Nov 24, 2010

#BDS: Osem buys rest of Tivall for $129M

Israeli foodmaker says plans to purchase 42% of vegetarian and meat substitute producer it does not own from its kibbutz owners

Israeli foodmaker Osem Investments said on Tuesday it was to buy the 42% of Tivall its does not own for NIS 468.5 million (about $129 million) from its kibbutz owners.

Osem, itself 53.8% owned by Swiss food company Nestle, already held 58% of Tivall, a stake it bought from kibbutz Lohamei Hagetaot.

Tivall makes vegetarian and meat substitute products.

A 2005 deal gave Osem the option to acquire full control of Tivall in 2013, but in March the kibbutz agreed to bring forward the date of the option.

"Raising the stake to 100% enables the Osem group to continue to realize its plans to expand in the meat substitute and salads markets in Israel, Europe and the United States and to fully benefit from the potential of this expansion," Osem said.

In January, Tivall bought US-based Foodtech International, also a maker of vegetarian food. 

#BDS: Berkeley, CA: Holiday Bazaar featuring Palestinian crafts


Sunday, December 5, 10:00am - 4:00pm
PLEASE NOTE NEW LOCATION!
Live Oak Park Recreation Center,
1301 Shattuck Avenue, Berkeley
(at Berryman Street between Shattuck Avenue and Oxford Street - Northeast Berkeley)
Come shop at this popular, annual sale for hundreds of beautifully crafted items including Tatriz (Palestinian Embroidery); Hand-blown Glassware from Hebron; Carved Olive wood; Painted Ceramics; Organic, Extra-Virgin Olive Oil; Olives; Olive Oil Soap; Scarves, Shawls, and other Textiles; Calendars and Cook Books; Honey; Jewelry; Children’s Clothing and Dolls from Gaza, and much more!

The sale takes place on this one day only at A NEW LOCATION Live Oak Park Recreation Center, 10 AM to 4 PM.

Stop by to find last year’s favorites as well as many new items!

And don’t miss the tasty homemade Palestinian food and Middle Eastern music too!

We will have a small souq (market area) featuring olive oil, olives, honey, special Middle Eastern spices and more.

This is a great opportunity to buy something quite special and make a humanitarian contribution at the same time. By promoting traditional handicrafts, you support the economic self-help efforts of those living in close to poverty level conditions in the West Bank and Gaza.

We hope that you can come and that you will invite your friends. This sale is a benefit for those craftspeople that have done the work. We spend an entire year collecting these goods from Palestine.

Thank you from the women of Joining Hands and the Middle East Children’s Alliance                            
 
For more information contact events@mecaforpeace.org

#BDS: Memo to Jewish college students: BDS is not your enemy

Ben Sales offers a reasoned and fair critique of BDS – namely, its sacrificing of longer-term practical goals for the sake of a (completely defensible and just) moral standpoint.  This is a tactical choice that the movement has made.  It’s one with which I disagree, but have no problem accepting as a valid and respectable form of activism.

Nevertheless, Jewish students are constantly being bombarded with propaganda claiming that BDS seeks the destruction of the Jewish people, and is intrinsically opposed to Jewish self-determination.  There are a couple things wrong with this picture.

First of all, it’s just not true.  While many BDSers do advocate for the dissolution of Israel (at least as a Jewish state), they’re not doing it because they believe Jews shouldn’t have the right to self-determination.  They’re doing it because, by their analysis of the situation, Jewish self-determination as embodied in the State of Israel has led to the suffering and occupation of Palestinians.  That’s an analysis with which you are free to disagree (I don’t), or from which you are free to draw different conclusions (I do), but BDSers shouldn’t be accused of being anti-Semitic because of it.

Second, even if (some) BDSers are intrinsically opposed to Jewish self-determination, they shouldn’t be demonized for it.  The reaction should be to engage in a substantive debate on the merits of Jewish self-determination (although I think it’s more constructive to have the larger conversation about the pros and cons of ethnic or religiously-defined states in general).  A smear campaign based on the premise that the goal of the BDS movement is to harm the Jewish people is just ridiculous.  Lots of Jews support BDS.  And please, please, please don’t tell me it’s because they’re self-hating.

On a practical level, Jewish organizations, especially campus-oriented ones, have been expending enormous amounts of time, effort, and money “combating” BDS.  I take issue with this on a theoretical level – I don’t believe Hillel should appoint itself the arbiter of what constitutes acceptable opinions regarding Israel – and a practical one: it obviously hasn’t worked.  BDS is gaining momentum.  Rather than viewing this as a threat, Jewish students should welcome the opportunity to recognize differences of opinions within and without the Jewish community, and to further explore the issues together.

While the BDS movement is certainly responsible for a good deal of the polarization that typically surrounds issues of Israel-Palestine, campus Jewish organizations are equally responsible, and while we hear over and over that BDS is polarizing and oversimplifying the issues, we don’t hear the same thing about Hillel.  That’s unfair.  Jewish students deserve organizations that treat them as intellectuals, not warriors for a pre-defined cause.  If the only way these organizations feel they can defend their positions is by stirring up hatred and anger towards the other side, they have completely lost the moral high ground.  And as a Jewish student, highly involved with community life, I expect more from them.

