https://twitter.com/davidjacksmith/status/545709784042049536
The “controversy” over SodaStream sparkling water makers reached its peak in the United States last January, when BDS (boycott, divestment and sanctions) nuts learned that actress Scarlett Johansson would star in a Super Bowl ad for the company, which — gasp! — operates out of an Israeli settlement in the West Bank.
Johansson stood strong, telling the Huffington Post that SodaStream is “a company that is not only committed to the environment but to building a bridge to peace between Israel and Palestine, supporting neighbors working alongside each other, receiving equal pay, equal benefits and equal rights.”
Worth noting that SodaStream employs a lot of Palestinian workers: https://t.co/sRvLoQ8OSC
— (((AG))) (@AG_Conservative) December 18, 2014
@AG_Conservative I bought two as Christmas gifts just to piss off the anti-Israel crowd
— A.J. Delgado (@AJDelgado13) December 18, 2014
@DavidLimbaugh @kctimpf @NRO Hehehe…I'm going to use my SodaStream MORE!!!
— Scribble the Dog (@ScribbleTheDog) December 18, 2014
Why is SodaStream back in the news a year later? An article this week in the Harvard Crimson reports that the school’s dining services provider, sparked by letters from the College Palestine Solidarity Committee and the Harvard Islamic Society, has since April suspended purchases from the company and even removed the SodaStream labels from machines in service to avoid offense. “These machines can be seen as a microaggression to Palestinian students and their families and like the University doesn’t care about Palestinian human rights,” one student told the Crimson.
Harvard students protest Sodastream machines as "microaggression to Palestinian students and their families" – http://t.co/jNRW80vjod
— Eliana Johnson (@elianayjohnson) December 18, 2014
https://twitter.com/BlueDotFan/status/545709718216667137
@elianayjohnson @CathyYoung63 Literally haven't got anything to do but be offended, mostly on behalf of others.
— David Jameson (@goekip) December 18, 2014
— Nigel Rathbone (@Nigel_politics) December 18, 2014
@elianayjohnson @kcjohnson9 Any particular type or flavor more offensive then others? Say diet as opposed to regular?
— RWS (@rws1959) December 18, 2014
https://twitter.com/BlueDotFan/status/545709873955340288
way to go, Harvard, always transcend worst expectations – Alum @elianayjohnson HUDS Suspends Purchase from Israeli Soda Co. @FriedrichHayek
— Harvey Singer (@HarveySinger) December 19, 2014
That’s not the end of the story, though. In a follow-up published today, the Crimson reported that its story had caught the attention of Harvard University President Drew G. Faust and Provost Alan M. Garber, neither of whom had been consulted about the boycott, putting dining services in hot water.
“Harvard University’s procurement decisions should not and will not be driven by individuals’ views of highly contested matters of political controversy,” Garber wrote in a statement. “If this policy is not currently known or understood in some parts of the University, that will be rectified now.”
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