Today, BDS Earlham sent out the following press release:
In Response to Student and Faculty Concerns, Earlham College’s Dining Services Decides to Stop Selling Sabra Products
On the 5th of September, Earlham College’s dining service agreed to have Sabra Hummus removed from the coffee shop after being informed of the involvement in Israeli human rights violations in Palestine by Strauss Group Ltd., of which Sabra Dipping Company, LLC is a subsidiary. The decision comes after a group of concerned students and faculty approached Earlham’s dining services requesting the removal of the product from the college’s facilities.
Strauss Group Ltd. provides financial support and supplies to the Golani and Givati brigades of the Israeli army, which is responsible for enforcing Israel’s illegal, 45-year-old military occupation and colonization of Palestinian lands, and other grave and systematic human rights abuses.
“We applaud Earlham College’s dining service for taking this principled stand and refusing to do business with Sabra Dipping Company,” said Basil Farraj, of BDS Earlham. “Earlham students will no longer be unwittingly supporting Israeli abuses of Palestinian human rights when they purchase hummus and other products on campus.”
Earlham College’s dining services has promised to provide an alternative for the removed product, and were quick to note that they take student concerns seriously and follow through with immediate action.
Two years ago students launched a campaign calling on Earlham College to divest from Motorola Solutions, Caterpillar, and Hewlett Packard, companies that profit from and enable Israeli violations of international law. Last semester students with BDS Earlham also launched a “Dorm Storm” that has continued into the current school year, visiting all dorms and houses on campus and engaging in discussions with students to educate them about Earlham BDS and the larger global Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement, which was launched by Palestinian civil society in 2005.
Nice. Historically Quaker school, seems quite good. Hadn’t heard of it.
Thank you, Quakers, for leading the way!
There is a great quote in the issue of Utne Reader I have in front of me.
” The real enemy is never the Iraqis, or the Serbs, or the Afghans. The real enemy is the war itself and the system that sustains it”
Sabra hummus is part of that system and deserves to wither and die.
good to hear.
Please allow me to encourage everyone to look into making your own hummus. Peas (any bean really) olive oil, tahini paste, lemon juice and a blender. add anything else you want or really like and you have your own very good food. cheaper too, sez the scot.
cheaper too, sez the scot.
Och aye, guid fur th’ wee tastebuds an’ guid fur th’ pooch. whit mair coods ye ask fur?
(translation courtesy of the whoohoo.co.uk Scottie Translator)
Shmuel,
Tanks a rot. I just wasted two hours on that website. And bookmarked it too.
Ah thooght, ‘MRW will hate me fur thes’, but decided tae gang aheid anyway ;-)
Shmuel, when I lived in London I was very, very “enamoured” of Scottish accents. Finally “my private school-of-English”, who had a Birmingham accent, told me, that was pretty obvious since it was almost as rough as German which ironically enough sounded pretty close to Russian to him. That may be the reason Russian never sounded rough or harsh to me. ;)
Hahaha Ah hud a lot ay fin wi’ it tay. A body ay mah grandparents was scotch-irish, thocht ah dunnae kinn quite whit ‘at means.
Congratulations tae earlham fur bds victory.
So when does the screaming and whining about anti-Semitism start?
Earlham is a Quaker school, and their football cheerleaders have a self-mocking cheer that goes something like:
Rock them, sock them!
Beat them senseless!
Punch them til we reach consensus!
Kill, Quakers, kill!
The other part/version of it goes:
Fight, fight inner light
Kill Quakers kill
If we can’t beat them senseless
we’ll beat them with consensus.
Earlham is a wonderful school. Know folks who have attended. A walk your talk institution. Earlham BDS may your actions be followed. Hope your members are going on to other college campuses and spreading what you have done. Face to face is always great. Stick to the facts facts facts.
I found a less admirable US university: Rutgers, where Administration basically confiscated money raised to oppose Israeli blockade of Gaza.
Interestingly, as advised by Hillel and other organization, Rutger administration deemed the blockade to be “international” and the opposition to it as “violating American law”. Does it means that Iran can make an “international blockade” of Strait of Hormuz if the government there determines that the Strait is used to endanger the safety of the Islamic Republic in the aftermath of an attack from ships or submarines that crossed that strait? Because if it takes one country to make a blockade “international”, that it could be illegal for American companies to run through it? And opposition to such a blockade would violate non-profit status of an American organization?
link to nj.com
I’m glad to see Earlham college taking a stand. If only Harvard, Yale, Columbia and Stanford would do the same.