#BDS: Boycott: Put more pressure on Israel to change

As Israel increasingly ignores our government's objections to the expansion of settlements, its primary concern is with placating its own right-wing parliamentary coalition. And why should Israel be concerned with the protests of the Obama administration when U.S. military aid to Israel – now billions of dollars per year, paid by U.S. taxpayers at a time when they have no jobs and are losing their homes – continues unabated? 



Israel is increasingly a rogue nation under international legal standards. Decisions from the International Court of Justice declaring the separation wall illegal, United Nations reports detailing Israel's illegal actions during its invasion of Gaza (the Goldstone Report), and the recent U.N. Human Rights Council report criticizing Israel's attacks on the Gaza flotilla are bolstered by ongoing reports by groups such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch detailing Israel's illegal actions. In past generations, American policy has often led us to support dictatorships and overlook gross violations of human rights. The Obama administration promised a different path, but not in its unquestioned support for Israel as legal, ethical and moral concerns are readily tossed aside. 

#BDS: Boycotters Claim Hummus Brand Has Unsavory Ties

Many Georgetown students only know Sabra as their favorite variety of chickpea spread for sale at Vital Vittles. The popular hummus brand, however, has been the target of boycotts at some peer universities.
The undergraduate student government at Princeton University may vote as soon as Nov. 29 on a referendum requesting that Princeton Dining Services offer a brand of hummus other than Sabra, according to The Daily Princetonian.
The request comes following allegations that Sabra hummus has been sent in care packages to Israeli military units allegedly perpetrating human rights violations in the West Bank. The issue has grabbed the attention of some Georgetown student groups keeping an eye on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
“I find the company’s extensive support of Israeli occupation forces problematic, and I think anyone who buys Sabra should consider the implications of such a purchase,” said Jackson Perry (COL ’12), treasurer for Students for Justice in Palestine.

#BDS: [1] قائمة بشركات ومصانع تعمل بشكل كامل أو جزئي في المستوطنات


الاسم بالعبرية
ينتج
العنوان
name of company
        الاسم بالعبرية
اسم المصنع
.
תפירת ברזנטים
شوادر
المنطقة الصناعية بركان, א.ת. ברקן , BARKAN
A.MARHEV
א. מרחיב
أ مارحيف
.
מזון
غذاء
المنطقة الصناعية بركان, א.ת. ברקן , BARKAN
A.S. KOHEN MARKETING
א.ס. כהן שיווק
ا.س. كوهين للتسويق
.
בדים לא ארוגים
قماش
المنطقة الصناعية بركان, א.ת. ברקן , BARKAN
AVGOL
אבגול
ابيجول
.
גמור מתכנות
معادن
المنطقة الصناعية بركان, א.ת. ברקן , BARKAN
AVEG
אביג
أبيج
.
טקסטיל
قماش
المنطقة الصناعية بركان, א.ת. ברקן , BARKAN
AVER
אביר
ابير
.
מתכת
معادن
المنطقة الصناعية بركان, א.ת. ברקן , BARKAN
ADMETIK INDUST.
אדמטק תעשיות
ادمتيك للصناعات
.
צביעת מתכת
دهان معادن
المنطقة الصناعية بركان, א.ת. ברקן , BARKAN
AUR BARKAN
אור ברקן
أور براك
.
מערכות חימום
تدفئة
المنطقة الصناعية بركان, א.ת. ברקן , BARKAN
AURTAL
אורטל
اورطال
.
ייצור שקיות ניילון
أكياس نايلون
المنطقة الصناعية بركان, א.ת. ברקן , BARKAN
AUREN AREZOT
אורן אריזות
اورن للتغليف
.
חלבה טחינה
حلاوة وطحينة
المنطقة الصناعية بركان, א.ת. ברקן , BARKAN
AHVA AHDOT
אחוה אחדות
احفه أحدوت
.
מתכת
معادن
المنطقة الصناعية بركان, א.ת. ברקן , BARKAN
E.S.M
אי.אס.אמ.
أي.اس.ام
.
מוצרי גומי
جومي
المنطقة الصناعية بركان, א.ת. ברקן , BARKAN
E.R.B.C
אי.אר.פי.סי
أي.ار.بي.سي
.
רהיטים
اثاث
المنطقة الصناعية بركان, א.ת. ברקן , BARKAN
EVGI MORIS
איבגי מוריס
ايفجي موريس
.
חוטים סנטיים
اسلاك
المنطقة الصناعية بركان, א.ת. ברקן , BARKAN
AYELIT BARKAN
איילת ברקן
أييلت بركان
.
הנדסה טכנית
هندسة
المنطقة الصناعية بركان, א.ת. ברקן , BARKAN
INTELETICH
אינטליטק
اينتليتك
.
נגריה
منجرة
المنطقة الصناعية بركان, א.ת. ברקן , BARKAN
INTER AETS
אינטר עץ
اينتر اخشاب
.
מרפדיה
تنجيد
المنطقة الصناعية بركان, א.ת. ברקן , BARKAN
AEKO
איקו
ايكو
.
מזרונים ומטות נוער
فرشات
المنطقة الصناعية بركان, א.ת. ברקן , BARKAN
XMARKET
איקס מרקט
ايكس ماركيت
.
אחסון ואבזור ג'קוזי
منتجع
المنطقة الصناعية بركان, א.ת. ברקן , BARKAN
ELA SPA
אלה ספא
الا سبا
.
הדפסה על העץ
طباعة
المنطقة الصناعية بركان, א.ת. ברקן , BARKAN
EL AETS
אל עץ
ال أخشاب