TODAY: Bikini-clad activists protest Ahava cosmetics at Cosmoprof trade show

July 20th, 2009

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE        July 20, 2009    CONTACT
Jean Stevens, CODEPINK national media coordinator, 508-769-2138
Nancy Kricorian, CODEPINK "Stolen Beauty" campaign coordinator, 646-234-8529
Jodie Evans, CODEPINK co-founder, 310-621-5635

TODAY: Bikini-clad activists protest Ahava cosmetics
at Cosmoprof trade show

Calls for Israeli company to end violations of international law, exploitation of Occupied West Bank resources

WHAT: Bikini-clad CODEPINK activists to demonstrate at Ahava booth
WHEN: Between 10 a.m. and 12 p.m., TODAY (July 20)
WHERE: Ahava Dead Sea Laboratories booth #
D11145, Pavilion A, Cosmoprof trade show, Mandalay Bay resort, Las Vegas

LAS VEGAS -- To expose the dirty truth of the
Ahava Dead Sea Laboratories cosmetics company, bikini-clad activists of the women's peace group CODEPINK here today will rally with signs and chants at the Ahava booth inside the beauty industry's annual major Cosmoprof conference in Las Vegas and call on the Israeli company to end its exploitations of the Occupied West Bank and follow international law.

The dramatic action will mark the formal launch of "Stolen Beauty," a boycott campaign against Ahava -- which sells its products in upscale shops, spas and salons worldwide -- designed to pressure the company to end its exploitative and illegal practices and to pressure Israel to end its violations of international law against Palestine and its people. CODEPINK also plans to educate consumers about Ahava's dirty secrets and encourage consumers to boycott Ahava products.


"We are here to tell AHAVA, which claims to be devoted to beauty and purity, that you cannot cover up occupation and violation of international law," said Paris Marron, CODEPINK's national online organizer. "We call on AHAVA to come clean."

CODEPINK, which in the past two months has already staged three demonstrations against Ahava in Israel and New York City (view photos and video here), recently sent a fact-finding mission to the Ahava headquarters in the Israeli settlement of Mitzpe Shalem in the Occupied West Bank. What they found made their skin crawl.

"Its products produced in the Occupied West Bank are labeled of 'Israeli origin' even though, according to international law including the relevant UN Security Council Resolutions, the West Bank cannot be considered to be part of the State of Israel," said Medea Benjamin, CODEPINK co-founder. "The company also exploits occupied natural resources for profit, which is a violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention."

Ahava does its best to hide its dirt, even hiring Oxfam Ambassador and 'Sex and the City' star Kristin Davis as its spokesperson.

'Stolen Beauty' is CODEPINK's contribution to the international Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) Movement against institutions and corporations that give tacit or material support to the Israel's occupation of the Palestinian Territory, designed to pressure the Israeli government to end the occupation of the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem. Conditions there have since worsened because of Israel's 21-month blockade of Gazan borders, Israel's continued demolition of Palestinian homes in East Jerusalem, and land appropriations and violent repression in the West Bank.

For more information on the action, please contact Jodie Evans, CODEPINK co-founder, at 310-621-5635 or Jean Stevens, CODEPINK national media coordinator, at 508-769-2138. For more information on the campaign, recent protest events and more, visit www.stolenbeauty.org; on the manufacturer and its involvement in the occupation, visit “Who Profits from the Occupation?” (a project of The Israeli Coalition of Women for Peace): http://www.whoprofits.org/Company%20Info.php?id=575; on the international Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions Campaign, visit Global BDS Movement for Palestine: http://www.bdsmovement.net/