As you watch the Super Bowl this Sunday, one commercial in particular should catch your attention.  SodaStream, the world’s largest manufacturer, distributor and marketer of home carbonation systems, is set to have a 30 second commercial during the 4th quarter of the game.  SodaStream is a household kitchen gadget that carbonates water into seltzer and sodas, and is produced in Ma’aleh Adumim, the largest illegal Israeli settlement on stolen Palestinian land in the West Bank.  Join all of us in the BDS movement, Jewish Voice for Peace, the US Campaign Against the Israeli Occupation, Code Pink, an amazing coalition of religious leaders, and many others in boycott!

We ask you to join our boycott of SodaStream because it is produced in an illegal Israeli settlement (opposed by U.S. Government policy) and because the products sold support the settlement industry, encouraging Israel to continue the illegal military occupation of Palestinian lands.

Today, illegal settlements, like Ma’aleh Adumim, are protected by walls that take away the right of Palestinians to move freely and deny them access to their jobs and farmland.  As a result of this oppression and its economic impact, many Palestinians (including children as young as 12) must work in the settlements in order to support their families.

In response to criticism, SodaStream CEO Daniel Birnbaum defended his company:

“We don’t strengthen or support the occupation…  What we’re doing is taking a facility in the occupied territory and giving Palestinians a career and economic benefits. I’ve got to laugh when they think we’re on the wrong side of this. We’re part of the solution. We build bridges, not walls.”

From June 30th through July 7th, Presbyterians from all over the United States will gather in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, for the 220th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church U.S.A. During this gathering, commissioners elected from local Presbyterian communities will vote on many important matters, including a recommendation to divest from specified companies that profit from the Israeli abuse of Palestinian human rights. Among them are Caterpillar, Hewlett Packard, and Motorola.

The Presbyterian Church is known for its strong and consistent stance in support of Palestinian human rights. If it were to divest from these companies, it would be a massive victory for justice in Palestine. To this end, we encourage everyone who is able to get involved. The U.S. Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation provides a petition in support of divestment and excellent information about ways to support the Presbyterian activists who have made the issue of divestment so prominent in the Church. If you live in or near Olympia, and are interested in working on this issue within the church community, contact us to find out how to get involved in supporting these efforts.

Yesterday, June 4, 2012, The Flaming Eggplant Cafe, a student-run cafe at The Evergreen State College in Olympia announced it will boycott Israeli products. A statement, released yesterday, reads:

Our Mission Statement outlines a commitment to serving socially just food. Israel’s policy of illegal land seizure and destruction on Palestinian lands means purchasing items from Israel is in conflict with our mission.

As a student-run collective with the stated principle of supporting direct action for a just and egalitarian society, and as a café representing the student body at large, we feel it is important to uphold the desire for boycott and divestment as voted for by the students at The Evergreen State College.

» Read the full statement from the Flaming Eggplant…

On May 2nd, The Olympian published a troubling op-ed entitled “Local actions target Israel – but land squarely on area Jews” by Allyson Brooks. The op-ed is full of misinformation about the struggle for Palestinian human rights. The author claims, with no evidence to substantiate, that the BDS (Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions) movement has threatened the Jewish community in Olympia, that BDS in an ineffective tactic, that Americans can’t contribute to ending violence in the region, and that we should ignore issues that make others somewhat “uncomfortable.”

While a response op-ed has already been written by Gar Lipow, a member of the Jewish community in Olympia, this op-ed also needs to be quickly countered by letters to the editor of the paper. These may be submitted to The Olympian at http://www.theolympian.com/letters/. Scroll down to see suggestions for points of the editorial to address. Even though these letters may not be published, they still play an important role by informing the paper about the public’s feelings on this issue.

• There has been no “intimidation against a local Jewish business” for hosting Israeli LGBT speakers by the BDS movement in Olympia.  Just listen to what Hava Aviv, the owner of the business in question, Kitzel’s Delicatessen, said in an interview: “Over the course of several days, many conversations came to my table.  No organization or group approached me… People came and said, ‘Hava, we are very concerned that you are hosting StandWithUs events, and we are very concerned that if you continue to host StandWithUs events, that groups will begin to organize to boycott Kitzel’s.’… Nobody came to me and said that they will boycott.”