The Progressive

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A project of Common Dreams

For Immediate Release
Contact:

Jodie Evans, CODEPINK co-founder, 310-621-5635

In Upscale Beauty Shops TODAY, CODEPINK Women in Bikinis to Protest Israeli Cosmetics Company

Will uncover the dirty truth of Ahava's illegal practices

SANTA MONICA

Inside upscale cosmetics stores here and in Marina
del Rey in a two-hour "tour" today, bikini-clad activists streaked with mud of the
women's peace group CODEPINK will rally with chants and signs to expose
the dirty truth of the Israeli cosmetics company, Ahava Dead Sea
Laboratories: that it profits from its exploitation and illegal
practices of the Occupied West Bank.

WHAT: CODEPINK activists, with bikinis, chants and signs, to call on Ahava cosmetics to come clean
WHEN: 12 to 2 p.m. TODAY, Tuesday, July 28
WHERE: Four upscale beauty stores in Santa Monica and Marina del Rey (please call for exact schedule and to meet up with activists)

"We are here to tell Ahava, which claims to be devoted to beauty
and purity, that you cannot cover up occupation and violation of
international law," said Paris Marron, CODEPINK's national online
organizer. "We call on Ahava to come clean."

The action, which follows four others in Israel and New York of
the past two months, is part of CODEPINK's "Stolen Beauty" boycott
campaign against the Israeli company -- which sells its products in
upscale shops, spas and salons worldwide -- designed to pressure the
company to end its illegal practices and pressure Israel to end its
violations of international law against Palestine and its people.
CODEPINK also plans to educate consumers about Ahava's dirty secrets
and encourage consumers to boycott Ahava products.

CODEPINK recently sent a fact-finding mission to the Ahava
headquarters in the Israeli settlement of Mitzpe Shalem in the Occupied
West Bank. What they found made their skin crawl.

"Its products
produced in the Occupied West Bank are labeled of 'Israeli origin' even
though, according to international law including the relevant UN
Security Council Resolutions, the West Bank cannot be considered to be
part of the State of Israel," said Medea Benjamin, CODEPINK co-founder.
"The company also exploits occupied natural resources for profit, which
is a violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention."

Ahava does its best to hide its dirt, even hiring Oxfam Ambassador
and 'Sex and the City' star Kristin Davis as its spokesperson.

Stolen
Beauty' is CODEPINK's contribution to the international Boycott,
Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) Movement against institutions and
corporations that give tacit or material support to the Israel's
occupation of the Palestinian Territory, designed to pressure the
Israeli government to end the occupation of the West Bank, Gaza and
East Jerusalem. Conditions there have since worsened because of
Israel's 21-month blockade of Gazan borders, Israel's continued
demolition of Palestinian homes in East Jerusalem, and land
appropriations and violent repression in the West Bank.

CODEPINK is a women-led grassroots organization working to end U.S. wars and militarism, support peace and human rights initiatives, and redirect our tax dollars into healthcare, education, green jobs and other life-affirming programs.

(818) 275-7232