torsdag 5 mars 2015

Open letter from the Ambassador of Israel to Oatly AB

Open letter from the Ambassador of Israel to Oatly AB
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On the part of the Embassy, through phone calls and emails, we have now been trying over several days to reach the company Oatly, which has chosen to boycott its Israeli supplier following political pressures by anti-Israeli activists. We are surprised by the nonchalance shown by the company in the face of the repeated contact attempts by a foreign mission and its ambassador.

To ignore the opportunity for contacts on this issue is hardly something which does honour to the company.

We do appreciate the apology offered by the company but as long as the decision – which has now been recognized as made on wrongful grounds – is not reversed, the apology remains mere empty words.

If one has now decided to be correct and to show caution, these are principles which primarily should, of course be applied to the present case in question. It has been made abundantly clear that this has nothing to do neither with the price of the product, nor its quality – both of which have been highly satisfactory – but what we see now is solely the result of irrelevant pressures from anti-Israeli activist circles. When one gives in to these types of pressures, it is difficult to see the decision as anything but politically motivated.

The issue is also not about listening to the consumers. The activists do not care about the product, only their own political objectives. The boycott of vitamins from Israel is more important than for instance the many lactose-intolerant children who use the products.
The company Oatly has admitted that is has taken a decision on wrongful grounds. Not to correct this would mean giving in to from anti-Israel activists while ignoring the dissatisfaction of other customers.

If the company thus – in defiance of all logic and its own declared principles – will not revoke a decision admitted to be the wrong one, at least I for my part will not feel any thirst for Oatly products.

It is a dangerous road to take to let market considerations on issues of quality and production be affected by aggressive pressures from extreme and vocal lobby groups and something which is highly detrimental, both to the consumers and the companies.
The negative, and special treatment for which Israel but no other international cooperation partners, is singled out is something, which of course, raises very serious questions about the true motivations behind the actions of Oatly.

Isaac Bachman
Ambassador of Israel

[Starka reaktioner på TV4:s beslut att ta bort Israel-avsnitt]

tisdag 3 mars 2015

Jerusalem -Israels hjärta

Jerusalem kan mycket väl vara Israels hjärta, när det står i centrum för judendomen sedan ett par tusen år bakåt. Det blir riktigt plågsamt när det görs en felaktig politik av religion och historia, på det vis som nu Palestinagrupperna och TV4 gör.

"TV4 tar bort Israel-avsnitt"


Det känns mycket felaktigt när ett sådant uttryck censureras i dagens Sverige 2015, det känns allt för mycket som en återgång till något som mer passar in i de tongångar som rådde i Tyskland på 1920-30-talet och vad det medförde borde vi alla komma ihåg, det är 70 år sedan förintelsen och det tog upp mycket plats i medierna. Tydligen har det glömts bort och det fort, när rubrikerna fort smälter undan och glöms bort är det annat som gäller.



När riksmedia glömmer bort vad de borde stå för, som det fria ordet blir det allvarligt. Det fria ordet är en av våra mänskliga rättigheter och media borde skydda det och inte censurera, i detta nu har Charlie Hebdo glömts bort, både attackerna i Paris och Köpenhamn och innebörden i detta går förlorat i ett politisk snömos. Alla vackra ord är borta som genom ett trollslag, förnekelsens blacka vingar flaxar och sprider sin skugga som i en dystopisk mardröm.