September, 14 2010, 11:52am EDT
For Immediate Release
Contact:
Nancy Kricorian, 646-234-8529, codepinknyc@gmail.com
Rae Abileah, 415-994-1723, Rae@codepink.org
CEO of Israeli Cosmetic Firm Ahava Rattled by Growing Boycott
False Claims Put Out by Company Are Refuted by ‘Stolen Beauty’ Campaign
WASHINGTON
In a recent,
quietly circulated letter from the desk of Yaacov Ellis, CEO of Ahava Dead Sea
Laboratories--a company at the center of a growing international boycott
campaign--and directed at the company's retail partners, Ellis deploys specious
information about his own company's business practices, contradictory claims
about Israel's occupation of the Palestinian West Bank, and unfounded innuendo
about boycott campaign supporters. This letter comes after a year of pressure,
lead in the United States by the women's peace group CODEPINK and their "Stolen
Beauty" Ahava Boycott campaign, and total refusal by the CEO to respond to
press queries about his company's illegal business practices.
Background on Ahava's illegal business practices
Ahava Dead Sea Laboratories
is an Israeli cosmetics company that has its manufacturing plant and visitors
center near the shores of the Dead Sea in the illegal Israeli settlement of
Mitzpe Shalem in the Occupied Palestinian West Bank. Despite Ellis's claim in
the letter that "Mitzpe Shalem is not an illegal settlement," all Israeli
settlements in the West Bank are illegal under international law. The company
is 44% owned by Mitzpe Shalem and another settlement, Kalia, so that the
company's profits are subsidizing these illegal colonies. Although its goods
are manufactured in the West Bank, Ahava labels them as "products of Israel," a
practice that is illegal under European Union law and is currently being
investigated in the UK and Holland.
Nancy Kricorian,
Stolen Beauty Campaign Manager, said, "Ahava makes beauty products, but there
is nothing beautiful in occupation. Rather than openly defending his company's
dubious record, which would not stand up to public scrutiny, Ellis is sending
out a private letter that is full of false claims." Read the full letter here.
The growing influence of the international boycott
campaign
Since its launch in
July 2009, the Stolen Beauty Ahava Boycott has scored a number of successes.
The first victory came after pressure on Oxfam, an international human rights
organization, which had publicly condemned all Israeli settlement products, to
suspend its Goodwill Ambassador Kristin Davis from publicity work for the
duration of her contract as Ahava spokeswoman. Davis, best known for her work
on HBO's Sex and the City, allowed her contract to expire a few months later.
Abroad, coalition partners in London engaged the UK's Camden Trading Standards
Office to investigate the legality of Ahava's labeling. Dutch activists and a
Minister of the Parliament succeeded in convincing the Dutch Foreign Ministry
to launch its own investigation of Ahava's business methods. Partners in Paris
have recently filed suit against the cosmetics chain Sephora for carrying Ahava
products.
Part of a growing international movement
Modeled on the
worldwide campaign against apartheid-era South Africa, the movement for Boycott Divestment and Sanctions (BDS)
against Israel called in response to Israel's many violations of Palestinian
rights has grown and achieved significant successes, particularly following
Israel's assault on the Gaza Strip in 2009, which killed over 1400
Palestinians. The Stolen Beauty
campaign is a part of this growing international movement.
For more
information on CODEPINK's Stolen Beauty Ahava Boycott Campaign please visit www.stolenbeauty.org .
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.
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