July 11, 2014

Boycott SodaStream demo White Plains, NY 7.9.14

Photo by Andrew Courtney
Some twenty Westchester activists with reinforcements from NYC and Rockland gathered at Macy’s in downtown White Plains yesterday, July 9, in the late afternoon for the Boycott SodaStream-We Divest Day of Action.  JVP-Westchester, WESPAC, Concerned Families of Westchester, and Women in Black sponsored the event.  Our purposes were three: to call on Macy’s to de-shelve the carbonation devices produced in the industrial park of the illegal Israeli settlement Ma’aleh Adumin;  to celebrate the snow-balling successes of the international campaign for Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions;  and to urge international action to arrest the horrific downward spiral of violence in Palestine/Israel and to end the decades of injustice  and the Occupation that lie at its roots.

Inspired  by Dave Lippman, well-known musician and song-writer who is the soul of progressive street action in the New York area and generously agreed to join us,  we sang  BDS and SodaStream lyrics with an interlude of chants conveying similar messages.  We also handed out nearly 200 flyers, some in Spanish, to explain the reasons for the boycott and engage with passers-by. Though the Macy’s corner usually sees a lot of pedestrian and vehicular traffic, this summer afternoon was quieter than expected.  Most of our conversations were pleasant if not always conclusive, but we did have two hostile encounters.  A Macy’s client with a newly purchased SodaStream in hand assumed an aggressive stance and vented belligerently pro-Israel views until persuaded to desist.  An hour later a woman dressed  stylishly in black from head to toe, long skirt, long sleeves and head-covering, posed provocatively right next to our group with a packaged Sodastream as her friend snapped  photos. (Some of us wondered whether her garb was a disguise.) Two police officers appeared between these incidents to assure us that they were keeping an eye on the situation and ready to assist if we needed any help.  They were well aware that we had the requisite site and sound permits, and their overture was friendly.

Despite email, fax, and phone communication with eight T.V., radio, and press organizations that operate in Westchester, we did not have any reporters on the scene.  We did receive one call in advance from The Journal News. To anyone who has media contacts to share – your advice would be most welcome as we move forward.

Sincere thanks to all those who helped organize and publicize this event, created flyers and signs, lent their voices to song and chant, and handed out leaflets. We are fortunate that gifted photographer Andrew Courtney was on hand to document the action (see photos below). Participants who would like to add their observations to this report : please send your comments to this email address for forwarding.

Also, please check upcoming email messages for information about efforts in the region to respond to the dangerously deteriorating situation on the ground in Gaza, the West Bank, E. Jerusalem, and Israel. 

Priscilla Read

 

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