The Progressive

NewsWire

A project of Common Dreams

For Immediate Release
Contact:

Jean Stevens, CODEPINK national media coordinator, 508-769-2138
Nancy Kricorian, CODEPINK "Stolen Beauty" campaign
coordinator, 646-234-8529
Jodie Evans, CODEPINK co-founder, 310-621-5635

TODAY: Bikini-Clad Activists Protest Ahava Cosmetics at Cosmoprof Trade Show

Calls for Israeli company to end violations of international law, exploitation of Occupied West Bank resources

LAS VEGAS

To expose the dirty truth of the Ahava Dead Sea Laboratories cosmetics company, bikini-clad activists of the women's peace group CODEPINK here today will rally with signs and chants at the Ahava booth inside the beauty industry's annual major Cosmoprof conference in Las
Vegas and call on the Israeli company to end its exploitations of the Occupied West Bank and follow international law.

WHAT: Bikini-clad CODEPINK activists to demonstrate at Ahava booth
WHEN: Between 10 a.m. and 12 p.m., TODAY (July 20)
WHERE: Ahava Dead Sea Laboratories booth #D11145, Pavilion A, Cosmoprof trade show, Mandalay Bay resort, Las Vegas

The dramatic action will mark the formal launch of "Stolen Beauty," a boycott campaign against Ahava -- which sells its products in upscale shops,
spas and salons worldwide -- designed to pressure the company to end its exploitative and illegal practices and
to 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.

"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."

CODEPINK, which in the past two months has already staged three demonstrations against Ahava in
Israel and New York City (view photos and video
here), 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