Excuse you me, but I have to share this hilarious attempt to somehow make it seem wrong to care about the people who produce your food by making sure that they get fair prices for their products so that they can send their kids to school and put food on the table.
That it's somehow wrong to want to make sure that worker's won't get sprayed with dangerous chemicals in the fields, and won't be fired if they decide to join or start a worker's union.
That it's wrong to want to be sure that it's not a seven year old kid, locked up in some small factory 16 hours a day that's sowing your shirts, but that children get to go to schools, and their parents get decent salaries and support for different development projects in their villages.
Because according to Debbie Schlussel and her blog post this is not only communist, but also supportive of terrorism. At least if you decide to support small scale farmers in Jenin, Nablus, Ramallah and Salfit on the West Bank by buying Canaan Fair Trade olive oil at Whole Foods. (Canaan olive oil is marketed under the brand of Alter Eco at Whole Foods, by the way, so you know what to look for in the stores).
That something completely unconnected to Jews in Israel, or suicide bombings years back, or Hamas militant wings could come out of Palestine is of course unthinkable. That well over a thousand Palestinian farmers could join together in order take their lives in their own hands and export their top quality olive oil to markets in the US and Europe and thus make an independent living in spite of Israel's occupation and the isolation imposed on them, is... well, so unheard of that it must be some sneaky attempt to lure innocent buyers in America into supporting terrorism and somehow... I don't know, make Palestine seem like a country (oh, the horror!).
What Debbie probably doesn't know (or at least doesn't care to mention) is that one of the companies she urges people to boycott--the famous Dr Bronner's Magic Soap--is not only owned and run by Jewish Americans (not that this really matters to anybody who has realized it's not about religion or ethnicity, but about people's values and how they act), but that they might source 90 % of the olive oil they use from Palestinian Canaan Fair Trade (for the simple reason that they are the biggest producers of Fair Trade labeled olive oil); and that they also source olive oil from a producer in... Israel. And what's more, Dr Bronner's also has the olive oil they use for their magic soap refined at a company in... Israel. So what Debbie is essentially doing, is asking people to boycott a company that might look beyond people's origin and use top quality olive oil from Palestine in their products, but that is also closely connected to Israeli companies.
But I'm sure, any Israeli company that could stoop so low as to work with a company that sources such large quantities of their olive oil from a Palestinian company must be in cahoots with the terrorists, too.
I guess.
In any event, I do appreciate that Debbie tries to encourage people to go out and buy Israeli olive oil instead of Canaan Fair Trade olive oil from Palestine, and then mentions a company that's based in... the Golan Hights. Now, the last time I checked, the Golan Hights are in Syria, albeit occupied by Israel.
Monday, April 13, 2009
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Here is the the Other side of the story...Dr. Bronner's Responds
April 26, 2009
To Whom It May Concern: Re: Dr. Bronner’s Response to Criticism of Fair Trade Organic Olive Oil from Palestine
Dr. Bronner’s uses over 150 metric tons per year of organic olive oil for the velvety smoothness it contributes to our soaps. In early 2007, Dr. Bronner’s began sourcing 90% of our olive oil needs from Palestinian producers near the West Bank town of Jenin. There, the trading firm Canaan Fair Trade was founded by Palestinians who support peaceful co-existence with Israel and see profitable olive farming as one means of improving Palestinians’ economic situation.
Canaan works closely with the Palestine Fair Trade Association (PFTA), and now purchases oil from 1,700 smallholders organized in the PFTA. Dr. Bronner’s funding of the organic and Fair Trade certification by IMO boosted the project’s visibility and provided access to high-end markets in Europe and the U.S. We are also advancing funds far ahead of purchases, which helps Canaan and the PFTA to further develop processing and storage infrastructure. Because Palestinian olive oil competes with subsidized olive oil from EU countries, oil production in the past has not been lucrative for smallholders and the local economy. But now, PFTA growers are guaranteed a minimum price to cover costs of production and receive a combined organic and Fair Trade premium of 25%. Canaan donates additional funds for education, tree planting and logistics projects.
