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, mass uprooting of trees and the building of an 8-meter concrete wall on the stolen land with
its detrimental impact on the eco-system as well as on the everyday life of the people. This is all in addition to the well known military occupation that is denying the most basic rights from well over 3.5 million civilians, 1.5 of whom are besieged and helpless in the Gaza Strip where 95% of its water is unfit for human consumption .
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Given all the mentioned violations, it is quite striking that the number of Jewish-Israeli activists who stand by universal values and would therefore necessarily demand the respect of elementary rights for Palestinians, as well as Jews, is so small. It is interesting to note, however, that among this group of activists who call for the respect of international law and of universally recognized human rights, we are also almost entirely vegan. In other words, many of us Israeli-Jews who promote Palestinian rights are also active on other fronts relating to animal welfare, social, gender and environmental issues. This is not surprising since being the over-privileged in an ethnic-supremacist and inherently unequal society means that we carry more of a responsibility for changing the situation and speaking out on behalf of the voiceless, the defenseless and the impoverished.
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Reports have clearly shown the complicity of Soda Stream in these crimes
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promoting their products can only be interpreted, unfortunately, as a means of "green washing" their complicity in crime. On your website you acknowledge the view that a fair treatment of the environment along with its people and other animals are all needed: "I am very involved with environmental issues and committed to working to prevent the exploitation of animals as well as for the diffusion of a conscious way of eating and fair trade". We are therefore left with simply asking you, dear Paola, to act accordingly and refuse to participate in the many crimes involved with Israeli occupation and apartheid. It should be noted that by simply expressing our views on this matter we risk being prosecuted under a recently legislated law in Israel . If calling on others to live up to their moral values means violating the law, then what does that say about the state that legislates such a law? We choose to stand by the rights of all living beings in this region, those alive and those yet to be born. We wholeheartedly choose to endorse the Palestinian society's call for BDS
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justice and equality for all. Please join us in this just struggle, we need you on our side.
Sincerely, Ronnie Barkan Naomi Greenspan Dorothy Naor Ofer Neiman Renen Raz Herzl Schubert Yonatan Shapira Michal Vexler
[1] http://bit.ly/RWwN1j - Set of reports about the crime of apartheid in Israel/Palestine [2] http://vex.co.il/bds/prnt/water.pdf [3] http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/asset/MDE15/027/2009/en/e9892ce4-7fba-469b-96b9c1e1084c620c/mde150272009en.pdf [4] http://visualizingpalestine.org/infographic/gaza-water-confined [5] http://www.whoprofits.org/articlefiles/WhoProfits-ProductioninSettlements-SodaStream.pdf [6] http://www.whoprofits.org/sites/default/files/sodastream_-_update.pdf [7] http://www.paolamaugeri.com/en/biografia/ [8] http://bit.ly/mRxrxG [9] http://www.bdsmovement.net/call
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