Oxfam just made Obama’s Mary Robinson headache that much bigger [UPDATED]
The New York Post (in its famed Page Six gossip column) reports today that Oxfam is sidelining spokeswoman Kristen Davis because the "Sex and the City" actress is also a spokeswoman for the Ahava cosmetics line, which is manufactured in an Israeli settlement in the West Bank:
... Because Ahava is made by Dead Sea Cosmetics in the Mitzhe Shalem Jewish settlement in the West Bank, it's been controversial -- the leftist women's peace group Code Pink, which accuses America of "war crimes," has called for a boycott, saying Ahava uses Palestinian natural resources in what it calls "Occupied Palestine."
"This has been a huge thing," one source told us. "Ahava has factories on disputed land. From Ahava's perspective, they are not doing anything wrong. From an Oxfam perspective, Ahava is a polarizing company and Kristin shouldn't be involved with it."
Our source said Davis "has been very active with both Oxfam and Ahava, and is very passionate about the causes of Oxfam. She was completely unaware of this conflict of interest and is saddened to be on public pause from a group she has devoted so much time, money, and support to."
In a statement, Oxfam said, "Kristin Davis has done great work for Oxfam and we highly value her commitment as a supporter . . . Oxfam remains opposed to settlement trade, in which Ahava is engaged. Both Kristin and Oxfam do not want this issue to detract from the great work we have done in the past and plan to do in the future." ...
What does all this have to do with Barack Obama and Mary Robinson? Well, as Eric Fingerhut reported earlier this week, Obama is already drawing heat from some Jewish organizations (AIPAC, ADL, ZOA) and commentators for choosing Robinson, the former U.N. high commissioner for human rights and former president of Ireland, as one of 16 recipients of the Presidential Medal of Freedom -- the highest civilian honor in the United States. Their main complaint is that Robinson presided over the infamous 2001 Durban conference, plus she has a history of strongly critcizing Israel.
Well, now you can throw this into the mix: Robinson is the honorary president of Oxfam International.
UPDATE: An Oxfam spokesman tells JTA's Eric Fingerhut that it has not made a final decision on how to handle the situation (but won't be severing ties with Davis) -- and adds that Robinson has had nothing to do with the deliberations over what to do. Perhaps that's true -- but it's also a safe bet that Kristen Davis has nothing to do with where Ahava cosmetics are produced. So if Oxfam decides to hold Davis accountable for Ahava, I don't see why it would be unkosher to hold Robinson accountable for Oxfam.
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The truth is that under non-politicized international law Israeli settlements are not illegal. The International Court of Justice (ICJ) is a political institution that is biased against Israel for some time. That Oxfam agrees with IJC is axiomatic. That Obama agrees is just more evidence about his true feelings about Israel. To all those Jews who voted for him, its about time you woke up and smelled the coffee.
Eden’s article of course is tendentious and has already reached the conclusion that there is something wrong with Oxfam’s rejecting Ahava’s head. Ahava is stealing the raw materials for its cosmetics from the Palestinian people. Its head does not deserve to be honored by an organization that cares about the poor of the wprld..
If “Ahava” —what a name!! only in Sholom Aleichem could we find a thief called “Love”—— were located in the real state of Israel, THEN Oxfam’s doubts would be out of line.
As for the legal situation: The ICJ applies international law fairly & sensibly. It ruled, for example, that is Israel had built the Separation Wall along the Green Line, not hugely into PalestiniaN turf, it would probably be legal. And it doesn’t take the ICJ to discover that the settlements are illegal. Neither the US norany other state recognizes israel’s land grabs on the West bank & EastT Jerusalem.
Obama’;s “true feelings” abt Israel are that the real Israel is legitimate and decent, and the settlements unacceptable. An excellent position. Most American Jews agree, though not the official “leaders” of the various AJCs etc.
-- Rabbi Arthur Waskow
The Shalom Center
http://www.shalomctr.org
Now that “rabbi” (sic) Waskoiw has concluded that most Jews think that the settlements are illegal and what a name Ahava is, this leftist self hating jew by birth, who calls himself “rabbi” should also question the name of his organization- Shalom Center- Peace or is it Piece center? What does Shalom center mean? Break Israel up in little pieces(peaces)? The rabbi and his socialist self hating Jewish ilk should support the Palestinians even more by doing the rest of us a favor-moving his shalom Center to Gaza where he can enjoy the lovely sunset of his friends and mentors the Hamas.
Perhaps the good “rabbi” has not looked at the recent poll of worldwide Jewry conducted by the AJC that actually shows Jewish support of the so called settlements, which of course are not on “occupied” territory, but actually liberated territory. But hey the “rabbi” must know best. After all who takes precedence? Arabs living in uprooted Jewish homes for the past 150 years, or the Jews they uprooted who lived there for 2000 years? Most self hating jews think the Arabs do. That is why they are self hating! Weak liberal destructive people who lack ideas, wisdom and the confidence to be proud to be a Jew.