Beyond our trade relationship, Dr. Bronner’s supports Canaan with logistics and distribution contacts and provides technical support as well. Our cooperation with Canaan allows Palestinian growers to trade directly with growing high-value markets for organic and Fair Trade materials while redeveloping their traditional livelihoods.
The balance of our olive oil comes from Israel. Sindyanna, a Fair Trade business run by Jewish and Arab women in Israel, supports Arab-Israeli producers. And in light of the vision of peace that the olive branch symbolizes, we are also sourcing olive oil from the Jewish Israeli Strauss family farm in Israel, a pioneer in organic olive oil production. Michael Strauss, former elite Israeli Defense Force scout, is a big supporter of our mixing Palestinian and Israeli olive oil in our soaps, as can be seen in this video: http://www.drbronner.com/olive_oil_from_the_holyland.html
An excellent article and overview of these projects and efforts appeared in Haaretz’s Israeli news magazine Colbo: http://www.drbronner.com/pdf/drbronnerpress_colbo_article.pdf
Recently, we have become aware of attacks on Canaan Fair Trade in the US. The basis appears to simply be that the source is Palestinian, which the attackers conflate with terrorism against Israel. This is similar to calls to boycott Israeli businesses, conflating them with settlers taking Palestinian land. In neither case generally is there any direct connection. In particular, Canaan Fair Trade is an example of what fair trade is about: disadvantaged farmers facing the obstacles and difficulties of reaching markets in the midst of a conflict situation, are being organized on fair-trade terms that help them and their families negotiate these obstacles and connect with
markets in the west. The fair trade premium is invested back into the communities that produce the olive oil, for community development projects, educational scholarships and improving production efficiencies.
In regards to scholarships to universities in the West Bank, we abhor any and all glorifications of terrorism that have or will occur on these diverse campuses, but that should not distract from the importance and value of a college education for disadvantaged Palestinians. Even taking a narrow Israeli security view, it is in Israel’s interest that Palestinians have gainful employment and access to markets, as economic desperation and lack of economic opportunity contributes to the radicalization of Palestinian youth. Israel itself imports all kinds of Palestinian agricultural produce for domestic consumption, and is a primary export market for Palestinian olive oil. Our olive oil from Canaan is exported to Israel for refining, which Dr. Bronner’s Israeli distributor helps coordinate as well as the shipping. The Israeli government would hardly permit this if it believed that the olive oil was funding terrorism.
We the fourth and fifth generation family at Dr. Bronner’s are proud of our Jewish heritage and are strong supporters of Israel’s right to exist and security, and contribute annually to Magen David Adom, the Israeli Red Cross. Nazis murdered Dr. Bronner’s parents and much of his extended family, and stole the family soap business.
Dr. Bronner’s sister Lotte emigrated to Israel in 1936 to the Ein Gev kibbutz, and we have family throughout Israel that we visit frequently. Lotte died last month and we celebrated her passing with a memorial page and short video interview she gave discussing amongst other things her childhood and mixing Israeli and Palestinian oil in our soaps: http://www.drbronner.com/dr_bronners_lotte.html Our Timeline has more details of our history: http://www.drbronner.com/timeline.html Dr. Bronner’s launched our soaps in Israel last year with presentations by ourselves and Nasser Abufarha, Executive Director of Canaan Fair Trade, which the Israeli press covered positively: http://www.drbronner.com/drb_press_the_mkt.html Just as we are comfortable saying that Lotte emigrated to “Israel” in 1936 even though technically it was still “Palestine”, we respect the national aspirations of the Palestinian people in saying that our Palestinian olive oil comes from “Palestine”.
We are optimistic that we can rise above religious and sectarian differences and realize our transcendent unity: that we are All-One based on mutual respect and recognition of each others’ rights and history.
Sincerely,
David Bronner
President
Dr. Bronner’s Magic Soaps
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