Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Responses from Lush about its Death to Israel campaign

Updated 20 July: Below is the correspondence with Lush about their Death to Israel campaign that I previously reported on their website.   Interestingly, as Richard Millett points out, Lush have now opened a shop in Brent Cross (a shopping centre in a Jewish area of London). Hopefully shoppers will get informed about what Lush stands for.  What I am sure of is that shoppers who object to Lush's promotion of terrorism will not behave in the same appalling way as anti-Israel activists have behaved against another London cosmetics shop -  Ahava - for no reason other than that it sells Israeli products.
Dear Edgar,

Thank you for your email. I'm sorry to hear you're disappointed with Lush's support for the OneWorld project.

The history between Israel and Palestine is long, complicated and often under dispute. However, what is very clear is the level of suffering occurring today, in part due to the construction of the wall which is cutting Palestinian people off from vital health services and has dramatically increased poverty in the area. History does not excuse such suffering. It will take both sides to come to a solution, but what is also clear is that this is not a conflict of two equal sides and thus the onus must be on the dominating force, Israel. The OneWorld project is supported by both Palestinian and Israeli organisations and aims to help create peace for both sides.

We support organisations fighting for human rights all around the world on a variety of issues, from the freedom of West Papua and Tibet to labour rights of workers in India, women's rights in Africa and environmental rights of indigenous people in Latin America. Whilst there are many other issues we have not supported, there are sadly limitations as to how much we can do.
Throughout the course of the year we support many humanitarian, animal and environmental causes, many of which are nominated by our own customers. We welcome and value all feedback, so thank you for getting in touch with us. I will be sure to pass your comments on to our Campaigns team for future consideration.

Kind regards,

Vicky Jansson
Customer Care Manager
Lush Ltd.
 And here is my response to this letter:

*****************************************

Dear Vicky,

Thank you for taking the trouble to reply. 
I am obliged to respond to the following points you made:
The history between Israel and Palestine is long, complicated and often under dispute.
Yes and it is clear that the people at Lush have absolutely no understanding about it, because they have accepted the narrative of political activists whose objective is nothing less than the destruction of the Jewish State. Have you ever thought about the possibility that almost every piece of information being promoted by those people is a lie? Have you, or any of your Lush colleagues ever been to Israel (and I don’t include trips to the ‘West Bank’ under the protection of anti-Israel groups) and spent time with Israelis? Clearly not,  because if any of them had they will know that the narrative presented on the Lush website is a total lie.
However, what is very clear is the level of suffering occurring today, in part due to the construction of the wall which is cutting Palestinian people off from vital health services and has dramatically increased poverty in the area.

The “Wall” is actually a security fence that was constructed as a last resort  measure to stop the almost daily suicide bombings that claimed the lives of some 2,000 Israeli civilians between 2000-2004.  The security fence has drastically reduced the number of terrorist attacks from the West Bank and means, for example,  that some parents no longer have to insist on their children travelling on different buses to school (during 2000-2004 most Israeli parents had to take this decision on the assumption that if one bus was attacked at least one child would survive).  Many Palestinians are very upset that their right to kill Jews at will has been restricted by the security fence, and other Palestinians have no doubt been inconvenienced by the additional security measures when travelling into Israel, but wouldn’t you think that is a price worth paying to stop your child being blown to bits on a bus or in a cafĂ© (and please note, that the various Palestinian terrorist groups who are supported directly by the War on Want Charity you are promoting are very open about their desire to target Israeli children). 

As for health and poverty of the Palestinians: are you not aware that the life expectancy in the Palestinian territories is the highest in the entire Arab world?  Indeed, the life expectancy in Gaza is significantly higher than in Glasgow, so perhaps you should be redirecting you charitable attention there.  As for poverty, why not take a look at the Palestinians own pictures of Gaza here

You say
The OneWorld project is supported by both Palestinian and Israeli organisations and aims to help create peace for both sides.
Well there are certainly Israelis and Israeli organisations who campaign ferociously for the destruction of the State of Israel as a Jewish State, but they are no more representative of Israeli society than George Galloway or Abu Hamza are of the UK.  Can you point to a single reputable Israeli organisation that supports the statement on your website (as opposed to the benign aims of OneWorld)?

The more I read the website article the more ludicrous are the claims. For example, in addition to the nonsense about 'sub-Saharan poverty levels we have this:
 “life for most Palestinians living under the illegal Israeli occupation is at least as bad as that endured by black South Africans in the bad old days of apartheid.” 
The West Bank is officially “disputed territory” not “illegally occupied” and the “apartheid” analogy is bizarre in this context. It would be just as meaningful to say that poverty levels in Glasgow are at apartheid levels.  Clearly the statement was intended to promote, indirectly, the false notion of Israel as an apartheid state.  There are certainly several apartheid states in the area but Israel is not one of them. The Apartheid states are all Arab: a total of 0 Jews live in Gaza and the Palestinian Authority areas, 0 Jews live in Jordan and Saudi Arabia (where in both countries it is illegal to be a citizen if you are a Jew) and less than a handful of Jews live in all of the other Arab countries combined. Less than 60 years ago those Arab countries had thriving communities of Jews totally some 1,000,000.  They have all been driven out. But, of course you never heard their narrative did you?

We also have the nonsense about 'Israeli crimes' and the claim that "the US, UK and other governments have consistently rewarded Israeli aggression with economic benefits and closer political ties." Can you provide a single example of any country in the world who would not commit the 'crime' of defending its people from continued terrorist and rocket attacks from neighbours dedicated to its destruction (in this case those 'peace loving' Palestinians you refer to). I think Israel has more of a right to defend itslef against Hamas agrression than the British have in bombing Libyan cities, but I don't see anything on your website about the 'crime' of the British bombing campaign. As for the 'rewards', please provide a single example of that also.

Finally, and perhaps most importantly, exactly why does a parochial UK cosmetics shop feel it is its duty is to deligitimize the only free democracy in the entire Middle East?

Yours

Edgar Davidson

*************************************

Response from Vicky Jansson on 14 June:

**************************************

Dear Edgar,

Thank you for getting back to us, though we are sorry that we have not been able to assure you of the intentions of our campaign.

Our products are fun and effective, we have a great time making them and hope that our customers feel the same when they are using them. We are also lucky enough to be in a position to donate proceeds and profits from many of our products to causes that are important to us, though we can understand how disappointing it is when a company you buy from does not share all your views.

We will carry on making fresh and effective cosmetics which will continue to benefit people, animals and the environment, and we'll always be glad to serve you as a customer should you choose to come into any of our shops.

Thank you for contacting us again and we appreciate your feedback.

Kind regards

Vicky Jansson
Customer Care
Lush Retail Ltd.

21 comments:

  1. Good one! I will send them a letter with some pictures of Gaza. Also, will try to go to their shop in Kings Road with some posters.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Juniper

    >Also, will try to go to their shop in Kings Road with some posters.

    Great idea.

    ReplyDelete
  3. A good example of the hypocrisy is a founding member of PACBI (Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel) Omar Barghouti--was born in Qatar, grew up in Egypt and only moved to the West Bank as and adult. He is currently studying for a masters degree in philosophy at Tel Aviv University (that would be Israel) but refuses to talk about it. This is the typical problem here--we try to provide equal rights and these people turn around and try to destroy us! Thanks for trying to promote truth!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Nicely said.

    http://karmafishies.blogspot.com/

    ReplyDelete
  5. Dan Lewis1:45 am

    Her final reply is typical of these "activists". Beneath the slogans and the venom, lies very little knowledge.

    At least she didn't simply call you "racist" which is usually what happens when I point out very basic facts to the frothing anti-Israel protesters from time to time.

    They do not know the truth, cannot accept that Arabs lie, and when confronted with the truth, seem to change the topic.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Anonymous12:59 pm

    Antisemitism has a long history in Europe even before importing so many backward Arabs, Turks and Pakistanis after 1945. I am myself from the Middle East and I think the Left (communists, socialists, liberals, greens, trade unions, journalists,....) are not one bit better than hateful Arabs, Pakistanis or Turks but worse. A man who defends Hamas, Hezbollah, Iran and Syria and endangers the the security of Israel ( the only democracy in the Middle East) has no decency, honor, shame and integrity. I'm not Jewish and have never met an Israeli Jew and know nothing about Judaism but I support Israel against her violent, backward and uncivilized neighbors.

    David M

    ReplyDelete
  7. Edgar, unfortunatley you can find this stupid evil clip by searching their website. IT took me two seconds!

    BTW, the history of Israel and the Arabs is not complicated.
    It is the same battle being enacted on the West by Islamofascists.

