Read Susan Abulhawas beautiful letter to Oxfam: Dear #Oxfam Novib, I was honored several years ago when you co-publised my debut novel in Dutch, HET LITTEKEN VAN DAVID. I understood at the time that you had chosen ten books, dealing with specific instances of injustice around the world, to offer to your donors as a way to both raise awareness and garner support. My book was a fictional narrative of the very real and ongoing destruction Palestine and Palestinian society. I was very grateful, and even more so when you invited and included me to CROSSING BORDERS FESTIVAL in Den Haag later that year. I remain grateful for your support of me as a writer, and for the support you continued to give, through various programs, to the Palestinian struggle against the ongoing dismantling of our society and our nation. It is in that spirit of human solidarity; in the kinship of a shared struggle for universal human dignity; and in noble principle of speaking truth to power, that I ask you to disavow your association with Scarlett Johansson, whose endorsement of SodaStream upholds the apartheid system upon which that company was built, and makes heroes of those who profit from Palestinian misery, displacement, dispossession, and oppression. I quote the following from the Palestinian Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions National Committee (BNC): SodaStream is a key beneficiary of Israel’s occupation of Palestinian land and of the denial of self-determination to Palestinians. The company benefits from government subsidies and tax-breaks established to encourage businesses to operate in Israeli settlements, allowing them to become viable and flourish. The land on which SodaStream’s factory operates was forcefully taken from Palestinians. According to Oxfam, the Israeli army forcefully expelled 200 Palestinian families from their homes to make space for the construction of Maale Adumim in the early 1990s.[7] Israel has recently announced a plan to expel another 2,300 Palestinians to make way for the settlement’s growth, stealing more Palestinian land.[8] SodaStream and other companies that operate in illegal Israeli settlements are very much part and parcel of this system of oppression. It is my hope and plea that you not waiver from your commitment to justice and sever your association with Scarlett Johansson, who has chosen to align herself with a merchant of Palestinian oppression and dislocation. Respectfully, susan abulhawa
Posted on: Wed, 29 Jan 2014 19:14:13 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015