“We defeated apartheid nonviolently because the international community agreed to support the disinvestment in apartheid campaign. A similar campaign can help to bring peace in the Middle East and do so nonviolently.”
South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu
A Call to Conscience: Boycott Israeli Apartheid
Vermonters for a Justice in Palestine calls on fellow Vermonters to boycott companies that support and profit from the occupation. Tell Vermont store owners why you will not purchase these products and insist they stop stocking their shelves with them.
These are some organizations that provide up-to-date information about boycotted companies and products:
- www.whoprofits.org
- US Campaign for Palestinian Rights
- BDS Movement
- Stolen Beauty (Ahava products)
- The US Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel
- BDSlist.org
Key Links:
Report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights: Database of all business enterprises involved in the activities detailed in paragraph 96 of the report of the independent international fact-finding mission to investigate the implications of the Israeli settlements on the civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights of the Palestinian people throughout the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem.
- The Palestinian Civil Society Call for BDS
- Academic and Cultural Boycott
- Why Boycott Israeli Universities?
Resources about BDS:
From the US Campaign, a ‘toolkit’:
From Quakers – BDS: 10 Critiques. 10 Responses
Here are some prominent examples:
BOYCOTT Pillsbury
Pillsbury, owned by food-manufacturing conglomerate General Mills, is a household name, known for its cookie dough, cinnamon buns, and other sweet treats. But the company manufactures frozen baked goods in an illegal Israeli settlement in the occupied Palestinian territory—violating international law and contributing to gross human rights abuses.
Take action today! Join our No Dough for the Occupation campaign to hold General Mills accountable and boycott Pillsbury products until the company stops manufacturing on stolen land.
Pillsbury manufactures goods in a factory in the Atarot Industrial Zone, an illegal settlement that Israel occupied during the 1967 war and then illegally annexed. The factory is exploiting land, water, and other resources that were captured by force from their legal Palestinian owners, in violation of international law—and General Mills is directly profiting from the illegal occupation of Palestinian territory.
Earlier this year, a U.N. report listed General Mills in its database of companies involved in Israel’s illegal settlement activities, one of only seven U.S. companies on that list. The report was mandated by the U.N. Human Rights Council, which called on states to prevent their companies from contributing to such gross human rights abuses.
Details Here
BOYCOTT: Puma
Puma is the main sponsor of the Israel Football Association (IFA), which proudly includes and advocates on behalf of teams in illegal Israeli settlements pushing Palestinian families off their land. Puma’s distributor in Israel was listed in the UN database of complicit settlement companies. See https://bdsmovement.net/boycott-puma
BOYCOTT: Ahava Beauty Products
Ahava manufactures cosmetic products and extracts the minerals for its cosmetics from the Dead Sea at the illegal settlements of Kalya and Mitzpe Shalem in the West Bank, which are built upon land belonging to the Palestinian villages of Nabi Musa and Qumran. Ahava’s sticker “Made in Israel” is a farce since its products are made on stolen Palestinian lands. Ahava directly violates the Geneva Convention which states that the natural resources of an occupied land cannot be used for the economic benefit of the occupier. See Stolen Beauty
BOYCOTT: Re/Max
Re/Max Israel is a franchise of Re/Max International. It opened in 1995 and has more than 100 branches, including in settlements on the West Bank. Israeli branches advertise properties and execute sales of settlement homes in the West Bank. The Re/Max Israel franchise office in Jerusalem, called Re/Max Vision, targets international clients who may be interested in purchasing a home in or around Jerusalem. See https://www.remodelremax.org/
BOYCOTT: Motorola
Motorola has an exclusive contract to provide the Israeli military with encrypted mobile phone technology. Every Israeli border guard at a checkpoint inside Palestinian territory and every Israeli soldier who commits war crimes against Gaza receive their orders through a Motorola device. The company also manufactures “virtual fences” and surveillance systems used at dozens of illegal settlements.
Aeronautics Defense Systems (ADS) makes drone aircraft the Israeli military used during Operation Cast Lead (the most recent invasion of the Gaza Strip). Last April, Motorola sold their bomb fuse division to ADS, just after Human Rights Watch reported finding debris from Motorola bomb components in the rubble of civilian buildings in Gaza. Hang Up on Motorola
BOYCOTT: SodastreamSodaStream manufactures and distributes home carbonating devices and flavorings for soft drinks. The company is also the Israeli distributor of water filtering jugs made by Brita. The company’s main plant is located in the industrial zone of Mishor Edomim, which is an Israeli colony in the West Bank. SodaStream International is registered in the Netherlands and in Israel, and holds subsidiaries worldwide. See Codepink campaign Boycott Sodastream
BOYCOTT: Naot FootwearNaot Shoes is an Israeli footwear company that sells popular sandals and shoes. They have a factory in Hebron (West Bank) where 1,000 Palestinians work to sew together the upper part of the shoe to the base. They have an outlet store in the Gush Etzion Industrial Zone, which is an illegal Israeli settlement in the occupied West Bank. 80% of its products are sold abroad, including in the United States.
BOYCOTT: Victoria’s Secret
Most of Victoria’s Secret’s bras are produced by Delta Galil, Israel’s largest manufacturer of clothing and underwear. In fact, much of the cotton for Victoria’s Secret’s products is grown in Israel on confiscated Palestinian land. Delta Galil’s founder and chairman, Dov Lautman, is a close associate of former Israeli Prime Minister, and current Defense Minister, Ehud Barak. Victoria’s Secret has also been targeted by labor rights groups for sourcing products from companies with labor violations, and by environmental groups for their unsustainable use of paper in producing their catalogues. Delta Galil has been condemned by Sweatshop Watch for its exploitation of labor in other countries, including Egypt, Jordan, and Turkey.
BOYCOTT: Sabra Hummus
The USA’s top hummus manufacturer is owned by Strauss Group, an Israeli company with strong ties to the IDF. The corporation has “adopted” the Golani Brigade, an “elite unit” of the Israeli Army with a reputation for bad behavior that ranges “from revolts against commanders to abuse of Palestinians,” according to Haaretz. Golani troops were on the front line in Operation Cast Lead, the 2008-9 assault on Gaza which killed some 1,400 Palestinians. Strauss, apparently, provided the lunches, exclaiming on its website that it provides “food products” for missions and “personal care packages for each soldier.” After U.S. BDS groups targeted Sabra in 2010, Strauss removed the wording from its Corporate Social Responsibility pages. But it has said nothing of withdrawing its support for IDF troops. BDSlist.org and (JPost article)