New

Events

In Focus

Hillary Clinton condemns anti-Israel boycotts as 'counter-productive'

Details
Written by Ben Jacobs Ben Jacobs
Published: 07 July 2015 07 July 2015

Presidential frontrunner seeks to bolster her pro-Israel credentials with a promise to lobby groups to fight back against attempts to isolate the Jewish state


Hillary Clinton has condemned the BDS movement in a letter to longtime supporter and Hollywood mogul Haim Saban and dozens of other Jewish leaders.

Clinton, the frontrunner in the race for the Democratic party presidential nomination, wrote to Saban to ask for his advice on “how leaders and communities across America can work together to counter BDS”. She expressed the opinion that BDS “seeks to punish Israel and dictate how Israelis and Palestinians should resolve the core issues of their conflict”.

The Boycott, Divest and Sanction (BDS) movement, spearheaded by Palestinian advocacy groups who claim Israel is similar to apartheid South Africa, seeks to boycott companies which do business in the State of Israel and encourages organizations and institutions to divest from the country until Israel ends what they call “its occupation and colonization of all Arab lands”.

In the letter dated 2 July, Clinton said “the BDS campaign is counterproductive to the pursuit of peace and harmful to Israelis and Palestinians alike” and pledged to mount a bipartisan effort “to fight back against further attempts to isolate and delegitimize Israel”.

Read more: Hillary Clinton condemns anti-Israel boycotts as 'counter-productive'

Foreign investment in Israel drops by 50%

Details
Written by Jack Moore, Newsweek Jack Moore, Newsweek
Published: 26 June 2015 26 June 2015

Foreign direct investment (FDI) in Israel dropped by almost 50% last year in comparison to the year before as the country continues to feel the effects of last summer's Gaza conflict, a new UN report has revealed.

The report, published by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), shows that only €5.7bn was invested into the country in 2014 in comparison with €10.5bn in 2013, a decrease of €4.8bn, or 46%. Israel's FDI in other countries also decreased by 15%, from €4.2bn in 2013 to €3.5bn last year.

Dr Ronny Manos, one of the report's authors and a researcher in the department of Management and Economics at the Open University of Israel, said that the decline was primarily caused by the fallout from the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) Operation Protective Edge and international boycotts against the country for alleged violations of international law.

"We believe that what led to the drop in investment in Israel are Operation Protective Edge and the boycotts Israel is facing," she told Israeli news outlet Ynet News.

Read more on Newsweek.


SodaStream changes labeling to 'Made in the West Bank' due to action by Oregonians

Details
Written by Haaretz Haaretz
Published: 05 April 2015 05 April 2015

The manufacturer of home carbonation systems, which has been the target of anti-Israel boycotts, was accused of misrepresentation in the U.S. state of Oregon.

SodaStream, the Israeli manufacturer of home carbonation systems, has changed its product labeling to “Made in the West Bank” following complaints by human rights activists in the Unites States.

The company's main production facility is in the industrial zone of Ma'aleh Adumim, an Israeli settlement in the West Bank, where it employs Palestinian workers.

The facility's location has made SodaStream a target of the global anti-Israel boycott, divestment and sanctions movement and put the company at odds with European policies blocking the import of products made in West Bank settlements.

In May 2014, a coalition of human rights activists in the U.S. state of Oregon complained to the Oregon Department of Justice that the company was violating the state's Fair Trade Practices Act by labeling its products as “Made in Israel.”

The complaint was forwarded to SodaStream, which replied by saying that the labels would be changed to "Made in the West Bank" with immediate effect. The new labels have now begun appearing on SodaStream boxes in Oregon retail outlets, according to the International Middle East Media Center.

Oregon’s Fair Trade Practices Act is a consumer protection law that makes false representations and false advertising of a consumer product illegal. The Act also holds retail stores responsible if they knowingly sell a product that is “misrepresented.”

The coalition has also filed an official complaint with the U.S. Customs & Border Control Agency, on the grounds that the false labeling also violates U.S. Customs regulations. That complaint, filed in November 2014, is presently under investigation.

“This appears to be the first time that an Israeli settlement manufacturer has corrected its labels for products sold in the United States,” said activist Rod Such of the PDX Boycott Occupation Soda! Coalition based in Portland, Oregon.

"Many people of conscience refuse to purchase products made in Israel's illegal settlements on occupied Palestinian land in the West Bank, but in the case of SodaStream they were deceived by false labeling that claimed the products were produced within Israel’s internationally recognized borders.”

SodaStream announced last October that it would be closing its Ma'aleh Adumim plant in 2015 as part of a plan to boost growth.

“We are working with the Israeli government to secure work permits for our Palestinian employees,” CEO Daniel Birnbaum said.

SodaStream's revenues and profit have plummeted recently due to weak sales of its home soda machines in the U.S. The drop has been attributed to a move among American consumers to healthier drinks, such as juices and teas.

Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Bomb?

Details
Written by Uri Avnery Uri Avnery
Published: 03 April 2015 03 April 2015


I MUST start with a shocking confession: I am not afraid of the Iranian nuclear bomb.

I know that this makes me an abnormal person, almost a freak.

But what can I do? I am unable to work up fear, like a real Israeli. Try as I may, the Iranian bomb does not make me hysterical.

Read more: Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Bomb?

Skanner Editorial: Republicans’ Iran Meddling is Treason

Details
Written by The Skanner News The Skanner News
Published: 03 April 2015 03 April 2015



"The White House seems to be rethinking America’s relationship with Israel. We agree. We should."

Written by The Skanner News
Published: 02 April 2015
http://www.theskanner.com/opinion/skanner-editorials/22559-editorial-republicans-iran-meddling-is-treason

In Switzerland, Secretary of State John Kerry has closed a deal with Iran that has observers wondering if he’ll win the Nobel Prize. The deal creates a framework to place strict limits on Iran’s nuclear program, bring Iran back into the international trading community. And it would bring us all one step closer to peace.

The Iran deal might be President Obama’s greatest achievement— second only to bringing the U.S. economy back from its near death experience, when it was bleeding 750,000 jobs a month.

It might boost U.S. credibility around the world and strengthen our hand in future negotiations.

But it almost failed.

Last week an administration official told the Wall Street Journal that Israel had been spying on the US-Iran negotiations since 2012. What’s more, the report says Israeli officials had been leaking sensitive information and encouraging Republican members of Congress to sabotage the negotiations.

Israel denies the allegations and House Speaker John Boehner says he knows nothing about it. But their actions tell a different story.

Read more: Skanner Editorial: Republicans’ Iran Meddling is Treason

More Articles ...

  1. When you stand with Netanyahu… Do you know what messages you are really sending?
  2. An Open Letter to Oregon's Congressional Delegation: Follow the leadership of Rep. Blumenauer and boycott Netanyahu's speech
  3. An Open Letter to U.S. Senator Ron Wyden
  4. PSR Delegation to Gaza includes two Oregonians.
  5. Activists Welcome SodaStream Decision to Shut Down Settlement Factory
Fair Use Notice
This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml . If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.