{"id":36357,"date":"2013-11-11T12:00:59","date_gmt":"2013-11-11T12:00:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=36357"},"modified":"2015-05-05T22:21:12","modified_gmt":"2015-05-05T21:21:12","slug":"6-things-you-buy-that-help-support-israeli-brutality","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2013\/11\/6-things-you-buy-that-help-support-israeli-brutality\/","title":{"rendered":"6 Things You Buy That Help Support Israeli Brutality"},"content":{"rendered":"

Buying products like SodaStream machines helps fuel Israel’s control over Palestinians.
\n<\/i>
\nWhen tax time rolls around each year, every American citizen gives $21.59 in military aid to Israel, according to the U.S. Campaign to End the Occupation<\/a> [3]. But that\u2019s not the only way American citizens contribute to the Israeli military, which has occupied Palestinian land for 46 years, and the West Bank settlement project that accompanies the occupation.<\/p>\n

Consumers may not know it, but buying products like Sabra hummus and Sodastream helps fuel Israel\u2019s military control over Palestinians. Some companies have factories located in one of the 125 officially recognized settlements in occupied Palestine, which are illegal under international law. Other companies contribute to the maintenance of an occupation through cooperation with the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), whose main goal is to protect illegal settlements and exercise dominion over the lives of millions of Palestinians. Buying these products gives profits to companies that exploit Palestinian land and resources.<\/p>\n

Here are six consumer products and companies that help keep the Israeli occupation rolling along. All of them have been targeted by the boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement, a Palestinian-led international campaign to isolate Israel for its violations of international law. BDS groups have called on consumers to boycott these products as a way of sending an economic signal to Israel.<\/p>\n

1. Sodastream<\/strong><\/p>\n

This soda-making company is ubiquitous nowadays. Sodastream products, which turn water into sparkling water and other flavored drinks, have been incredibly successful in the U.S. According to CNN<\/a> [4],<\/em> sales of their products have skyrocketed, with the company bringing in $436 million in 2012, a 51% increase from the previous year. The company, which was bought by an Israeli company that eventually sold it to a private equity firm, has touted itself an environmentally friendly company<\/p>\n

But the less-progressive side of Sodastream lies in the location of its factory. The main facility where Sodastream products are made is in the industrial settlement area of Mishor Adumim, which is right outside Jerusalem and even closer to the mega-settlement of Ma\u2019ale Adumim. Mishor Adumim serves Ma\u2019ale Adumim by providing the settlement with employment for Israelis and business for nearby Israeli companies.<\/p>\n

Sodastream claims it’s not violating international law by operating in a settlement because its factory benefits the local population of Palestinians. It\u2019s true that Sodastream employs Palestinian laborers. But according to Who Profits?<\/a> [5], an Israeli-based organization that tracks occupation profiteers, \u201cthe workers in the SodaStream factory suffer from harsh working conditions.\u201d Palestinian workers are seen as a cheap labor force to be exploited, and have complained that when they protest for better wages, they are fired.<\/p>\n

By bolstering Ma\u2019ale Adumin, Sodastream\u2019s factory in Mishor Adumim contributes to the death of any chance for a viable and contiguous Palestinian state. Ma\u2019ale Adumim was strategically built as a settlement that cuts off easy access between Ramallah and Bethlehem, two important cities in the West Bank.<\/p>\n

For those who love Sodastream but are looking for an alternative, have no fear. A number of similar products allow consumers to make their own bubbly water without giving money to a company operating on occupied land. The alternatives<\/a> [6] include Cuisinart’s beverage maker and a company named SodaSparkle.<\/p>\n

2. Sabra Hummus<\/strong><\/p>\n

Sabra is another Israeli company that seems to be in every Americans\u2019 refrigerator and brand-name supermarket. It may taste good to dip chips and vegetables in, but it also boosts the Israeli military while marketing hummus as exclusively Israeli.<\/p>\n

