Wednesday, February 3, 2016

SodaStream In the BDS Battle That USA and EU Are Part Of Against Israel

Nadene Goldfoot                                                                   
SodaStream Plant in Judea-Samaria employed Arabs to manufacture this contained that allows people to make their own carbonated beverages in their homes, but has now moved mostly due to the  Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement, which seeks to hurt Israel’s economy over its policies toward the Palestinians, a people who do the bidding of Arab leaders to destroy Israel.   

BDS is tightening the noose around Israel's neck with the EU's demands that  goods coming from Israeli companies in Judea and Samaria (West Bank) and Gaza to not be labeled as having been produced in Israel.

 The President of the USA, Barak Hussein Obama, followed the leaders and put out a memorandum from the Department of Homeland Security's Customs and Border Protection Bureau that directs the US "trade community" and government partner agencies to explicitly label Israeli-made goods that have been produced in Judea-Samaria.  They evidently are re-labeling anything coming into the United States.  This action came days after a State Department spokesman defended the European Union's impostion of similar labels on Israeli-made goods.

This goes along with the BDS movement against Israel.  The Washington Free Beacon's Adam Kredo broke the story of this intrigue against Israel.  The directive from the Democrat administration said that it is NOT ACCEPTABLE to label goods coming from Israeli companies located in Judea, Samaria and Gaza as having been produced in Israel.  Then the USA is ignoring the fact that Israel won the 1967 Six Day War where all the neighboring Arab states attacked Israel and Israel won, gaining Judea-Samaria back from Jordan's illegal holdings in the first place!  Also Gaza fell into their hands from Egypt losing their fight against Israel in the same move.  To Israel, the land is again theirs.  Just what does the USA and the EU think would have happened to Israel had they NOT won?  Now, I wonder just who were they backing?  

One man in our senate is fighting this.  Senator Tom Cotton introduced S.2474, a bill that would override the customs bureau's January 23 guidance by authorizing Israeli businesses to use any of an array of labeling options---including, "MADE IN ISRAEL."

Back in October 6 to 25, 1973, Israel was involved in the Yom Kippur War when Arab nations attacked on the most holy day of the Jews, Yom Kippur.  It's also the year the staff of the Division of Information, Ministry for Foreign Affairs, Jerusalem, put out their booklet of Facts About Israel.  In this booklet,  are the facts taken about manufacturing in Judaea and Samaria.  At that time, it consisted mainly of the small crafts workshop type, employing 3 or 4 workers.  The foodstuffs industry accounts for about 2/3 of sales and employs 1/4 of all the industrial workers.  1967 was the important Six Day War where the odds that Israel would win was nil, and they won!It's when Judea, Samaria and Gaza came into Israeli hands.   Between 1968 and 1970/71, industrial sales, excluding olive oil, went up from 61 million shekels to 95 million shekels, and sales of oil went up from 17 million to 35 million shekels.

The number of factory workers rose from 13,000 in 1968 to 16,000-18% of all regional employed---in 1971.  A certain amount of work is subcontracted by Israeli producers to local enterprises, and many local plants are entering into partnership with Israeli enterprises, particularly in ready-made clothing and carpentry.

The Military Government encourages the progress and enlargement of plants and makes long-term, low-interest advances to that end.

Industrial development lags in the Gaza Strip and North Sinai.  There are no large or modern factories there.  The clothing branch has some 360 enterprises and can be credited with 17% of industrial sales, employ8ng 22% of all industrial workers.

In Gaza, expansion is evident in the clothing, footwear, wood and furniture branches.  In 1968/69, industrial sales rose from 11 million shekels to 13 million, and the number of workers from 5,400 to 6,000 which is 14% of all regional employment.  Subcontracting for Israeli manufacturers plays an important role in this expansion.

An industrial zone is going up at the northern point of the Gaza Strip, and premises in it will be leased to local and Israeli enterprises.

Of course, we all know that Gaza produced nothing of late other than bombs to use on Israel and tunnels in which to bring in goods not allowed because they can be used to make bombs.   Gazans were getting rich on controlling these tunnels.  Egypt has been helpful in helping to destroy them from their end.  Gaza has gone to Hamas rule since June 2007, which is a terrorist group.

Sodastream set up a factory in Judea-Samaria and closed it as of October 29, 2014.  This was an Israeli carbonated soda drink company  that employed Arabs.  Their sales fell 9%..  "Hollywood actress Scarlett Johansson, said it would relocate the factory by the end of 2015.  She was their representative. SodaStream said that the closure of its largest plant would save $9 million (seven million euros) in production costs.

Its turnover was put at $125.9 million in the third quarter, down 9% from 2013.
"We are launching a comprehensive growth plan to put the firm back on track," Birnbaum said.
SodaStream employs more than 2,000 people at more than 20 sites in Australia, China, Germany and South Africa, as well as in Israel. 
                                                                             
New factory for SodaStream in Rahat, Israel in the Negev.  They said they would take in 1,000 Syrian refugees and they could work here.  
In 2012, they said they were building a new factory in the Negev of southern Israel.  No doubt the BDS affected their decision.  This ends employment for the Arabs in Judea-Samaria.  Let Israel try to do a good thing for the Arabs and people who have interfered with life in Israel  such as BDS end it all.
                                                                           
Scarlett Johanssen was not sorry about being SodaStream's ambassador.  She said nothing was wrong with Israel having a factory there employing Arabs.  The terrible thing is that BDS has caused the factory to shut down and now this has left all the workers destitute.  There is no other job for them.

Reference: Noah Silverman, Congressional Affairs Director <mail@rjchq.org>
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/186776
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/186776#.VrJtdtIrJkg
http://www.timesofisrael.com/sodastream-offers-to-take-in-syrian-refugees/
http://www.theguardian.com/film/2014/mar/16/scarlett-johansson-stands-by-sodastream-deal

1 comment: