Al Monitor<\/a> in a recent interview.<\/p>\nWhen he was invited to the Israeli president\u2019s residence recently to receive an award, Birnbaum brought with him a few Palestinian employees and insisted on undergoing the same rigorous security checks to which they were subjected, Birnbaum told Al Monitor. When it came time for Birnbaum\u2019s speech, he broke with protocol and publicly upbraided his host, President Shimon Peres, for the unequal treatment that his Palestinian workers had received, including strip searches down to their underwear.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are committed to continue serving as a bridge and to sowing hope,\u201d Birnbaum said in his speech. \u201cWho knows as well as you, Mr. Peres, how important it is to remain optimistic that one day there will be peace?\u201d<\/p>\n
SodaStream\u2019s case, some say, is one example of how boycotting an Israeli company doing business in the West Bank can end up hurting the very goals that boycott proponents say they are trying to achieve: Palestinian rights and Israel-Palestinian peace.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe SodaStream situation is extremely complicated because it\u2019s a clear case of where the owners are making real efforts to engage the Palestinian workers with fair wages and in management positions,\u201d said Kenneth Bob, president of the liberal Zionist group Ameinu, which supports the establishment of a Palestinian state in the West Bank but still opposes boycotts of settlement products. \u201cAt the same time, it does on some level strengthen the occupation because it\u2019s a factory over the Green Line,\u201d the boundary between Israel and the West Bank.<\/p>\n
Advocates of BDS say supporting SodaStream amounts to supporting Israel\u2019s occupation of the West Bank and that boycotting the company is an effective way to support Palestinian national aspirations.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn the absence of global and international political pressure for Israel to abide by international law, BDS hopes to use nonviolent pressure to get Israel to stop the occupation,\u201d said Kristin Szremski, a spokeswoman for the Interfaith Boycott Committee, a pro-BDS group. \u201cThe boycott of SodaStream felt like it was a great opportunity to raise awareness about settlements and thwart SodaStream\u2019s effort to get into the American market.\u201d<\/p>\n
Szremski dismissed the argument that hurting SodaStream could hurt the livelihood of Palestinians, calling it \u201ca way to obfuscate\u201d the issue.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe point is not just to make SodaStream go out of business,\u201d Szremski told JTA. \u201cWere there no settlements to begin with, Palestinians could be working their own lands. The fact that a worker goes to work every day does not indicate that it is a good thing.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/SodaStream-headquarters.jpg\" "\\"SodaStream-headquarters\\"")