Pro-Palestinian groups urge H&M boycott after Israel branch opens
Pro-Palestinian group: H&M invests in Israel while UN Goldstone commission reports about Israel's crimes.
By Haaretz Service Tags: Goldstone report Israel newsMore than 24 European and Middle Eastern pro-Palestinian organizations on Thursday condemned the opening of H&M's flagship store in Israel and called to boycott the clothing chain's stores in Europe in response.
The various organizations, from Belgium, Sweden, Britain, Ireland, Denmark Palestine and even Israel, published a demand on the International Solidarity Movement Web site calling to boycott the European stores until H&M postpone the establishment of its stores Israel "until Israel respects international law in line with the UN resolutions."
"H&M is thus investing in Israel at the same time as the UN Goldstone commission and international organizations that H&M is cooperating with, such as UNICEF and the UN, report about Israel?s crimes against international law and human rights, "the website wrote.
Chairperson of European Jews for a Just Peace, Dror Feiler, told the International Solidarity Movement that "H&M contributes to a shift of focus from Israel?s war crimes to that of fashion, investments and commerce."
The call to boycott the European stores came as hundreds of Israelis stormed the new 2,000 square meters store on the third floor of the Azrieli shopping mall in Tel Aviv.
The Swedish clothing chain plans to open seven stores throughout the country, the first of which opened in Tel Aviv, and the second is due to open in Jerusalem, followed by Haifa, Petah Tikva, Netanya, and Rehovot.
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I think its about time we bring a Wal Mart, Carrefour or Tesco.
oh and of course that means stopping to use your cell phone in case it has a camera..that was invented in israel.. oh and maybe you should stop using google's dropdown menu that appears when you start typing in a word, suggesting things that you may want to search for.. that function was also invented in israel... i could continue like this for hours..
So, I hope that in this same spirit of economic justice you refuse to buy products from China, right? Since China is probably the number one abuser of human rights, you are willing to make that sacrifice, aren't you? Of course, that would mean you won't use a cellphone since there's a component made from an element only found in China. Ridiculous.
but it will also hurt the company. H&M will be associated with war crimes, occupation, illegal settlements. i am sure it will make lots of money in israel but it will loose customers at home and all over europe. companies need to make a choice who they want to support. when israel starts living up to international standards i'm sure most people will forgive and love doing business with israel. until then, i'll not be doing business with those companies and i'll pull my money out of any investments funds that do.
The Pro Palestinian groups are blinded by their hatred. How sad.
this great store and not allow this pro pals propaganda machine to dictate to them like Europe does. Soon the Arabs will tell H&M what to sell. I think the pro pal org are disgusting and I hope they sink fast
Leftists are sacrificing innocent people who will lose their jobs,money and in some cases ability to pay credit line so they can make some idiotic political gains against a country that majority of H&M employees knows just from TV and newspapers. I wonder how this goes with leftist principles of democracy and their fight to ensure work for all....
Rather than focus on how to develop a Palastinian state, the Palastinian groups focus on how to delegitimize Israel. Rather than promote mutual respect between Palastinians and Israelis, the Palastinian groups focus on demonization if Israel. It's just so much easier to hate than to build, just so much less time consuming, so much less challenging. In fact, any idiot can hate, and many do.
Facebook helped bring H&M to Israel, so help us do the same with Primark. http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=358373012962&ref=nf