CODEPINK launches boycott in letter to Ahava: “Until your company shuts down the factory in the occupied territory of the Palestinian West Bank, stops exploiting the natural resources of the occupied West Bank for profit, and stops using AHAVA profits to fund/subsidize Israeli Jewish settlements in the West Bank, we will be boycotting your products and educating the public about your illegal practices.”

July 15, 2009

Ms. Elizabeth DeMaria, Executive VP
Ahava North America
410 Fifth Avenue
New York, NY 10018 USA

Dear Elizabeth DeMaria

We are writing to let you know that our organization, CODEPINK Women for Peace, is launching a boycott campaign called STOLEN BEAUTY (www.stolenbeauty.org) against the products of your parent company, AHAVA Dead Sea Laboratories, because of its flouting of international law.

We recently sent a human rights fact-finding delegation to Israel, and this delegation confirmed that Ahava goods, while bearing labels saying that Israel is their country of origin, are being produced in violation of international laws that prohibit an occupying country, Israel, from taking the resources of the occupied territory, Palestine. Additionally, Ahava profits are going to support Israeli settlements that are illegal under international law. This is why our women's peace group, CODEPINK, is launching a campaign to encourage people to boycott Ahava products.

Ahava means love in Hebrew, but there is nothing loving about profiting from an illegal occupation. Until your company shuts down the factory in the occupied territory of the Palestinian West Bank, stops exploiting the natural resources of the occupied West Bank for profit, and stops using AHAVA profits to fund/subsidize Israeli Jewish settlements in the West Bank, we will be boycotting your products and educating the public about your illegal practices.

If you would like to meet to discuss this matter, you can reach us at CODEPINK's New York office at 646-723-1781. But our campaign will continue until the above conditions are met.

Sincerely,

CODEPINK Women for Peace