Scarlett
Johansson Exposes BDS Political Jihad Against Jews, Christians
Scarlett
Johansson - a global fighter for human rights, jobs for Palestinians.
By
Herb Brandon
Israel News Agency
Jerusalem
January 25, 2014 ... American starlet Scarlett Johansson
responded to a wave of criticism thrown at her for agreeing to
endorse the Israeli company SodaStream, which owns a factory in
Israel.
In a statement
made to the Huffington Post, Johansson described her role
as the first-ever brand ambassador for SodaStream as "building
to peace." Johansson also made clear that despite the pressure
from the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement (BDS), she
would not renege on her commitment to SodaStream, which will include
a TV ad to be aired during the Super Bowl.
"While
I never intended on being the face of any social or political
movement, distinction, separation or stance as a part of my affiliation
with SodaStream, given the amount of noise surrounding that decision,
I'd like to clear the air," Johansson said in her statement
to the Huffington Post.
SodaStream,
a company known for making homebound seltzer machines, has its
primary factory in the West Bank settlement of Ma'ale Adumim.
The BDS movement
seized on the move by Johansson, launching a social media campaign
giving the starlet a scarlet "A for Apartheid." The
BDS movement lambasted Johansson even further for her role as
an Oxfam ambassador, calling the two endorsements incompatible,
and coining the phrase "blood bubbles."
The SodaStream
factory in Ma'ale Adumim employs 900 Palestinian workers, and
reportedly pays them Israeli wages.
Addressing
the concerns of her detractors in her statement, Johansson defended
her decision, and illustrating how the BDS failed to create more
suffering among Palestinians by denying them work.
"I remain
a supporter of economic cooperation and social interaction between
a democratic Israel and Palestine," said Johansson. "Soda
Stream is a company that is not only committed to the environment
but to building a bridge to peace between Israel and Palestine,
supporting neighbors working alongside each other, receiving equal
pay, equal benefits and equal rights. That is what is happening
in their Ma'ale Adumim factory every working day."
She continued:
"I believe in conscious consumerism and transparency and
I trust that the consumer will make their own educated choice
that is right for them."
In the online
bio of Johansson on its Website, Oxfam added a line about the
starlet's new endorsement: "Oxfam respects the independence
of our ambassadors. However Oxfam believes that businesses that
operate in settlements further the ongoing poverty and denial
of rights of the Palestinian communities that we work to support.
Oxfam is opposed to all trade from Israeli settlements, which
are illegal under international law. "
One may ask
what is Oxfam smoking? Rather than "furthering poverty"
Johansson is endorsing an Israeli company which provides real
jobs to Palestinians that pay more than any work offered by Palestinian
companies. As for Israeli settlements being "illegal under
international law" please show us which law these settlements
in Judea and Samaria are breaking?
Johansson
addressed Oxfam's remarks in her statement. "As part of my
efforts as an Ambassador for Oxfam, I have witnessed first-hand
that progress is made when communities join together and work
alongside one another and feel proud of the outcome of that work
in the quality of their product and work environment, in the pay
they bring home to their families and in the benefits they equally
receive."
Johansson
concluded by saying, "I stand behind the SodaStream product
and am proud of the work that I have accomplished at Oxfam."
Oxfam describes
Johansson on their Website: "We are proud of our relationship
with Scarlett Johansson who has worked with Oxfam since 2005 to
support Oxfams mission to end poverty and injustice. As
an Oxfam Global Ambassador, she has traveled to India, Sri Lanka
and Kenya to highlight the impact of traumatic disasters and chronic
poverty, and she has helped to raise critical funds for life-saving
and poverty-fighting work around the world. We deeply value her
support."
An Israeli
security analyst noted that part of the funding for the BDS movement
comes from both Iran and the EU. He stated that it is three elements
that provide motivation to the BDS movement. Anti-Semitism, Islamic
Jihad and a clear effort by many Islamic states to divert media
attention away from their real domestic issues such as 100,000
civilians murdered in Syria and Christians being murdered in Egypt
and Christians under attack in South Sudan. He said that even
with millions of dollars in funding, it would be very difficult
to convince the world that Israel is evil when in fact it remains
one of the leading contributors to high tech development, medical
research and global humanitarian aid.
"Where
are the Arab states as children are gassed to death in Syria,"
he said.
"Where
are the boycotts against the Syria government, against Bashar
al-Assad? These Islamic states are hiding under something called
the BDS and the United Nations. But they are not succeeding. The
BDS movement against Israeli universities failed with over 220
US universities rejecting any sort of boycott. People may be busy
with their every day chores but they are not stupid. They know
that the only democracy in the Middle East - Israel - has been
used as a false media diversion for war crimes taking place in
the Arab world and Africa and they will no longer accept these
Disneyland libels targeting Israel. If one cares to see the total
and complete failure of the BDS movement against Israel, just
go on Twitter and type in #BDSFail."
Will
Africa fall to Islamic Jihad?
Israel:
Canada An Example To Global Democracy In Cutting Diplomatic Ties
With Iran
Doing
Business - seeking more leads in the Jewish world?
Who
is the JIDF aka David Appletree aka David Brotsky?
Joel Leyden,
journalist, media consultant, social media and SEO pioneer
working with both the Israel Defense Forces and the US Army in
Haiti.
ISRAEL
NEWS AGENCY
Sponsored
By: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
JewishPr.co
IsraelCrossCulturalTraining.com
ReputationManagementPr.com
DigitalPrConsultant.com
IsraelPR.com
C4ISR.org
Hosted
by
Disclaimer:
Articles and opinions in the Israel News Agency reflect
the thoughts of individual writers
and do not necessarily reflect those of the views of other staff
writers and the publisher of the Israel
News Agency.
IsraelPr.com
NewYorkSEOPr.com JewishPr
Leyden Communications Group
All Rights Reserved. Non-Profit Site Copyright 1995, 2013
|