EI - Adri Nieuwhof
... Ahava manufactures its cosmetics in the occupied West Bank, using minerals from the Dead Sea. The company's skin care products are imported into the EU as originating from "The Dead Sea, Israel." Israeli products originating in the West Bank are not supposed to benefit from the duty-free import to the EU.
Ahava is firmly rooted in the settlements of Mitzpe Shalem and Kaliya in the occupied West Bank. The kibbutzes of the two settlements own 34 percent and six percent of the shares of Ahava, respectively. Both Mitzpe Shalem and Kaliya are close to the shores of the Dead Sea, exploiting it for tourism.
Although one-third of the western shore of the Dead Sea lies in the occupied West Bank, Israel has closed off the entire shore of the Dead Sea and its resources to Palestinians in the West Bank. Kaliya was established as a military outpost shortly after the 1967 war in which Israeli forces occupied the West Bank (including East Jerusalem) and the Gaza Strip, along with Egypt's Sinai peninsula and Syria's Golan Heights.
According to the Israeli Coalition of Women for Peace, Ahava manufactures its products in the Ahava Dead Sea cosmetic factory in Mitzpe Shalem settlement. The company also runs a visitors center for tourists in the same settlement. In its authoritative ruling in 2004, the International Court of Justice reaffirmed the illegality of settlement construction, which includes the construction of industrial sites in the settlements. Ahava's factory and tourist visitors center exist therefore in violation of international law.
... Ahava is actively promoting export of its cosmetics. Already sales in 25 countries account for about 50 percent the company's business. Customers around the world should be informed about Ahava's strong ties with illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank, as well as the fact that the company uses Dead Sea minerals while Israel blocks Palestinians' access to their own Dead Sea shores, activists in France and the United States have recently launched campaigns against the sales of Ahava cosmetics.
Last week a "bikini brigade" of Code Pink, the American anti-war movement, protested in the nation's capitol near cosmetic stores with their bodies smeared with mud, underscoring the slogan that "Ahava is dirty business." Meanwhile in France, on 17 July a group of 30 women women paid a visit to Sephora comestics shop on the Champs Élysées in Paris to protest the sale of Ahava products, calling on the public to support the protest by sending messages to Sephora. Full story
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