Below are sample letters to the MPs in Brighton & Hove – use them as the basis for your own letter to protest about the continued appearance in our town of a shop selling products made on an illegal settlement in the West Bank, and labelling them ‘Made in Israel’. Thanks for your support.
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Date:
Caroline Lucas MP for Brighton Pavilion
Brighton Media Centre
15-17 Middle Street
Brighton
BN1 1AL
Dear Ms Lucas,
ECOSTREAM STORE IN WESTERN ROAD, BRIGHTON
I write as one of your constituents in Brighton Pavilion to ask that you make clear your opposition to the appearance in our constituency of the Eco Stream Store. Whilst I understand that the store is not itself illegal, I am profoundly disturbed by the fact that the Soda Stream products sold in the store are produced in an Israeli settlement on the West Bank. As you know, such settlements are illegal under international law. Moreover, the store’s attempt to project an environmentally-friendly public image disguises the true nature of its operation:
- Sodastream’s healthy modern eco-image is meant to disguise the fact that it has set up its factory on land confiscated from Palestinians. The Israeli government gives them tax breaks and legal support to work there. For its part the company uses the Made in Israel label to hide the fact that the products are actually made in illegally occupied territory.
- Palestinian workers often have no choice but to work in the Israeli colonies, in a situation of high unemployment rates that are a direct result of the Israeli occupation.
- A 2011 United Nations report states that Israeli government policies are destroying Palestinian agriculture and industry by confiscating land and natural resources, restricting the movement of people and goods and isolating them from international markets. To boast that Sodastream are giving employment to people, when they have had their land and freedom stolen, can only be considered immoral.
- Sodastream’s factory is in a settlement industrial zone which is expanding and taking over Bedouin land. The Bedouins themselves, the native people of Palestine, are being forcibly relocated into ‘ghettos’ by a rubbish dump in East Jerusalem.
- Sodastream itself recognises the dangers of negative publicity and a boycott of its products, but prefers to stay in the occupied territory and enjoy the favourable tax breaks and economic incentives.
I was heartened to see the statement on your website that acknowledges the legitimacy of the campaign to force Soda Stream to leave the West Bank. As our Green MP, I feel you have a particular responsibility to raise this issue as often as possible. I hope you will amplify the message that ‘ethnic cleansing is not green’ in the House of Commons, within the Green Party, and in your dealings with Brighton & Hove Council.
I look forward to your reply.
Signed:
Print name and address:
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Date:
Simon Kirby MP for Kemptown
House of Commons
London
SW1A 0AA
Dear Mr Kirby,
ECOSTREAM STORE IN WESTERN ROAD, BRIGHTON
I write as one of your constituents in Brighton Kemptown to ask that you make clear your opposition to the appearance in our town of the Ecostream Store. Whilst I understand that the store is not itself illegal, I am profoundly disturbed by the fact that the Soda Stream products sold in the store are produced in an Israeli settlement on the West Bank. As you know, such settlements are illegal under international law. Moreover, the store’s attempt to project an environmentally-friendly public image disguises the true nature of its operation:
- Sodastream’s healthy modern eco-image is meant to disguise the fact that it has set up its factory on land confiscated from Palestinians. The Israeli government gives them tax breaks and legal support to work there. For its part the company uses the Made in Israel label to hide the fact that the products are actually made in illegally occupied territory.
- Palestinian workers often have no choice but to work in the Israeli colonies, in a situation of high unemployment rates that are a direct result of the Israeli occupation.
- A 2011 United Nations report states that Israeli government policies are destroying Palestinian agriculture and industry by confiscating land and natural resources, restricting the movement of people and goods and isolating them from international markets. To boast that Sodastream are giving employment to people, when they have had their land and freedom stolen, can only be considered immoral.
- Sodastream’s factory is in a settlement industrial zone which is expanding and taking over Bedouin land. The Bedouins themselves, the native people of Palestine, are being forcibly relocated into ‘ghettos’ by a rubbish dump in East Jerusalem.
- Sodastream itself recognises the dangers of negative publicity and a boycott of its products, but prefers to stay in the occupied territory and enjoy the favourable tax breaks and economic incentives.
I look forward to your reply, and in particular your plans for amplifying the message that ‘ethnic cleansing is not green’.
Signed:
Print name and address:
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Date:
Mike Weatherley MP for Hove
House of Commons
London
SW1A 0AA
Dear Mr Weatherley,
ECOSTREAM STORE IN WESTERN ROAD, BRIGHTON
I write as one of your constituents in Hove to ask that you make clear your opposition to the appearance in our town of the Ecostream Store. Whilst I understand that the store is not itself illegal, I am profoundly disturbed by the fact that the Soda Stream products sold in the store are produced in an Israeli settlement on the West Bank. As you know, such settlements are illegal under international law. Moreover, the store’s attempt to project an environmentally-friendly public image disguises the true nature of its operation:
- Sodastream’s healthy modern eco-image is meant to disguise the fact that it has set up its factory on land confiscated from Palestinians. The Israeli government gives them tax breaks and legal support to work there. For its part the company uses the Made in Israel label to hide the fact that the products are actually made in illegally occupied territory.
- Palestinian workers often have no choice but to work in the Israeli colonies, in a situation of high unemployment rates that are a direct result of the Israeli occupation.
- A 2011 United Nations report states that Israeli government policies are destroying Palestinian agriculture and industry by confiscating land and natural resources, restricting the movement of people and goods and isolating them from international markets. To boast that Sodastream are giving employment to people, when they have had their land and freedom stolen, can only be considered immoral.
- Sodastream’s factory is in a settlement industrial zone which is expanding and taking over Bedouin land. The Bedouins themselves, the native people of Palestine, are being forcibly relocated into ‘ghettos’ by a rubbish dump in East Jerusalem.
- Sodastream itself recognises the dangers of negative publicity and a boycott of its products, but prefers to stay in the occupied territory and enjoy the favourable tax breaks and economic incentives.
I look forward to your reply, and in particular your plans for amplifying the message that ‘ethnic cleansing is not green’.
Signed:
Print name and address:
