Summary: An advocate of boycotts
and corporate responsibility is now feeling the heat for their own
actions.
The Body Shop, a British skin care
products retailer with a large US presence, has been engaged in human and
animal activism issues since its inception. In fact, the company was built on
the idea of creating products that are environmentally friendly and not tested
on animals.
The Body Shop is no stranger to boycotts.
Its founder, Anita Roddick, has used boycotts to promote her political agenda
for years. According to The Voice (Issue 4), a publication of The Body Shop,
"60% of shoppers are willing to boycott products or stores on ethical grounds"
and "67% claim to consider a company's ethical stance when buying a product."
Boycott Watch believes these numbers are highly inflated both because, unlike
The Body Shop, the vast majority of businesses are not created with an
underlying political stance; and because most people are not consumed by a need
to discover the political stance of every company executive of the products
they purchase.
Currently, The Body Shop itself is
under intense boycott pressure after an article titled "The End Of Israel" was
published by the American Thinker magazineand an email campaign based on the
article showing bias against Israel by The Body Shop soon followed. Boycott
Watch researched the article and found a press release on The Body Shop web
site boasting an award the company gave the National Committee for the Defense
of the Rights of the Internally Displaced, which the American Thinker article
is about.
A detailed self-description of the National
Committee for the Defense of the Rights of the Internally Displaced is
available on the "Global IDP Project - Monitoring Internal Displacement
Worldwide" and is linked below. The organization calls the establishment of
Israel 'al-Nakba', or The Disaster, which in Arabic is a declaration of
illegitimacy of the existence of Israel. The document also mentions the Suhmata
play, which is a violent play that teaches Arab children to hate Jews and to
grow up to be the generation to destroy Israel by forcing the Jews into the
sea.
These actions as promoted in the organizations
own introduction and description clearly shows that the organization does not
have peaceful intentions. Rather, the National Committee for the Defense of the
Rights of the Internally Displaced is a hate organization with the aim of the
destruction of Israel and removal of all Jews from the region, even by forced
drowning - a form of murder.
As such, the
organization is not seeking peace with Israel. It is working toward an
Arabification of Israel, thus destroying Israel by creating an Arab majority in
the Jewish State. This plan is in no way conducive to establishing peace with
Israel, rather peace without Israel. The organization never accepted Israel,
and as demonstrated by their choice of words, and is in favor of its
destruction.
Furthermore, the organization works with
and claims "250,000 Palestinians currently living in Israel were displaced
during the Israeli-Arab conflict from their homes." The organization does not,
however, work with or even mention the 650,000 Jews who were displaced from
their homes as a result of the Israeli-Arab conflict, nor does the organization
mention that Israel was attacked by all its Arab neighbors at the moment of its
declaration of independence, thus creating the displaced persons. Since it's
creation in 1948, Israel absorbed all displaced Jews from Arab lands, yet the
Arab countries and the Palestinian Authority maintain the status quo by not
absorbing displaced Arabs.
War is not pretty. The
proper humanitarian thing to do after a war is to absorb displaced people into
society. After more than 50 years, one would think that the Arab world should
have been able to absorb all their brethren. As such, one can conclude that by
choosing not to absorb and normalize life of their own people, Arab governments
are using displaced Arabs as a political tool. The Body Shop, but issuing the
award, is perpetuating and encouraging non-absorption of displaced Arabs by
awarding bad behavior, and in fact encouraging continued displacement. By
giving an award to a partisan organization, The Body Shop, which has stores in
Arab countries but none in Israel, is also declaring itself a political
partisan in the Arab-Israeli conflict, which they deny.
Boycott Watch contacted The Body Shop, and in their
statement, The Body Shop confirmed they appointed the jury and paid the prize
money, yet distanced themselves from the cash award they paid. Boycott Watch
can not believe any person or company would give money to a cause they objected
to just because someone said to, unless of course The Body Shop agreed with the
findings. Funding something you do not agree with does not make sense,
especially from a company founded with humanitarian goals. Distancing the
company from the award is also difficult because the company founder and
co-founder, Anita Roddick and Gordon Roddick, are both on the jury granting the
award. Additionally, The Body Shop calls for corporate responsibility globally
while at the same time they do not appear to accept responsibility for their
own actions.
Boycott Watch then contacted The Body
Shop with more specific questions and the London headquarters office replied.
We asked: Does the Body Shop advocate the positions of the award winners and /
or the jury? The Body Shop spokesperson replied: "The Body Shop supports the
integrity of the Award jury and the robustness of the selection process." In
other words, The Body Shop stands by and supports the jury findings, yet they
also claim not to have a position on the Israeli/Palestinian conflict. Boycott
Watch also requested and received a profile of the jury members, as linked
below. The jury has one Palestinian activist, but no balance from any Israeli
on the other side of the issue.
Regardless of the
politics, history and numbers, the underlying facts as listed in the email
related to the boycott call against The Body Shop are accurate. Boycott Watch
therefore confirms the boycott as being based on accurate information.
The Body Shop does not have a position on the
Israeli/Palestinian conflict.
The four winners of the
2002 Human Rights Award, including the National Committee for the Defence of
the Rights of the Internally Displaced, were chosen by an independent jury,
including international human rights experts, for being the best examples of
peaceful grassroots activism on the issue of housing within a human rights
framework, regardless of their religion, ethnicity or nationality.
The Body Shop supports the integrity of the Award
jury and the robustness of the selection process but played no direct role in
choosing the winners themselves, other than providing four of the 14 jury
members, of which the Chair is has always been an independent member. The Body
Shop is committed to the issue of human rights in a number of ways. For
example, through The Body Shop Foundation, the company gives support to a broad
range of small grassroots organisations, which are at the forefront of positive
social and environmental change. This support is given for people of all races,
gender, nationality and ethnic groups, without prejudice, but based on criteria
including a project's demonstration of commitment, vision and sound management.
US contact information for the Body Shop
http://www.usa.thebodyshop.com/web/tbsus/contact.jsp
The Body Shop International PLC
address:
5036 One World Way
Wake Forest
North Carolina, 27587 USA
Tel: 919 554 4900
Fax: 919 554 4361
Customer Service: 800-661-2154
Main office (UK) contact information:
The Body Shop International PLC
Watersmead
Littlehampton
West Sussex
BN17 6LS
UK
Tel: +44 (0)1903 731500
Fax: +44 (0)1903 726250
