Consumer Boycott

"BDS on Broadway" visits Max Brenner, March 08, 2014
"BDS on Broadway: An Anti-Apartheid Musical Walking Tour" visits Max Brenner, March 08, 2014

Event

At a protest Sunday at Brooklinen’s new Williamsburg, Brooklyn store, New York human rights advocates called for a boycott of the online sheet and linen retailer, over their Israeli production partners’ involvement in Israel’s apartheid rule over the Palestinian people. The protest came amidst international outrage over the Israeli military’s abuse with a bulldozer of the body of Palestinian in the impoverished Gaza Strip, an open-air prison with two million residents. 

Brooklinen has escaped scrutiny and parried questions about the specifics of its production of its sheets and linens in Israel. Brooklinen’s products are made by Israel’s Offis Textile, which also has murky ties with the Israeli company Ofertex. The two Israeli companies have been involved with illegal Israeli settlements and have exploited captive Palestinian workers. Their taxes fund Israel’s apartheid system. 

The Sunday protest kicked off when two participants entered the Brooklinen store and caught staff by surprise, saying they wanted to return their sheets because they were “stained with Israeli apartheid.” They then pulled out pillowcases which said “Brooklinen sews destruction in Palestine” and “Brooklinen in bed with Israeli apartheid.” 

Outside the store, the protesters then hung the pillowcases, Brooklinen’s dirty laundry, on a clothesline, and held signs, sang, chanted, and passed out flyers to passersby.

One musical protest highlight was a rendition of “Dirty deeds, done with sheets” to the tune of an AC/DC song, that included lyrics, “Shut down your store, just lock the door, or heed the boycott call.” (video) Protesters also sang “All we need is boycott, sweet boycott, there’ll be justice everywhere,” as part of a remixed version entitled “Apartheid in Your Sheets,” of the Martha and the Vandellas classic, “Dancing in the Street.” 

Allison Brown of Adalah-NY explained, “Brooklinen wants to sell a lifestyle of comfort, but it’s hiding some uncomfortable truths under its sheets. Palestinian civil society calls on people of conscience to boycott the products of Israeli companies that are complicit in Israel’s violations of Palestinian rights, to pressure Israel to comply with international law. Brooklinen must end all dealings with complicit Israeli companies.”  

Press Coverage

Mondoweiss

Abstract: 

In this connection, I'd point out again that the PEN America World Voices fest just came off without its traditional sponsorship from Israel. Dropping Israel as a sponsor was, I believe, intentional; though PEN's director Suzanne Nossel was careful not to cop to that. What is undeniable is that PEN came under considerable pressure from Adalah-NY's steady campaign over the sponsorship; and Nossel was receptive to Adalah.

Press Release

New York, NY – Fifty human rights advocates with Adalah-NY and affiliated groups outshined the jewelry of Leviev Diamonds Friday night in Manhattan. Boycott advocates arrived to find Leviev Diamonds had closed for the organization’s protest for the fourth time in a row, all during the year’s biggest shopping periods. This year Adalah-NY scheduled the 10th annual holiday caroling protest against the companies of Israeli settlement-builder Lev Leviev to coincide with the Global Week of Action targeting Hewlett-Packard (HP). After caroling at Leviev, protesters marched to a nearby Staples store selling HP products for the second half of the demonstration.

Protesters, many wearing Santa hats, sang holiday carol tuned parodies calling for boycott of the two Israeli apartheid-profiting companies. They dazzled Manhattan’s Upper East Side with cheerful, anti-Apartheid holiday greetings and Palestine-solidarity messages, to the sounds of music and jingle bells.

Press Release

New York NY, July 12, 2014—On the evening of July 11, 400 New Yorkers gathered at Union Square in lower Manhattan to protest the escalation of Israel’s ongoing violence against Palestinians, and to reaffirm their support for the Palestinian call for Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) against Israel until it complies with international law. (photos)

As of early morning on Saturday, July 12, the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) in Gaza reported that Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip had killed 114 Palestinians—of whom 94 were civilians, including 26 children and 18 women. 799 others had been wounded, mostly civilians.

Activists handed out fliers to passersby and held signs and banners expressing sorrow and outrage over the attacks on Palestinians, and urging international solidarity in the form of BDS. Dozens of protesters wore signs each bearing the name of a Palestinian killed by Israel in Gaza over the last days. Marching down Broadway south of Union Square through Friday evening traffic, the group called out chants including, “Gaza is under attack! What are you gonna do? Stand up, fight back!” and “BDS - heed the call, fight for justice...for all!”

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