Dynamics between Campaigners and Opponents

The dynamic interaction between the campaigners of consumer boycotts in the BDS movement and opponents shows that the relationship between the two sides is ongoing and contentious. Boycott activists produce negative publicity about the company and bring to the fore the issue of Israel’s settlement project in the occupied Palestinian territories. In response, those that support Israel’s colonial endeavors strive to impede boycott activities against Ahava and other companies. This has taken

290 _{Palestinian BNC, “Palestinian Civil Society Welcomes Presbyterian Church (USA) Israel Boycott}

Resolution,” 7 July 2012; www.bdsmovement.net/2012/palestinian-civil-society-welcomes- presbyterian-church-usa-israel-boycott-resolution-9197.

176 several forms, including an official response from Ahava’s CEO refuting the claims (e.g. that the settlement’s location violates international law) of boycott activists and pro-Israeli settlement activists directly contesting consumer boycotts by purchasing Israel’s settlement products.

In 2010, Ahava CEO Yaacov Ellis sent a letter to suppliers of Ahava products in response to boycott activities against the company. In the letter, Ellis addressed the main points and countered the claims of BDS activists. Ellis referred to those that organize boycott campaigns against Ahava as “small, radical fringe organizations,” and a “fanatical group.”291 _{He said the groups are known for their “anti-}

American…[and] anti-Israeli conduct…”292 _{With respect to the legal status of the}

West Bank, Ellis stated,

“Ahava’s use of the Mitzpe Shalem facility is legal and does not violate any provision of International Law, especially as there is no recognized right of any people’s other than Israel to the West Bank.”293

In regards to effect of the settlement or its industries on Palestinians, the CEO said that the company had not received any complaint from “any legitimate representative of the Palestinian population and does not violate any rights of any peoples.” He went on to say that the company would resist any boycott actions against it and would consider legal action if required.

In addition to the official response from the company to BDS campaigns, a group has formed in the US to directly challenge the consumer boycott efforts of BDS activists. Buy Israeli Goods (BIG) was formed by the America-Israel Chamber of

291 _{Codepink, “Letter from Ahava Dead Sea Laboratories President and CEO Yaakov Ellis,” 2010;}

www.codepinkalert.org/article.php?id=5548.

292 _Ibid. 293 _Ibid.

177 Commerce Chicago and StandWithUs. The America-Israel Chamber of Commerce Chicago is an organization that seeks to build business connections between the US and Israel, and StandWithUS is a pro-Israel advocacy organization with branches across the US.294 The group’s name – Buy Israel Goods – is an explicit play on the phrase “Boycott Israeli Goods,” (BIG), for which there was an official campaign of the PSC discussed earlier. The goal of Buy Israel Goods is to promote the purchase of Israeli products, specifically those being targeted for boycott by Palestinians and solidarity activists. According to the group’s website, “…the frequent purchase of Israeli products will have a broad and significant impact on the Israeli economy and its citizens, and perhaps even on its ability to survive.”295 _{The group’s website is a}

database of stores that carry Israeli products, from which consumers can search for retailers in their local area or for online stores that carry Israeli products.296

Specific actions have been planned by these groups and others to oppose boycott actions by BDS campaigners. For example, 30 November 2010 was planned as a “Buy Israel Goods Day” in direct response to an Ahava boycott action organized by Codepink at Ricky’s in New York for the same day. The two organizations that formed the Buy Israel Goods website “urg[ed] members of synagogues, schools, colleges and community groups to go to local stores and request Israeli-made

products, particularly those targeted by boycotters.”297 Similarly, when The Bay was targeted by Ahava boycotters in Canada, anti-BDS challengers recommended that supporters visit their local store, purchase Ahava products, and thank the store for

294 _{The America - Israel Chamber of Commerce Chicago, “About AICC,”}

www.americaisrael.org/scripts/abo_Index.asp; StandWithUs, “About Us,” www.standwithus.com/aboutus/.

295 _{Buy Israel Goods, “Help Israel,” www.buyisraelgoods.org/.}

296 _{StandWithUS, “Buy Israeli Goods,” www.buyisraeligoods.com/landing2013.asp.}

America-Israel Chamber of Commerce & Industry. “Buy Israel Goods,” www.buyisraelgoods.org/.

297 _{Sue Fishkoff, “Nov. 30 Declared Buy Israel day,” 23 November 2010;}

178 stocking Ahava. Those opposing BDS were also asked to write to The Bay

executives, for which the contact details were provided for the Chairman, President and CEO, and the Director of Beauty Products, to encourage them to continue carrying Ahava products in their stores.298 In these particular actions, challengers to BDS campaigners directly sought to thwart the boycott goals of activists.

In this way, the dynamics between boycotters and opponents is somewhat of a tit for tat interplay. BDS activists will push the status quo by calling for a boycott and other punitive measures, which lead the opposing side to respond, often with reverse actions. The letter written by Ahava’s CEO to suppliers of the company’s products and the Buy Israeli Goods days organized in response to boycott actions are direct forms of contesting consumer boycotts in the BDS movement. The goal of BDS opponents is to overturn the abilities and achievements of BDS activists, or at the least to hamper these efforts; however, this has yet to be accomplished as consumer boycott campaigns and activities successfully continue against Ahava.