    It is jihad by Muslims, enabled by the clueless and the evil.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Excellent correspondence Mr. Davidson. Kol hakavod. (I found you via Oy va Goy.) Their final reply to you was rather wimpy and didn't address any of the points you raised. Sadly I don't think one can convince people who do not wish to see or hear.

    Regards,
    anneinpt (aka "annie")

    ReplyDelete
  9. Anonymous10:38 am

    Fantastic response. Lush has made a big mistake with this and I hope that they realise it soon.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Hate to kill everyone's mood, Lush UK in the person of Sophie Pritchard does not give a flying f*** about any of this.

    Here is a copy of my correspondence on email as of today: Note same reply to me as Edgar got from V. Jansson.
    Pt 1:

    ------ Forwarded Message
    From: j j
    Date: Mon, 20 Jun 2011 15:45:10 +0000
    To: Subject: Lush Palestine campaign group Friends of Al Aqsa ans PSC do not think Hamas are terrorists

    Hello G,

    please FWD this to Sophie Pritchard.

    The Friends of al Aqsa is a group supporting the Palestine campaign on the Lush website.
    Their leader Ismail Patel on Hamas:


    “Hamas is no terrorist organisation. The reason they hate Hamas is because they refuse to be subjugated, occupied by the Israeli state, and we salute Hamas for standing up to Israel.”

    ... the same Friends of Al-Aqsa who have published Azzam Tamimi, a man who supports suicide bombing , and states in the Friends of Al-Aqsa journal:

    [T]he weakness of the Arabs and Muslims is only temporary and will sometime in the future be reversed. Evidently, the Muslim world is witnessing a massive awakening that is destined to initiate the transformation from weakness to strength. When the Arabs and Muslims’ gain of strength and confidence coincides with the retreat of the World Order due to the shrinkage of the material and military resources available to it and as a result of the augmentation of domestic crises, the end of the Zionist project will come and the State of Israel will be no more.

    Friends of Al-Aqsa are also happy to publish articles referring to ‘Jewish Nazism’, and claiming that ‘Israel simply represents the Nazis of our time’ and ‘the powerful Jewish media … more or less controls the public discourse in many western nations’.
    from: http://hurryupharry.org/2010/09/27/ed-miliband-and-friends-of-al-aqsa/

    [Sarah Colborne, Palestine Solidarity Campaign] was asked whether she denounced Hamas for their call to kill Jews in their Charter (Article 7 ). She replied: “I will not engage with you.”
    ...not denouncing a proudly virulently anti-Semitic organisation like Hamas is, apparently, just fine.
    If Sarah or Betty Hunter or anyone from the Palestine Campaign wishes, at any stage, to denounce Hamas after reading Article Seven of its Charter then please get in touch and I will publish any response on this blog.
    Article Seven states:
    …….the Islamic Resistance Movement aspires to the realisation of Allah’s promise, no matter how long that should take. The Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him salvation, has said:
    “The Day of Judgement will not come about until Muslims fight the Jews (killing the Jews), when the Jew will hide behind stones and trees. The stones and trees will say O Muslims, O Abdulla, there is a Jew behind me, come and kill him. Only the Gharkad tree, would not do that because it is one of the trees of the Jews.” (related by al-Bukhari and Muslim).

    These are just a couple of examples. Lush in my mind, and now in the minds of many others, is not just regarded as tools of genocidal killers but as wilful assistants to murder.

    I hope your Campaign Director will reconsider Lush's association with these groups and turn the attention of Lush to the many good causes not sponsored by terrorists and their groupies.

    kind regards
    JJ

    ReplyDelete
  11. JJPart 2:
    Date: Mon, 20 Jun 2011 17:54:41 +0100
    From: sophie.pritchard@lush.co.uk
    To JJ
    Subject: Re: FW: Lush Palestine campaign group Friends of Al Aqsa ans PSC do not think Hamas are terrorists

    Dear Jill,
    Thank you for your emails to Gina, which she has forwarded to me.

    The history between Israel and Palestine is long, complicated and often under dispute. However, what is very clear is the level of suffering occurring today, in part due to the construction of the wall which is cutting Palestinian people off from vital health services and has dramatically increased poverty in the area. History does not excuse such suffering. It will take both sides to come to a solution, but what is also clear is that this is not a conflict of two equal sides and thus the onus must be on the dominating force, Israel. The OneWorld project is supported by both Palestinian and Israeli organisations and aims to help create peace for both sides.

