One of the season’s most popular gift items this year is a do-it-yourself soda machine made by SodaStream which carbonates water at home.

But don’t do it!

People who care about human rights should know that the product is made in an illegal Israeli settlement on stolen Palestinian land in violation of international law!

Stores selling SodaStream include:  Bed, Bath and Beyond, Best Buy, COSTCO, Crate & Barrel, JC Penney, Kohls, Macy’s, Sears, Staples, Sur La Table, Target, Walmart, Williams-Sonoma.

Black Friday Demonstrations against SodaStream

Ask your friends, family, colleagues, etc. to avoid SodaStream and to take the actions listed below.

  • Sign this petition asking stores to stop selling SodaStream.
  • Speak to the Store Manager: If you see SodaStream on sale, speak to the store manager and fill out a comment card asking the store to stop selling it. You can also contact store CEOs directly.
  • Take it back: If you know of anyone who has unfortunately made this purchase, ask them to return SodaStream to the store. The more conversations we can have about the illegal settlement production the better.
  • SkyMall: If you are flying anywhere this holiday season, check out the SkyMall catalogue and write your comment directly on the Soda Stream ad.
  • Go holiday caroling: See a list of songs to sing during your ‘Boycott SodaStream’ holiday caroling rounds.
  • List of actions and more: Visit Global Exchange’s SodaStream action page for more tips on how to get involved with the campaign.

Best wishes for an active holiday season from all of us at Global Exchange.

This following post by Dalit Baum was originally sent to the Economic Activism for Palestine e-mail list. Be the first to receive urgent action items by signing up for our e-mail lists.

By Dalit Baum
Director, Economic Activism for Palestine

This Wednesday, March 30th, is Palestinian Land Day. Land Day commemorates the 1976 general strike of Palestinians within Israel against mass expropriation of their land by the state. Six unarmed protesters were killed on that day, but hundreds more have been killed since in demonstrations and protests against the on-going confiscations of Palestinian land.

We choose to bring to your attention today an Israeli product, SodaStream, now being aggressively introduced into the U.S. market. The SodaStream company is an Occupation profiteer located in an illegal settlement and directly benefitting from one of the largest land expropriations of Palestinian land in the West Bank.

SodaStream produces home beverage carbonating devices, labeled as “Made in Israel,” whereas in fact, these devices are made in an illegal industrial zone called Mishor Edomim, on a vast area between Jerusalem and Jericho in the West Bank expropriated from its original Palestinian owners in the 70’s to prevent a future contiguous Palestinian state. Last year, the European Court of Justice ruled that SodaStream devices are not “Made in Israel,” as asserted, since they are produced in an illegal settlement, and therefore they cannot benefit from the EU trade agreements with the State of Israel.

SodaStream is marketed as an environmentally responsible product, but the destruction of life, land and peace brought about by this settlement industrial zone is anything but environmentally responsible. Outside official state borders, Israeli companies operating in the West Bank enjoy cheap land and water, both confiscated from the indigenous Palestinian owners; a captive Palestinian labor force, under severe restrictions of movement and organization; large tax incentives; and lax regulation of environmental and labor protection laws.

A recent report by the Israeli research project Who Profits from the Occupation describes SodaStream’s illegal settlement activities, exposes its fraudulent labeling practices and investigates its exploitative labor practices. The photo on the left shows SodaStream’s Factory in Mishor Edomim Settlement. (photo credit: Esti Tsal, WhoProfits)

SodaStream is currently facing a growing boycott campaign in Europe and, as can be seen from its own SEC reports, the company is weighing the relative costs of international consumer boycotts and negative publicity against the economic benefits of manufacturing in a settlement industrial zone. It is time to raise the cost of occupation and exploitation.

This Land Day, we are asking one chain store, Bed Bath and Beyond, to stop selling SodaStream, as well as Ahava and all other settlement products.

Take 30 seconds now to sign our petition to Bed Bath & Beyond.

Global Exchange along with our partners in CODEPINK will deliver your signature to stores around the country and fax the letter and signatures to their corporate headquarters on Wednesday, The Palestinian Land Day.

Thank you for standing in solidarity and taking action to bring justice in Palestine through corporate accountability.

Dalit Baum, Ph.D., is the founder of “Who Profits from the Occupation”, an activist research initiative of the Coalition of Women for Peace in Israel. During the last four years, “Who Profits” has become a vital resource for dozens of campaigns around the world, providing information about corporate complicity in the occupation of Palestine.

Dalit is a feminist scholar and teacher in Israel, teaching about militarism and about the global economy from a feminist perspective in the Haifa University and the Beit Berl College. This year she is visiting the U.S. as an activist in residence with Global Exchange, directing a new program titled Economic Activism for Palestine, which aims to support existing divestment campaigns in the U.S. as well as help new ones through education, training, networking and the development of dedicated tools.

The following is an excerpt from a letter Dalit sent out to Global Exchange’s Economic Activism for Palestine email list this week. If you’d like to join this email list to stay updated about this new project you can sign up here.

Who really profits from the Israeli occupation? What economic interests further entrench the colonization and exploitation of Palestinian land and resources? How can we influence corporate policies affecting Palestine – and through this work weaken and isolate the occupation?

I’m Dalit Baum, and as a feminist anti-occupation activist teaching gender and the global economy at Haifa University and Beit Berl College in Israel, I found these questions crucial to our work for justice in Palestine. To try to answer them I helped start and have coordinated an activist research initiative called Who Profits from the Occupation within the Coalition of Women for Peace in Israel. During the last four years, Who Profits has become a vital resource for dozens of campaigns around the world, providing information about corporate complicity in the occupation of Palestine.

The Economic Activism for Palestine project responds to the July 2005 Unified Call of Palestinian civil society for a wide variety of initiatives such as boycotts, divestment and sanctions until Israel complies with international law and universal principles of human rights. Through our new project, Global Exchange will increase its participation in a growing network of civil society initiatives around the world, dedicated to changing corporate policies and making the occupation less profitable. We will support existing campaigns for divestment and corporate accountability nationally, as well as help create new ones through education, training, networking and the development of dedicated tools.

I am very excited to be part of this new project and look forward to working with you for justice in Palestine through corporate accountability.

Ways To Get Involved With Dalit’s Work:

Topics Dalit Covers:

  • Corporate involvement in the Israeli occupation: developing effective responses
  • Economic Activism for Palestine: learning from our successes
  • The feminist anti-occupation movement in Israel and BDS
  • Activist workshop 1: Corporate research effective campaigns: sharing our knowhow
  • Activist workshop 2: Strategic target choice for BDS: where is the salt?