Another Ricky’s Boycott Protest on Montague St.

By on September 29, 2010 7:40 pm in Brooklyn Heights

Approximately 20 activists protested Ricky’s yesterday evening on Montague Street, some waving Palestine flags, and holding signs encouraging boycott of an Israeli-made cosmetics company called Ahava whose products are  carried by the store. Video after the jump.

The protesters appear to have included members of Code Pink, as signs reference a “Brooklyn for Peace” organization which is affiliated with the Code Pink group. BHB readers may recall that the Code Pink group orchestrated a similar protest in front of Ricky’s back in July of this year.

Approximately an equal number of pro-Israel supporters counterprotested, some waving Israeli flags, holding signs, and chanting slogans such as “Not one inch!”.

Two NYPD officers stood between the two groups to keep order, all the while typing on their smart phones (perhaps updating Facebook statuses?).

According to other news accounts, Ricky’s has refused to remove the Ahava products and when boycott protests occur, sales of the products actually increase.

See video for a glimpse at the noisy scene.

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  • La Shauniqua

    So Carl, Hamas just launched missles containing white phosphorus against Israel. Silence from the world .

    The Mavi Marmara passengers were armed with knives, clubs, and after they completed their attack on the Israeli soldiers, two were in critical condition- and a half dozen others hospitalized. But the passengers knew this was the plan- they had taken martyrdom videos of themselves. They were out for blood. Amongst the “humanitraian aid” found for Gaza was night vision googles, bullet proof vests, and gas masks.

    Why is the world silent when Israelis are attacked? Why was there no response when 10,000 rockets fell on the Israeli town of Sderot, well within the green line ?

    So Carl, as long as you are going to tell lies and distort the truth, I’m going to go to Rickys and over-pay for hand cream. Its the least I can do to support the only democracy in the Middle East.

  • nabeguy

    Carl B, I quote:

    “Readers note how this poster tries to skirt around the human rights abuses carried out by Israel”.

    Given the human rights abuses of their immediate neighbors, I’d say that the Israeli is pretty controlled in that respect. No public beheadings that I’km aware of.
    As Americans, even we have some shameful things to account for, like Abu Giraib.
    He who casts the first stone….

  • Monty

    I feel like we’re just a few comments away from resolving this. Despite roving from skin cream to the flotilla to the rocket attacks, the issue is that the Ahava factory is outside the 1967 borders. That’s fine by me if they were willing to pay taxes to the Palestinian Authority.

  • http://www.freepalestinefortnightlydemo.wordpress.com Carl B

    Hey Joann, Publius, La Shauniqua and Nabeguy: You still haven’t answered my question as to why Israel is threatening punitive actions against groups within Israel who call for the boycott of Israeli and illegal settlement goods.

    Do you know why you haven’t answered my question; it’s because you can’t!

    In case you forgot, here’s what it’s all about:

    http://www.alternativenews.org/english/index.php/topics/economy-of-the-occupation/2706-israels-anti-boycott-legislation

  • Obama?

    Apartheid is just as wrong in Israel as it was in South Africa!!!

  • Obama?

    “Given the human rights abuses of their immediate neighbors, I’d say that the Israeli is pretty controlled in that respect. No public beheadings that I’km aware of.”

    I don’t find Apartheid Israel to be “pretty controlled” on anything they do!

  • Susan

    The Ahava factory and customer service outlet is located on land stolen from the Palestinian’s by an illegal Israeli settlement. Under the Geneva Convention “occupiers” are prohibited from moving their citizens onto occupied lands and they are prohibited from taking natural resources like water, minerals and mud unless it is for the benefit of the people whose land is occupied. Unfortunately, the US is already involved in this mess because we give Israel $3 BILLION dollars a year. U.S. Generals, State Department advisors and former President’s have emphatically stated that our unilateral support for the Zionist regime endangers our troops.

  • GHB

    Amazing how much anti-semitism there is right here in Brooklyn, of all places.

  • Fred

    Being against Israeli policies does not equate to anti semitism. Is being against American policies anti american or anti christian?

    It is, in fact Israel that is guilty of anti-gentilism, because it has roads for Jews Only and settlements for Jews Only. Isn’t it about time that Israel, Jews and the rest of the world addressed this issue?

    Why do so many Jews support not giving nonJews equality in Israel? The question is not antisemitism, burt anti-gentilism in Israel.

  • Publius

    Hey Carl B:

    You’re clearly the type of guy who when losing an argument, ignores all of the points that others have discredited, and tries to focus on a small shred of what others have ignored because it’s not important.

    Nice try buddy.

  • Tina

    Carl, by relying on anti-Israel sources for your news, you get a very slanted view of the story. The proposed bill does not impose criminal penalties, but rather civil ones

    The boycott bill, which will now proceed to committee, would make Israelis who “instigate,” “encourage,” or “assist” boycotts against Israel or Israeli institutions subject to fines of up to NIS 30,000 even if no damage is proved, and more if damage is proved. Foreigners or foreign entities that do the same could be barred from the country and denied the right to use Israeli banks, land, or stocks. The bill would also allow boycott damages to be deducted from Israel’s remittances to the Palestinian Authority should the latter continue promoting anti-Israel boycotts.

