Be careful for what you wish.
The BDS*ers wanted SodaStream to be blackballed for having an operation in Occupied Israel, a/k/a the west bank of the Jordan River.
Never mind that SodaStream employed both Israeli Jews and PA Muslims in equal numbers; no matter that SodaStream offered equal pay for equal work.
The BDSers wanted to punish SodaStream for daring to have an operation in Occupied Israel.
So now SodaStream is pulling out and moving to the south.
The BDSers won, but did their clients, the Muslims of the PA who soon will be unemployed?
According to an article in the Times of Israel, Ramah Kudaimi, membership and outreach coordinator for the US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation, which represents 400 organizations said today’s news is just the latest sign that these global BDS campaigns are having an impact on changing the behavior of companies that profit from Israeli occupation and apartheid.
Apartheid? Working together for equal pay is apartheid? I think Mr. Kudaimi need to revisit a dictionary. **
The article continues: But Kudaimi’s group, as well as the Palestinian Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions National Committee, say they will continue to boycott SodaStream because they claim its new factory abets dispossession of Bedouin land in Israel, even though the factory will be in an existing industrial park.
Instead of PA employees, SodaStream will have to hire Bedu for diversity, assuming they want to work in a factory rather than remain on the land.
Israel is at once trying to increase the Jewish population in the south and to wean the Bedu from their nomadic lifestyle. Like the Roma of Europe, this may be easier said than done, and in the end, if they Bedu don't violate Israeli law, they probably will be able to keep their old ways.
One thing is clear: no matter is Israel were to withdraw completely from its land - as it did in Gaza - the liberal, anti-Israel voices would not be stilled. It's not where Jews live, its THAT Jews live - period.
The leadership of the PA - with or without Hamas - make it abundantly clear with their frequent calls to wipe Israel off the map and all the Jews with it.
And Israel's supposed to make peace with these people? Only in Obama's dreams.
* BDS = Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions
** Apartheid, according to Merriam-Webster online is defined as:
racial segregation; segregation or separation
SodaStream does NOT qualify as an apartheid organization.
