performing in protest of Apartheid against the  Palestinians,&#8221; Gray posted on her page.</p>
<p>Activists with BFW stated that &#8220;[c]oming to perform in Israel has become  a political act, a statement of support for the State of Israel&#8217;s  ongoing crimes and human rights violations. It is also an act against a  rapidly growing nonviolent, human-rights based civil society Palestinian  movement (&#8220;<a href="http://boycottisrael.info/content/macy-gray-performing-israel-already-political-stand-human-rights-and-cancel">Macy Gray, Performing in Israel is Already Political &#8211; Stand for Human Rights and Cancel!</a>&#8220;).&#8221;</span></p>
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<p><a href="http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article11740.shtml?utm_source=feedburner&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_campaign=Feed%3A+electronicIntifadaPalestine+%28Electronic+Intifada+%3A+Palestine+News%29">ei: Boycott roundup: Ahava products off the shelves, for now</a>.</p>
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