Beauty products from the Occupied Territories are not beautiful…..





Commentary by Chippy Dee, Photos © by Bud Korotzer





“Don’t shop here for Ahava lotion,

Human rights are a better notion.”

“Ahava, you can’t hide,

We can see your dirty side.”

Chants at the demonstration at Ricky’s NYC





As part of the 2nd Global BDS Day of Action for Palestine activists planned protests in NYC, Washington DC, Chicago, Austin, Seattle, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Montreal against Ahava, a company that benefits directly from Israel’s illegal occupation of the West Bank. Ahava manufactures a line of skin care preparations that are labeled as coming from Israel. The label is untrue. They are actually made from stolen Palestinian mineral resources in the occupied Palestinian Territory and they are then manufactured in the illegal West Bank colony (“settlement”) of Mitzpe Shalem near the Dead Sea. Money spent purchasing Ahava products help destroy Palestinian hopes for their own state and destroys any chance for peace between Palestinians and Israelis.





The NYC protest organized by CodePink and Adalah-NYC, began in front of Ricky’s NYC on West 23rd St. Ricky’s is a chain of stores in Manhattan that carries Ahava products. CodePink has been trying to convince them not to carry the line since last summer. Dominick Costello, their CEO, received 2000 e-mails on Valentine’s Day urging him to stop but he chose to continue. Now the campaign will take place in the streets.





At 5 PM 35 protestors, both men and women, gathered at the store. Many were dressed in spa attire, bathrobes and towels. They carried signs, handed out leaflets, and chanted. In anticipation Ricky’s hired a “bouncer” to make sure protestors didn’t enter the store. When the demonstrators left to go to another Ricky’s location on 8th Avenue the “bouncer” went along with them.





The activists attracted considerable attention and the reactions of the public ran the gamut from surprise to “who cares”, with an occasional kind or nasty comment. The most important elements were being a visible presence on the streets, telling the public about Ahava, and having an opportunity to talk to people about Israel’s brutal occupation of the Palestinian Territory on the West Bank. This kind of protest will continue.

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