    Best wishes,
    Sophie



    Sophie Pritchard
    Charitable Giving Manager
    Lush
    18-20 Market Street
    Poole
    BH15 1NF

    Office tel: 01202 667 830 ext 14
    Mobile: 0772 579 0474
    www.lush.co.uk/charity
    Join the Charity Pot Facebook group: www.facebook.com/charitypot

    ReplyDelete
  12. Part 3:
    Hello Sophie,

    thank you for replying to me.

    It may interest you to know that your reply is the exact copy of one which Vicky Jansson, your Customer Care Manager, gave to
    Edgar Davidson of www.edgar1981.blogspot.com. He has detailed his correspondence on his blog regarding this entire sad affair.
    http://edgar1981.blogspot.com/2011/06/response-from-lush-it-gets-worse.html
    YOu clearly absorbed nothing from our discussion, and have very obviously not read a single bit of information I sent you.

    I would dismiss you as just another clueless type except for several things:
    -YOu know perfectly well who War on Want are, as you said to me in our discussion. The fact that they werre investigated by the UK Charities Commission does not seem to worry you at all.
    -You have forever tainted your employer's company with the stench of terrorism and murder, and the faint shadow of the Nazis, who wanted to murder the Jews, and were helped by the Grand Mufti of Palestine, for me, a former customer of the company.

    BY so doing, you have shown very clearly that:
    :you do not "care" about your brief or your company
    :you do not "care" about your customers
    :you do not "care" about your or your company's associations, all of which have been clearly and simply detailed as terrorism supporters/anti Israel bigots.
    :you do not "care" about the consequences of your actions in supporting these people, who
    emphatically do NOT support "both sides."


    I do not expect you or any other person approached by proPalestinian groups to have followed the "complexities" - otherwise known as Islamic Jihad against Jews and Christians - of the Middle East.

    I do, however, expect that when a company professing to support charity is shown that they have inadvertently allowed themselves to
    be drawn into supporting terrorist gangsters with their customers' money, that they take it, their mistake and their company associations seriously.

    YOu have not taken it seriously, and expect me to be fobbed off with a cheap form reply. (Or maybe you got an assistant to cut and paste it from a form by V. Jansson).

    I sincerely hope you - or rather, your COMPANY - thrills at being a direct supporter of terrorism by a group- Hamas- that is part of the Muslim Brotherhood, that is very active suipporting and facilitating terrorism in the UK, along with a whole bunch of others, every one of which wants to exterminate Jews and dominate convert and kill non-Muslims.

    The UK has and will continue to suffer the effects of these jihadis. Indeed, there are many Brits who fled the UK for Australia specifically because of it.

    Good luck with that!

    I have sent a copy of this email to the CEO of Lush Australia.

    J.J.

    ReplyDelete
  13. last exchange with Sophie Pritchard fromLushUK:

    Dear Sophie,


    I'm glad you don't condone violence.

    Unfortunately the people you support actively condone and use violence, and by your support of them you enable their violence and finance it firectly.

    I agree with you that further discussion betwen us will probably not help. While the cause - Islamic jihad - of the ME conflict is actually quite simple, the ramifications are complex.

    You who live in the UK, and in fact every country containing Muslims, will have AMPLE opportunity to ponder and absorb these ramifications, most of which, are in fact, horribly violent.


    Regards
    J


    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Date: Tue, 21 Jun 2011 15:13:44 +0100
    From: sophie.pritchard@lush.co.uk
    To: j
    Dear J
    Thank you for your email. I sent our standard response to you as it explains why we support the OneWorld campaign. I would also like to make clear that we do not condone violence. I have read all your emails and listened to you for some time on the phone and feel I have given you ample opportunity to express how you feel. However, I don't feel it is a good use of your time or mine to discuss the issue further since it is clear we don't agree. Thanks for taking the time to let us know your thoughts.

    Best wishes,
    Sophie

    ReplyDelete
  14. I have noticed that the link for One World is back.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Richard

    Yes I have updated the posting now

    ReplyDelete
  16. H Edgar, my goodbye letter to LUSH.
    Obviously I was wrong about the Norway bombing I mention there.

    I enclosed a photo of Palestininas waving the entrails of Israeli soldiers they lynched in Ramallah.
    SEnt to gina@lush.co.uk (FWD to Sophie Pritchard)

    Hello Sophie,

    just a quick update re Lush support of Hamas via your One World pro-terror campaign.