The hummus company has embarked on a major push to sell its products to consumers. Sabra has ramped up its advertising in recent years, and it’s been quite successful. Earlier this year, the Huffington Post reported<\/a> [7]that it has captured 60% of a hummus market whose sales have been increasing in the U.S.<\/p>\n

Sabra hummus is partly owned by an Israeli company named the Strauss Group, which has \u201cadopted\u201d an elite IDF unit. (PepsiCo also owns Sabra.) The company\u2019s website has boasted<\/a> [8] of providing the Golani Brigade \u201cwith an ongoing variety of food products for their training or missions, and provide personal care packages for each soldier that completes the path.\u201d The Strauss Group has also said it gives funds to the IDF unit for \u201cwelfare, cultural and educational activities, such as pocket money for underprivileged soldiers, sports and recreational equipment, care packages, and books and games for the soldiers\u2019 club.\u201d<\/p>\n

While that language is no longer found on the Strauss Group website, the company still defends the IDF. In 2011, Ofta Strauss, the company\u2019s chairwoman, told Forbes magazine<\/a> [9] that \u201cIsraeli soldiers are not army; Israeli soldiers are our kids.”<\/p>\n

The Golani Brigade played key roles in the Israeli army\u2019s assault on the Gaza Strip in 2008-09 during \u201cOperation Cast Lead.\u201d Widespread human rights abuses and possible war crimes were committed by the Israeli army during the assault.<\/p>\n

3. Tribe Hummus<\/strong><\/p>\n

Tribe is the second largest hummus company in the U.S. It is also tied to problematic Israeli practices.<\/p>\n

The company is partly owned by Osem, which partners with the Jewish National Fund, a group that has worked intimately with the Israeli government. The JNF played a key role before the establishment of the State of Israel by participating in plans with Israel\u2019s founder, David Ben-Gurion, to ethnically cleanse Palestinians from their land in 1948. The JNF\u2019s record hasn\u2019t gotten much better since then.<\/p>\n

After Israel was established, the state leased the JNF land, and eventually the fund came to own 13 percent of all land in Israel, the majority of which was originally owned by Palestinians. Their charter explicitly limits the leasing of their land to Jews only in a state where 20 percent of the population is Palestinian. The JNF has planted forests all around Israel, some of them on top of destroyed Palestinian villages.<\/p>\n

One of the more egregious actions the JNF has participated in recently is the repeated bulldozing of the Bedouin village of Al Araqib, one of many \u201cunrecognized\u201d areas in Israel the government refuses to connect to electricity or water systems. The JNF has partnered with Israeli police to destroy Al Araqib an astonishing 50 plus times in order to build a forest in the village.<\/p>\n

4. Ahava<\/strong><\/p>\n

Plenty of stores carry Ahava, which means \u201clove\u201d in Hebrew. You can find its Dead Sea-extracted beauty products in New York City\u2019s Ricky\u2019s shops, in Nordstrom and in Bed, Bath and Beyond, among others. But what the products won\u2019t tell you is that they\u2019re manufactured in a West Bank settlement, owned by settlements and that they\u2019re illegally exploiting Palestinian natural resources.<\/p>\n

Ahava, which rakes in about $150 million a year, is partly owned by West Bank settlements themselves; 37.5 percent of the company is owned by the settlement of Mitzpe Shalem, while 7.5 percent is owned by the settlement of Kibbutz Kalia. Furthermore, 37 percent of the company is owned by Hamashbir Holdings, which also invests in the Orad Group, a company that produces electronic detection systems for use on the West Bank separation barrier.<\/p>\n

The main factory where Ahava products are made is in Mitzpe Shalem, which sits in the eastern part of the West Bank and is on the shore of the Dead Sea. Ahava excavates mud from the shores of the Dead Sea, despite it being a violation of international law to exploit the resources of an occupied territory.<\/p>\n

Since 2009, the group CodePink has led a campaign aimed at boycotting Ahava<\/a> [10] and urging stores to drop its products.<\/p>\n

