March 13, 2010

AHAVA DEAD SEA PRODUCTS SOLD AT REXALL, PHARMA PLUS

You may have seen carts in your local mall selling Dead Sea Products under the brand name Ahava. Ahava Dead Sea products are one of the targets of the BDS campaign.

According to the Israeli group Who Profits From the Occupation? (www.whoprofits.org ), the mud used in Ahava products is taken from a site on the shores of the Dead Sea inside the West Bank. Ahava uses Palestinian natural resources without the permission of or compensation to the Palestinians. Meanwhile, Israel denies Palestinians access to the shores of the Dead Sea and its resources, although one-third of the western shore of the Dead Sea lies in the occupied West Bank. http://www.israeli-occupation.org/2009-12-03/boycott-of-ahava-dead-sea-products-makes-an-impact/

Pharma Plus which also operates under the name Rexall, IDA Drugs, Guardian Drugs and the Medicine Shop is now selling Ahava Dead Sea products. You may not find Ahava products in all stores; our information indicates that only the larger stores are carrying them for the time being. Nonetheless we are asking people to avoid shopping at Pharma Plus in the future and to write to tell them why. You can do so by clicking on Contact Us at this link http://www.pharmaplus.ca/

Rexall, Pharma Plus, Guardian and IDA are an easy boycott target: their prices are not competitive and their dispensing fee for prescription drugs are among the highest. There are some stores that might be difficult to avoid but I don't think this is one of them.

Sample letter:

I was in the Pharma Plusl store in Carlingwood Mall in Ottawa recently and notice a feature display of Ahava Dead Sea products.

According to the Israeli group Who Profits From the Occupation? ( www.whoprofits.org ), the mud used in Ahava products is taken from a site on the shores of the Dead Sea inside the illegally occupied Palestinian territory. Ahava uses Palestinian natural resources without the permission of or compensation to the Palestinians. Meanwhile, Israel denies Palestinians access to the shores of the Dead Sea and its resources.

I walked out of the store in absolute disgust without buying anything and will not set foot in a Pharma Plus, Rexall or IDA store again until I am assured by your company that you will be discontinuing this product and all association with Ahava.

Canadians are fed up with Israel's human rights violations and the Israel lobby's assault on our democratic rights and manipulation of our politicians in the interest of a foreign state. See www.canpalnet-ottawa.org for information on the deeply detrimental effects of this conflict on Canadian institutions. You can find additional information on Israel's violation of Palestinian human rights on the websites of Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, OXFAM, Care, World Vision etc. etc.

Yours truly,

********

OR if you want to be more vocal and go public, you could try actions such as the one undertaken in Montreal and Toronto this past July.

On July 9th 2010 CAIA joined thousands of activists around the world in a United Day of Action on the Fifth anniversary of the BDS call from Palestine and the Sixth anniversary of the International Court of Justice ruling that the apartheid wall was illegal and had to be dismantled.

In Toronto CAIA activists dressed in spa wear entered the cosmetics department of Sears flagship store in the Eaton Centre and noisily demanded that Sears stop selling Ahava products. Before being ejected by security they sent a very clear message to the store management that Toronto doesn’t want Ahava products in its shops. See all the action on Youtube: 

Toronto:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2zCEXh50KBU.

Montreal:   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HGcHjAHouDA&NR=1

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