8th Annual Anti-Apartheid Holiday Caroling

Press Release

Palestinian Rights Protesters Find Leviev’s NYC Diamond Store Closed and Empty

New York, NY, December 21, 2014—Forty New York human rights advocates arrived to protest Saturday afternoon at Israeli billionaire Lev Leviev’s flagship Madison Avenue diamond store and were surprised to find the store closed and the display cases completely emptied of all merchandise during the busiest shopping period of the year. The New Yorkers had gathered for the eighth consecutive year to sing parody holiday carols opposing Leviev’s companies’ construction of Israeli settlements on Palestinian land in violation of international law (PHOTOS).

Leaning signs against the empty store, the protesters sang what have become Adalah-NY anti-apartheid holiday classics with lines such as, “We wish you a loss of business, we wish you a loss of business, we wish you a loss of business and a poor fiscal year,” and “It’s beginning to look a lot like failure, at Leviev’s store.”

Hannah Mermelstein from Adalah-NY commented, “Leviev’s billions have come from exploiting Palestinian and Angolan communities. So today we celebrate because it seems our years of holiday wishes have come true: Leviev’s store is empty.”

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Press Coverage

Mondoweiss

Boteach says boycotting businesses in West Bank settlements is Nazi-like activity

Abstract: 

Rightwing rabbi Shmuley Boteach writes in the Jerusalem Post that “Israel haters… follow my trail on the Internet like dogs in heat.” But Boteach seems to seek the attention: his latest encounter with critics of Israel was on Madison Avenue last Saturday, when he approached protesters outside a store associated with an Israeli business in the occupied West Bank and taunted the group by loudly celebrating Israel and denouncing Hamas. His children joined in his chants.

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Join Adalah-NY's critically acclaimed
Anti-Apartheid Holiday Caroling Choir
in front of Lev Leviev's Madison Avenue diamond store

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Oh the diamonds inside are sparklin’
But they can't hide what's behind ‘em
They're funding apartheid, so
Just say no, Just say no, Just say no

Why we boycott Lev Leviev’s Companies
The companies of Israeli billionaire Lev Leviev have built thousands of homes for Israeli settlers on Palestinian land in the West Bank in violation of international law. But Leviev’s companies are feeling pressure, thanks to a seven-year international boycott campaign, including this, our eighth consecutive year of holiday caroling at Leviev’s Manhattan store. Israeli media report that Leviev’s company Africa Israel again made statements about ending their settlement construction, while even angry Israeli settlers don’t know if Leviev quietly sold his stake in his other settlement company, Leader Management and Development. In Angola, security companies for Leviev’s diamond mining company have yet again been accused of torturing and brutalizing poor Angolan communities.

Why we support the BDS Movement
Adalah-NY is part of the Palestinian-led movement for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) against Israel that is modeled on the global campaign that helped to bring an end to apartheid in South Africa.

Endorsers (list in formation): Brooklyn For Peace; Jewish Voice for Peace - NYC; Students for Justice in Palestine at: John Jay College, The New School, Drew University, Rutgers Newark and NYU; WESPAC Foundation; Women in Black, Union Square

Event Location: 

Leviev Jewelry
700 Madison Ave between 62nd and 63rd Sts
New York , NY

Event Date: 

Saturday, December 20, 2014 - 1:00pm to 2:30pm

Our Work Sections: 

Content Type: 

Public Event

Shortlink: 

https://j.mp/3jsRFVa