Arthur Waskow took too many mushrooms at woodstock. I’d be interested if anybody knows where he graduated from. I’m thinking that he is full of shit about his slicha. Now if he was an imam for the mosque of lets fuck our child brides, wipe our ass with our left hands, and kill jews. That would fit.
Ad hominum attacks add nothing of value to the discussion. Nor do seemingly “factual” assertions pulled out of thin air (not to state the matter more crudely).
I would be interested to know precisely who determines the content of “non-politicized international law”, and what “self-hating” means beyond being a label to hang on any Jew whose opinions or arguments disagree with your own.
If folks want to participate in civil discourse, grow up and act like adults.
And Mr Pearlman, slicha, but peraps you mean to refer to smicha. Which Rabbi Waskow possesses. All you seem to possess is an exceptionally foul mouth.
--The Wise Bard
Knowing little about the ultra-left, secular progressive, Israelophobic Rabbi Waskow, I went to Wikipedia and found the biography of a man who singularly personifies most of everything wrong with the world! His organization, like Oxfam, is disgustingly anti-Israel in contentious issues and goes far out of its way to offer sympathy to the genocidal enemies of Israel. He is just another over-educated, spineless, JINO sellout and has, unfortunately, a lot of company on the incurable ultra-left. For example, read how Waskow slobbered over the memory of the late George Tiller ("The Baby Killer"), calling him a “religious martyr” (is partial-birth, late-term abortion really “compassionate” in all cases...if not, isn’t it premeditated murder?)! Or read about his receiving the Peace and Justice Award in 2007, from the Muslim American American Society Freedom Foundation (individuals who are pro-Israel are automatically disqualified from receiving this award). Or review his long and sordid record of opposing the Jewish State of Israel at almost every occasion. He is truly a man to be rejected by every Israel-loving Jew!
I fear that these comments are not sufficiently “civil discourse-ish” enough for those of you who admire Waskow. But you are the same people who never met an Israel detractor you didn’t relate to. No wonder the world laughs at the Jews! What have we become?
Not sure what this story hinges on…
There’s no suggested involvement of Robinson in this actress’s case, nor is she likely to have been involved, as an honorary President. As a result, the connection to Obama is hugely convoluted...in fact there isn’t one.
This story says that Oxfam consider one of their spokespersons working for a settlement business to be “an issue”, which some people certainly disagree with.
However, clearly Robinson and Obama are not connected.
The west bank was captured militarily by Israel in the 6 day war of 1967 from Jordan. It was not known as Palestine, it was part of the Ottoman Empire until the League of Nations gave it to the British as a mandated territory after WWI. The Brits controlled it until 1948 when the Jordanian Arab Legion took it by force. When Israel and Jordan concluded a peace treaty in the 1980s, Jordan did NOT WANT the west bank returned to them. There ia absolutely nothing wrong with Israel allowing both Jewish and Arab residents to settle in the west bank. It is not necesary for there to be a two state solution until such a time as the Arabs are truly ready for peace by showing a willingness and an ability to accept a Jewish country in the middle east and co-exist with it peacefuly instead of constantly trying to destroy it. Until such time as the Arabs are willing to be tolerant and respectful of religions other than Islam, there can be no peace. Once the decision is made by the Arabs to unconditionally accept the right of Israel to exist, then peace can be achieved and a “Palestinian” state be created, not before.
As far as Mary Robinson goes, she has consistently shown a bias towards the Arab side and against Israel. The President is entitled to nominate whoever he wants to receive the most distinguished award, but we do not have to agree with the selection, nor should we.
As far as Ahava products are concerned, they are wonderful, and we will continue to use them and recommend them.
Those who want to boycott Israel and/or its products are very misguided and very prejudiced. Israeli technology and scientific and medical discoveries are among the best in the world, second only to the USA. Jewish ties to the west bank go back over 3000 years. Those who accuse Jews of stealing the land are simply wrong, it belongs to them more them than to any other group. The west bank is an integral part of Israel.
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ehnyc
08/06/09 11:04 AM
This is only a problem if you don’t believe that Israeli settlements are illegal under international law. Since Oxfam, Obama, and the International Court of Justice all agree on this matter, it shouldn’t pose a problem at all.
Ahava products are not only built in settlements, but also use natural resources from the Dead Sea, which Palestinians are barred from accessing. They are falsely imported into the European Union under tariff agreements for products “made in Israel” although trade courts have definitely stated that the occupied territories do not count as Israel.