    And frankly, don’t you think its a bit hypocritical that Omar Bhargouti, a graduate student on scholarship from Tel Aviv University is the originator of the BDS movement? He is perfectly happy attending an Israeli school and taking money from them, while he promotes an anti-Israel agenda.

    Maybe Israel is too much of a democracy for its own good.

  • Eddy de Lectron

    Fred is spot on, Furthermore, I think many people are reluctant to speak their mind against Israelis policies, out of fear of being labeled an “anti-Semite”.

  • Eddy de Lectron

    Tina, are you for real? How can a law that severely prohibits a non violent form or protest be considered “too much of a democracy”?

  • Monty

    @GHB, that is disappointing. You try to dodge the whole debate by accusing the accuser of some irrelevant and untrue. It so happens that I am Jewish and I still strenuously object to settlement building and endless occupation, both of which are unarguably illegal.

  • http://www.freepalestinefortnightlydemo.wordpress.com Carl B

    @Tina: Can you tell us what’s your source that Omar Bhargouti was the originator of the BDS movement? You also mention that: “Maybe Israel is too much of a democracy for its own good.” Is that a joke?

    @GHB: Criticizing the government of Israel does not make me anti-semetic.

    Publius still hasn’t answered my question. I’ll give him one more chance to answer my question and to try and justify the actions of the racist, apartheid policies of the state of Israel, including the illegal settlements, the use of white phosperous during Operatopn Cast Lead, the bulldozing of Palestinian homes, the mass eviction of Palestinians, shooting at and arresting Palestinian children, the anti-Palestinian Labor laws (most Israeli employers will only hire people if they served in the Israeli Army and Palestinians are prohibited from doing so), controlling the movement of Palestinians through the use of blockades and checkpoints, etc…
    Can you try and justify that Publius? I bet you’ve never been outside of Brooklyn.

    Ahava uses products from the Occupied Territories. Those who buy from it are no different from those who broke the boycott of Germany in 1933. Come to think of, they were Zionists too. Birds of a feather…

  • Publius

    Carl B. = Code Pink astroturfer/ Ahmadinejad quoter.

  • brooklynheightzer

    Just wonder if Ahava is hiring the local Palestinians and in fact is contributing to the economy of the territory.

  • Monty

    @Publius, even assuming that Carl B is a shill planted by the Ayatollah himself, nothing in his post is factually incorrect. I should point out that it is no way incumbent on Jewish Americans to blindly support the policies of the government of Israel. Netanyahu is not the Pope of Judaism. He is entirely fallible and capable of making mistakes and violating the tenets of his religion and seemingly does so on a daily basis.

  • GHB

    Carl, Monty… Not accusing either of you of anti-semitism, but what seems to be lost on the world is that the State of Israel was established as a homeland, and the only one in the world, to which Jews were welcomed unconditionally. And yes, many of us only hear one side of the story.
    La Shauniqua had it right: “Why is the world silent when Israelis are attacked? Why was there no response when 10,000 rockets fell on the Israeli town of Sderot”

  • To carl

    Carl- the world is dominated by dictatorships, monarchies and authoritarian regimes. Why do you put such stock in “majority” opinion? The majority of Americans in the 1700’s believed in slavery. Did that make it right or moral? The Mississipi Supreme Court in the 1930s consistently voted against any kind of equality for its citizens of color. Does that make it moral?

    When you put your confidence in majority- in “might” over “right”, you lose me, and all those who value justice. There are 56 Islamic nations. There is one Jewish state. Israel will always been the minority- Israel will always be suject to persecution, and I refuse your contention that because the “majority” believe it is deserved, that indeed it is.

    Israel’s treatment of the Palestinians:

    During the 1970’s, the West Bank and Gaza constituted the fourth fastest-growing economy in the world — ahead of such “wonders” as Singapore, Hong Kong, and Korea, and substantially ahead of Israel itself. Although GNP per capita grew somewhat more slowly, the rate was still high by international standards, with per-capita GNP expanding tenfold between 1968 and 1991 from $165 to $1,715 (compared with Jordan’s $1,050, Egypt’s $600, Turkey’s $1,630, and Tunisia’s $1,440). By 1999, Palestinian per-capita income was nearly double Syria’s, more than four times Yemen’s, and 10 percent higher than Jordan’s (one of the better off Arab states). Only the oil-rich Gulf states and Lebanon were more affluent.

    Under Israeli rule, the Palestinians also made vast progress in social welfare. Perhaps most significantly, mortality rates in the West Bank and Gaza fell by more than two-thirds between 1970 and 1990, while life expectancy rose from 48 years in 1967 to 72 in 2000 (compared with an average of 68 years for all the countries of the Middle East and North Africa). Israeli medical programs reduced the infant-mortality rate of 60 per 1,000 live births in 1968 to 15 per 1,000 in 2000 (in Iraq the rate is 64, in Egypt 40, in Jordan 23, in Syria 22). And under a systematic program of inoculation, childhood diseases like polio, whooping cough, tetanus, and measles were eradicated.

