Submitted by Priscilla Read
The Boycott SodaStream
event from noon to 1 p.m. on Saturday, December 13, at Walmart in White Plains,
NY was co-sponsored by JVP-Westchester and three other local organizations:
Concerned Families of Westchester, Hudson Valley BDS, and WESPAC. It also benefited from the support of neighbors
across the Hudson, members of Rockland for a Just Peace in Palestine-Israel.
The target of the action was a large Walmart situated in midtown White Plains
with wide sidewalks on a busy thoroughfare.
The CEO and president of Walmart, the CEO and president of Walmart U.S.,
and the local store manager all received in advance the same letter detailing our position on SodaStream and why Walmart should follow Macy’s in
de-shelving.
The day dawned seasonably cool, somewhat breezy, but sunny. We launched activity by noon and soon had
about 25+ participants engaged in a variety of activities to raise public awareness
of the issues. We had planned materials geared to the diverse clientele that
frequents the White Plains Walmart, including a flyer about intellectuals and
artists who’ve spoken out about Palestinian rights and one about SodaStream formatted
recto/verso in English and Spanish. Five people who had volunteered in advance to
leaflet and engage passers-by were so effective that they exhausted our supply
of one hundred flyers in the first twenty minutes. Dave Lippman, the well-known Satirical
Songster-Tuneful Truthteller of New York City fame, led us in seasonal songs
with his own clever, trenchant SodaStream lyrics. A group of energetic recruits, mainly
beginners but infectiously enthusiastic, did an animated rendition of dabke Arab folk dance to traditional
Palestinian music. The signs, the singing,
the dancing, and the sound amplification created a high-energy spectacle that
attracted a good deal of attention on the street. Unfortunately, our advance, detailed
communications about the issues to local press, television, and radio produced
no media coverage.
For the segue between the SodaStream event and the March to
Stop Police Impunity scheduled immediately following, there had been overlap
and cooperation among organizers. JVP
members had been encouraged in advance to join the marchers. Just before 1 p.m.,
a JVP member gave some short remarks about BDS, SodaStream, Walmart,
and the purpose of our action and drew links between our efforts to fight
oppression and injustice in Palestine, the struggle against racism and
inequality in the United States, and the roiling protests over police killings
of unarmed civilians in this country. Dave Lippman sang his “Hands Up! Don’t
Shoot” ballad inspired by the issues of the day, and the swelling crowd joined
in the chorus. Then, inspired by the theme: “No Business as Usual; No Christmas
as Usual” and chanting “Hands Up! Don’t Shoot!” and “I Can’t Breathe,” more
than two hundred marchers set out at a good clip for the Westchester Mall. From that shoppers’
palace, the route took us to a major intersection in the center of town where
we staged a die-in and then proceeded to some brief speeches in front of police
headquarters. Channel 12 News
Westchester covered the march.
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Photos of both the 1) SodaStream event and 2) the March to
Stop Police Impunity by Andrew Courtney
Photos of the SodaStream event at Walmart by Len Tsou
Photos and videos of the SodaStream event by Yoram Gelman