[PAA-Discuss] FW: [ufpj-activist] Philly BDS Continues Boycott ofApartheid Hummus

Tue Dec 7 07:40:26 EST 2010

Thanks, Lee, for this information. I had no idea that hummus from Sabra was
partially owned by an Israeli corporation. I happen to love Sabra hummus,
but I will never buy it again. Unbelievable! I swear do we have to do a
company background check on EVERYTHING before we purchase it?! I already
spend enough time reading the ingredients labels on stuff. If I have to do a
company background check, too, it's likely I'll never have time to eat
anything that comes in a package.

Kris

  _____  

From: Lee Loe [mailto:leeloe at igc.org] 
Sent: Monday, December 06, 2010 8:08 PM
To: 'PAA Discussion List'
Subject: [PAA-Discuss] FW: [ufpj-activist] Philly BDS Continues Boycott
ofApartheid Hummus

Woops. we need to tell Costco. Lee

  _____  

From: ufpj-activist-bounces+leeloe=igc.org at lists.mayfirst.org
[mailto:ufpj-activist-bounces+leeloe=igc.org at lists.mayfirst.org] On Behalf
Of Matthew Graber
Sent: Monday, December 06, 2010 7:49 PM
To: ufpj-activist at lists.mayfirst.org
Subject: [ufpj-activist] Philly BDS Continues Boycott of Apartheid Hummus

For Immediate Release                                    Contact: Nathaniel
Miller (610) 209-1447/  <mailto:phillybds at gmail.com> phillybds at gmail.com

   Photos:   <http://www.flickr.com/groups/phillybds>
http://www.flickr.com/groups/phillybds

Community Members Urge Boycott of Apartheid Hummus

Philadelphia, PA 12/5/2010.   Members of Philly BDS (Boycott Divestment and
Sanctions) staged a weekend "Mime-In" at the Fresh Grocer supermarket's
flagship store at 40th and Walnut Streets in Philadelphia on Saturday.  The
action was the latest public demonstration in a growing international
campaign to boycott Sabra and Tribe hummus brands because of their owners'
support for human rights abuses in Israel and Palestine. Two mimes stood
outside with a banner urging patrons not to "be silent about Israeli
apartheid" while other members shopped inside wearing duct-tape over their
mouths and placards that also called on shoppers not to be silent.

Most shoppers reacted to the caravan with curiosity, and some expressed
strong support of the boycott.  After one activist was seen photographing
the caravan inside the store, security personnel detained him for over an
hour and threatened to have him arrested unless he destroyed the photos on
his camera. He was released and his camera returned to him only after a call
to the Fresh Grocer corporate offices. Though police were summoned, no
arrests were made.

Saturday's "Mime-In" is the latest public action of a growing national
movement to boycott Sabra and Tribe. Six weeks ago in the same West
Philadelphia store, Philly BDS staged a flash dance to a Lady Gaga hit and
sang lyrics urging shoppers to support the boycott.  The video of that
action, which to date has been viewed over 34,000 times on YouTube, sparked
a rapid expansion of interest in the hummus boycott, particularly on college
and university campuses in the United States.  Students at Princeton and
DePaul Universities have recently initiated calls for boycott of Sabra on
their campuses, and groups at several other campuses are considering doing
so. 

Sabra Hummus is jointly owned by Pepsico and by the Strauss Group, an
Israeli corporation that has proudly supported a unit of the Israeli
military, known as the Golani Brigade, which is known as particularly brutal
toward Palestinians.  The Golani Brigade has been cited for numerous human
rights violations since 1948, including Israel's 2008-2009 assault on Gaza
that killed more than 1,400 Palestinians, most of whom were unarmed
civilians, in just three weeks. The Jerusalem Post reported last month that
Strauss' support for the Golani Brigade had been deleted entirely from the
English-language portion of its website in response to pressure from the
Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) Movement, though the Hebrew portion
of the site remained unchanged.  The Strauss Group has since modified their
English-language website to reassert the company's support for the Golani
Brigade.

In addition to Sabra Hummus, the boycott also targets Tribe Hummus, which is
owned by the Osem Group, a key corporate supporter of the Jewish National
Fund.  Because by Israeli law all land owned or administered by the JNF is
reserved for the exclusive use of "the Jewish people in perpetuity," the JNF
has played a key role in the "judaization" of Palestine and the ethnic
cleansing of its indigenous people.

In 2005, Palestinian civil society representatives issued a call for a
global boycott, divestment and sanctions movement against Israel until
Israel complies with international law by ending its occupation of Palestine
lands, dismantling the "separation barrier" in the West Bank and East
Jerusalem, granting full and equal rights to Palestinian citizens of Israel,
and recognizing the right of exiled Palestinians to return to their country.
Organized along the lines of the Anti-Apartheid movement against South
Africa, the BDS movement has burgeoned globally over the past five years,
with hundreds of separate campaigns targeting Israel's economic, academic,
and cultural institutions.

Philly BDS is a creative partnership working for human rights in
Israel/Palestine. We support the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions campaign
called for by Palestinian civil society in 2005.

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