    No less remarkable were advances in the Palestinians’ standard of living. By 1986, 92.8 percent of the population in the West Bank and Gaza had electricity around the clock, as compared to 20.5 percent in 1967; 85 percent had running water in dwellings, as compared to 16 percent in 1967; 83.5 percent had electric or gas ranges for cooking, as compared to 4 percent in 1967; and so on for refrigerators, televisions, and cars.

    Finally, and perhaps most strikingly, during the two decades preceding the intifada of the late 1980’s, the number of schoolchildren in the territories grew by 102 percent, and the number of classes by 99 percent, though the population itself had grown by only 28 percent. Even more dramatic was the progress in higher education. At the time of the Israeli occupation of Gaza and the West Bank, not a single university existed in these territories. By the early 1990’s, there were seven such institutions, boasting some 16,500 students. Illiteracy rates dropped to 14 percent of adults over age 15, compared with 69 percent in Morocco, 61 percent in Egypt, 45 percent in Tunisia, and 44 percent in Syria.

    http://www.aish.com/jw/me/48898917.html

  • Theresa Guipelini

    To Fred: There are no “Jew” only roads. I just spent 3 months in Israel- I am a Christian missionary. At no point was I asked about my religion when driving, or entering or existing roads. In fact, in Israel, all Highway signs are in English and arabic and Hebrew, which just proves you are wrong. the question remains- are you lying delibertaely to demonize Israel, or did you just not know the truth?

    BTW, Israel is full of Jews, Christians and Muslims, living together, working together and playing together. Its as diverse as Brooklyn

  • http://arablesbiansagainsthate.blogspot.com/ Fatima

    Most Arabs do not support a boycott of Israel. My father owns several groceries- he keeps them stocked with Israeli food. Why?
    1. Kosher is similar to Halal
    2. It is the food he grew up eating. He likes it and is comfortable with it
    3. When Israel does well, Arabs do well.

    I don’t buy Ahava becuase it is so expensive, but I buy many Israeli products. In Brooklyn, and all over America, the best places to get Israeli food are the Arab groceries!

  • nabeguy

    Fatima, your post points out a cruel irony. Namely, that the very people that governments seek to separate are more than willing to co-exist with their neighbors, regardless of their backgrounds. On those grounds, I’m not a supporter of the settlements, as they are pre-fabricated neighborhoods that are the exact opposite of how a neighborhood should be defined.
    Back in high school, during the early 70’s, I recall getting caught up in a school-wide debate that questioned whether Zionism equated to imperialism. In those days, my answer was no. Now, I’m not so sure.
    Given the larger issues, Ahava is a blip. But some people apparently need to get a life.

  • Zionism is self determination

    Zionism is the belief that the Jewish people have the right to self determination in their ancient homeland. I am a Zionist. I also believe that the Palestinians have the right to self determination. Two states for two people will satisfy the nationalistic aspirations of both. Now if only we can get them to agree on the eventual borders!

    I thought Joanns comment was funny . Wanna bet she owns the store band wants to see some boycott love come her way? Code Pink, give Rickys a break. Picket Joanns store next. She needs the business

  • http://www.freepalestinefortnightlydemo.wordpress.com Carl B

    @Z.I.S.D: Another coward who doesn’t use their name.

    How can you hold your head up high admitting to Just because you believe that Israel is the Jewish people’s ancient homeland does not make it true. Palestinians were living there long before any Jews settled there.

    Zionism is a hateful poilitical philosophy that has brought suffering and death to untold thousands, if not millions – and is the cause of all of the trouble in the region today. It favors one group of people (the Jews) above any others. In Israel, Jews are favored by law over others. This is akin to apartheid.

    If you see a two state solution in the cards, then what will become of the Jews who illegally built settlements in the West Bank? Thanks to Israel, most of the West Bank is broken up into small Palestinian enclaves.

    Yesterday, the Ahava store in London, England was successfully occupied by activists for the fourth time and closed for several hours. See report and photos here: http://www.freepalestinefortnightlydemo.wordpress.com.

    Maybe we should start doing this in Brooklyn.

  • Publius

    @ “Carl. B (actually Code Pink astroturfer), sitting behind his(?) keyboard yelling at other people that they are cowards (ROTFLMAO).

    “Carl B.” let your anti-Zionist hatred flow young Skywalker. Feel the power of hate and the dark side.

  • Arch Stanton

    Every major religion has been and is responsible for countless acts of murder, torture and oppression. Human society will never mature until we rid ourselves of religious beliefs.

  • nabeguy

    Carl B, please stop calling out people for not using their own names. Your own is about a complete as your ideas. Having followed your link, I’m also left to wonder how you came up with the word “manageress” to describe the female manager of the London store. The implicit misogyny in that only betrays another side of your amentia.

  • http://www.freepalestinefortnightlydemo.wordpress.com Carl B.

    Don’t be so intolerent of others “nabeguy”, in the UK that’s what a female manager is called. I know in America, you are more PC.

    Glad you enjoyed the link. Identify yourself at our next demo and I’ll give you a Boycott Ahava button.

  • http://www.freepalestinefortnightlydemo.wordpress.com Carl Bruce

    @nabeguy: You were proved wrong – again!

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