Lush down under spurns UK campaign
THE Australasian office of Lush Cosmetics has distanced itself from a Lush United Kingdom “ethical campaign”, which demonises Israel.
THE Australasian office of Lush Cosmetics has distanced itself from a Lush United Kingdom “ethical campaign”, which demonises Israel.
The move follows an international uproar over Lush’s UK-based parent company promoting the song Freedom for Palestine, by a group of musicians calling themselves OneWorld.
The song makes scathing accusations against Israel and presents a one-sided view of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
When contacted by The AJN, a Lush Australasia spokesperson said: “The OneWorld campaign is a Lush UK initiative, and it is not something that the Lush Australasia business is involved in.”
The lyrics of Freedom for Palestine include the lines, “More than six million refugees, it could be you and your family, forced from your home and your history … This is a crime against humanity, Gaza turned into a prison camp, apartheid wall divide the West Bank … Enough illegal occupation, violence and racial segregation”.
The video clip features extensive footage of the wall portion of the West Bank security barrier, scenes of Palestinian poverty and a cartoon depiction of an Israeli soldier knocking a Palestinian woman holding a baby to the ground.
The ethical campaigns section of Lush’s UK website, where the video clip can be found, accuses Israel of illegal occupation, human rights abuses and condemning the residents of Gaza “to levels of poverty more commonly associated with sub-Saharan Africa”.
Much of the text is lifted directly from the website of War on Want, the UK charity to which proceeds from the sale of the song will go.
War on Want supports the global Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions campaign against Israel and has a history of bias against the Jewish State.
GARETH NARUNSKY
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