We rebuke Johansson’s condescending remarks that SodaStream is “building a bridge to peace between Israel and Palestine.” This position seems to come directly from the company’s propaganda textbook and has been consistently refuted by Palestinians. It is not for Johansson to lecture Palestinians on what is good for them. Palestinians are not employed in Israeli settlements as a matter of freewill; they are subjects to a captive economy, which settlements have been a key component in decimating, and they have largely lost their lands and sources of income due to Israel’s occupation and colonization. Palestinian trade unions and civil society organisations have consistently rejected any suggestion that the oppressive reality of living under a brutal occupation – sometimes leaving Palestinians with no choice but to export fresh produce through complicit Israeli companies or work in illegal settlements – is a reason not to take action to end international complicity in human rights violations. Moreover, Palestinian workers employed by SodaStream have explained that they face systematic discrimination and are “treated like slaves.”
Posted on: Tue, 28 Jan 2014 05:02:15 +0000
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