5. Hewlett Packard<\/strong><\/p>\n

The popular information technology company is most well known in the U.S. for making printers. Hewlett Packard also makes products like digital cameras, personal computers and smartphones. It holds the top spot globally for shipments of PCs.<\/p>\n

But that\u2019s not all HP manufactures. Services it provides have been sold to the Israeli military.<\/p>\n

According to Who Profits?,<\/a> [11]HP owns EDS Israel, which since 2009 has been referred to as \u201cHP Enterprise Services.\u201d This branch of Hewlett Packard provides the Israeli Ministry of Defense with what\u2019s called the \u201cBasel System,\u201d a biometric access control system that regulates the permit system for Palestinian workers.<\/p>\n

In 2009, HP was contracted to administer the Israeli Navy\u2019s information technology infrastructure, and eventually was paid to administer the entire army\u2019s technology systems. HP also won a contract in 2009 to provide all computer equipment to the Israeli army.<\/p>\n

In addition, HP is involved with the West Bank settlement project. The IT company provides services and technologies to two major settlements, and also \u201ctakes part in the \u2018Smart City\u2019 project in the illegal West Bank settlement of Ariel, providing a storage system for the settlement’s municipality,\u201d the Who Profits? project reports.<\/p>\n

6. Motorola<\/strong><\/p>\n

This company also profits from its relationship to the Israeli army. In 2011, the company, which was most well known for its phones, was split into two. One of the spin-offs, named Motorola Solutions, has a close working relationship with the Israeli government and army through its Israeli subsidiary–Motorola Solutions Israel. (Motorola Solutions does not make phones, though it does produce mobile computers, tablets and computer accessories. Still, Motorola had a relationship with the Israeli army when it was a singular company producing phones.)<\/p>\n

According to Who Profits?,<\/a> [12] Motorola Solutions Israel won a contract in 2005 to provide Israeli settlements with fences, and its radar detection systems have been installed in at least 20 illegal settlements throughout the West Bank. The same system is also used for Israel\u2019s separation barrier, which was ruled illegal by the International Court of Justice in 2004.<\/p>\n

The company also created a mobile communication system for the Israeli army so that soldiers could speak with one another when serving in the West Bank. Lastly, Motorola Solutions Israel provided the army with electronic bomb fuses until 2009, when the specific department of the company that made the fuses was sold to Aeronautics Defense Systems.<\/p>\n

Correction: This article’s section on Motorola has been changed to clarify the relationship between the company and the Israeli army. The original article was incorrect in stating that the current Motorola phone company has a relationship with the IDF. Rather, it is a spin-off of the phone company that deals with the Israeli military.<\/em><\/p>\n

_____________________________<\/em><\/p>\n

Alex Kane is AlterNet’s New York-based World editor, and an assistant editor for Mondoweiss<\/a>.<\/i><\/p>\n

Go to Original \u2013 alternet.org<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Join the BDS-BOYCOTT, DIVESTMENT, SANCTIONS<\/i> <\/b><\/span>campaign to protest the Israeli barbaric siege of Gaza, illegal occupation of the Palestine nation\u2019s territory, the apartheid wall, its inhuman and degrading treatment of the Palestinian people, and the more than 7,000 Palestinian men, women, elderly and children arbitrarily locked up in Israeli prisons.<\/p>\n

DON’T BUY<\/b> PRODUCTS WHOSE<\/b> BARCODE<\/b> STARTS WITH<\/b> 729<\/b>, which indicates that it is produced in Israel.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 DO YOUR PART! MAKE A DIFFERENCE!<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

7 2 9: BOYCOTT FOR JUSTICE!<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Some companies have factories located in one of the 125 officially recognized settlements in occupied Palestine, which are illegal under international law. Others contribute to the maintenance of an occupation through cooperation with the Israel Defense Forces, whose main goal is to protect illegal settlements and exercise dominion over the lives of millions of Palestinians. Buying these products gives profits to companies that exploit Palestinian land and resources.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[54],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-36357","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-palestine-israel-gaza-genocide"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36357","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36357"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36357\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36357"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=36357"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36357"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}