On Thursday night, diamond billionaire Lev Leviev, a gaggle of socialites, and members of (quasi) elite social networking group A Small World gathered at Leviev's Madison Avenue boutique to, as organizers put it, "Buck the Recession with Champagne & Diamonds." Inside the store, sparkling wine and jewelry may have been the focus, but outside, a small but vocal group of protesters drew attention to Leviev's human-rights abuses.

It looks like there will be some additional drama at tonight's splashy "Champagne & Diamonds" party for the faded social networking site ASmallWorld and Israeli billionaire Lev Leviev. A protest is planned by Adalah-NY, a group that objects to Leviev's record on human rights.

US lobby group Adalah-NY has said in a statement that the jewellery of Israeli billionaire and settlement-builder Lev Leviev will be on sale at this week's gala opening of the luxury hotel Atlantis, The Palm in Dubai.  Despite Leviev's on-going construction of Israeli settlements and claims by United Arab Emirates officials that Leviev would receive no licence to sell his jewellery in Dubai, the New York-based Adalah-NY has confirmed that Leviev's jewellery will be on sale at the Atlantis branch of the Levant Jewellery chain on the famous Palm Jumeirah island.

Thirty-five rights advocates from Adalah-NY and Brooklyn for Peace rallied Monday evening outside the Marriott Marquis hotel in New York's Times Square to protest a fundraiser held there by the Brooklyn-based Israeli settlement group the Hebron Fund.