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This letter from Bil′in′s Abdallah Abu Rahmah was conveyed from his prison cell by his lawyers. Please circulate widely.
New York, NY, December 4, 2009 – 25 New York City human rights advocates caught the Israel Business Leaders Delegation to the United States by surprise this morning with a noisy protest outside their “breakfast reception amidst the Leviev jewelry collection” at the Leviev store on Madison Avenue.
On Saturday forty New York human rights advocates rallied on a cold fall day at the Madison Avenue jewelry store of Israeli settlement mogul Lev Leviev to demand that Israel release jailed Palestinian boycott activist Mohammad Othman.
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As the pressure on companies to pull out from business facilitating Israel's occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip grows, it has been recently revealed that in Norway three private banks and the state pension fund invested in one such company.
Decision a Victory for Coordinated Campaign in Palestine, US, UK and Israel
In 1996 Lev Leviev bought the controlling share of the company Africa-Israel, which owns numerous subsidiary companies including Danya Cebus, which carries out settlement construction in the Occupied West Bank. Leviev and his brother in-law Daviv Eliashov also own the company LIDAR, which is building the Zufim settlement.
The settlement projects that Leviev is building of Mattityahu East in Modi’in Illit, and of Zufim, Maale Adumim and Har Homa are all central to Israel’s efforts to seize control of and annex strategic areas of the West Bank, taking water and key agricultural areas, carving up Palestinian areas of the West Bank into isolated enclaves, and rendering any future Palestinian state unviable. Almost all of the settlements that Leviev built or is building are located west of the route planned for Israel’s wall, in the settlement blocs that Israel, with aims to annex. Indeed, there is clear evidence, according to Israeli human rights organizations like B’Tselem and Bimkom that the wall’s path deep within the West Bank was drawn with the intention of facilitating the expansion of these settlements.
In addition Leviev is also one of the world’s major diamond retailers. In September, 2007 The Sunday Times in London reported that one of its reporters was offered a Burmese ruby for sale at Leviev’s London store, possibly “blood rubies” used to finance Myanmar’s military junta. Leviev was warned by the EU to stop doing business with Burma or face sanctions.
History of Campaign
Background
In November, Adalah-NY: The Coalition for Justice in the Middle East began a Boycott Campaign against Leviev asking him to stop building illegal settlements in Occupied Palestine. Leviev is especially pertinent is New York where some of his development activities have affected local residents. Adalah-NY has held several demonstrations at Leviev’s Manhattan store, garnering international attention.
Protests/Actions
- Protest at Store Opening – New York
- Christmas Carol Protest (2) – New York
- Valentine’s Day Protest – New York and London
- Land Day Protest – New York
- Mother’s Day Action
- Leafleting at Leviev Buildings – Apthorp in New York
- Media Pressure
- Susan Sarandon
- UNICEF
- Dubai Stores
- produce own media - videos and articles
Effectiveness
Leviev is an ideal BDS target for many reasons — high profile, highly visible with diamond stores, relatively uncontroversial to boycott — profits from illegal settlements Interest by various media outlets both political and business oriented