    Quite a few people, including me, have decided not to buy Lush goods any more, UK and in Australia.

    Personally, the association of LSH with terrorism has now poisoned the brand for me, and I will not buy there again.
    YOu may not care much about this, since your pro-terror buyers are probably multiplying like crazy, but around 20 people I know
    will not buy from your company again. Sure, not that many at this stage, but word spreads.

    Still, you have chosen your terror-enabling clientele.

    Gee, I hope next time there's a bombing in London you have a nice place to hide...sinc you have chosen via your campaign to help
    fund Friends of Al Aqsa, a known terrorist support group, it's nice, isn't it, to know that funds from your campaign will inevitably go
    to assembling/buying weapons to kill Westerners. Since the UK is a known and large centre of terrorism, many of them will be British.
    I suppose 7/7 was just not enough for you edgy types!!!

    I have recommended to the guy who originally alerted me to this disgusting campaign of Lush UK four separate superb Israeli shampoo
    products. He is very grateful.

    I have sent a copy of this email to the CEO of LUsh Australia. I am sorry they should lose custom, no matter how small, simply because of Lush UK's terror-loving bigotry, but as I say, this whole issue has ruined the brand for me.

    All I see now under the happy packaging of Lush is the blood of Israeli suicide bombed by Hamas, the entrails of two Israeli soldiers waved triumphantly by Palestinian Arabs (see attachment) who lynched them when they wandered by mistake into an Arab town, and of course, in one of the latest massacres, the slit throat of a three month old baby by two Palestinian Arab teenagers, who stated that had they known there was yet another child in the house they invaded, they would have killed that one as well. Because the kids were Jewish.

    Just heard about the car bomb in Norway. Wonder who that could have been? Wonder where THEY got their got their money??


    regards
    J

    ReplyDelete
  17. Anonymous8:40 am

    I know I'm late to the party, however, I'd like to thank you for making this blog post. I've recently become a consumer of LUSH products due to Christmas gifts from family members. I instantly loved them because my skin is sensitive and I'm allergic to certain soaps and strong scented products. As a curious individual I decided to research the company further and was disappointed to find that they support terrorist groups like Hamas. Now I'm in the process of getting everyone I know to boycott them.

    I have nothing against Arabs or Muslims, I have many Islamic family and friends, but I cannot find myself supporting their governments which have an abhorrent record of human rights abuses. I recognize Israel's right to exist and I recognize Israel's right to defend itself from Palestinian terrorists. Perhaps LUSH should look at it's own government, the way that they have colonized, spread genocide, disease, and war, and meddled in the affair of other nations. I'm a Canadian of Irish descent, they sure starved us out of a homeland.

    Israel is an ally, while the middle east has no qualm with expressing western hatred. As a woman who enjoys her liberties I'd be a moron to support groups that would love to take them away. LUSH sits in Saudi Arabia, a nation notorious for it's segregation and discrimination on the grounds of gender (essentially apartheid against women), meanwhile LUSH claims support of women's rights?! Do they not see the hypocrisy in that?

    Palestine is worse toward it's own. It brainwashes children by glorifying martyrdom and violence (esp. against Jews) and they do not care how many dead Palestinian children it takes to abolish Israel. If they care so little about their own children, what care do they have for Jewish children? They are extreme and they are batshit insane. This callousness with regards to their own citizens is disgusting, but it seems to be working at getting western sympathy. These idiots would defend it by saying I'm judging them because we have a different culture. We need to stop tolerating intolerance...

    Anyway, enough with my ranting.
    Cheers from Canada, we're sorry you have to deal with people like this.

    ReplyDelete
  18. FUCK ISRAEL FUCK USA FUCK CANADA
    LOVG LIVE PALESTINE LONG LIVE GAZA
    IM GOING ON A LUSH SHOPPING AND THE OTHER HALF OF MY MONEY WILL GO TO PALESTINIAN AID!!!

    ReplyDelete
  19. Anonymous7:24 pm

    Jasmine, Allah is a false moon god and Muhammad was an illiterate child molester. Hope you end up as ISIS chattel.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Anonymous6:22 pm

    Thank you for posting this. I will never purchase another Lush product knowing they support these terrorist organizations. Also, I continue to tell everyone who does use Lush about my reasons for not supporting them. Hypocrites! _ NYC USA

    ReplyDelete