SodaStream Wins Lawsuit against French Boycott Israel Group
Latest update: January 29th, 2014
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A SodaStream ad in France, where a BDS-linked group has been found guilty of maligning the company.
A French court has ordered a Pro-Palestinian Authority group affiliated with the Boycott Israel movement to compensate the company and to stop all activities alleging that SodaStream products are illegally made and sold.
The company, whose Mishor Adumim factory in Israel’s Judean Desert is only one of 20 around the world, sued the Association France Palestine Solidarite (AFPS) in a Paris civil court for activities that the company said included “falsely claiming that the products are ‘illegally sold’ as a result of being manufactured in ‘occupied territories’ while bearing the ‘Made in Israel’ label.”
AFPS lobbied retailers to remove SodaStream products from their shelves and has been actively encouraging a boycott since 2010.
“While SodaStream has succeeded to stop this campaign at the retailer levels, AFPS has persisted with active and sometimes violent demonstrations in store,” the company told The Jewish Press Tuesday.
OPM, SodaStream’s exclusive distributor in France, filed a suit three years ago against AFPS Court for the campaign and for denigrating SodaStream products at French retailers.
The Civil of Court of Paris now has ruled in favor of SodaStream.
The court concluded that a boycott, even if instituted for political or moral considerations, must be “fair” and not abusive, a condition that AFPS violated by defacing a SodaStream advertisement and covering it with an image of blood as part of its smear campaign.
AFPS told retailers and the public that SodaStream products were being sold illegally and, according to the company, “advised French stores that selling SodaStream products constitutes a fraud, and that store managers could be prosecuted for doing so.”
The court said the boycott was unfair because false information was disseminated about SodaStream.
The court ordered AFPS to cease and desists from claiming that SodaStream products are being sold illegally or fraudulently and gave it two weeks to remove such indications from its website and media
The amount of compensation to SodaStream for damages has not been available for publication.
The decision came at the most opportune time for SodaStream. The BDS lobby thought it could take the fizz out of the company’s recent hookup with Scarlett Johansson as its new world ambassador. The actress, who is Jewish, also is starring in SodaStream’s commercial to be aired during the Super Bowl game next week.
But Johansson, after a couple of days of silence, did not crumble under the pressure and instead stood up for SodaStream.
She has done a better job than any Israeli official could ever do to state the view that SodaStream’s employment of several hundred Palestinian Authority Arabs, with the same benefits and conditions as Jews, is the best peace process around.
About the Author: Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu is a graduate in journalism and economics from The George Washington University. He has worked as a cub reporter in rural Virginia and as senior copy editor for major Canadian metropolitan dailies. Tzvi wrote for Arutz Sheva for several years before joining the Jewish Press.
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it’s #Obama’s fault…
Hurray!
Truth be told …..
" … A French court has ordered a Pro-Palestinian Authority group affiliated with the Boycott Israel movement to compensate the company and to stop all activities alleging that SodaStream products are illegally made and sold…"
The Whole a world is Evil And STUPID. Of course The French were Never Too Bright!!!
Give it to them Soda Steam
I hope this ruling can, in some sense, be transferred to the UK, where the boycotters are just as busy. It's a great precedent.
Yeah!!!
GOOD
brilliant bankcrupt this lobby for the myth people
Really glad to see this and hope this sets a precedent with the Jew haters guised as human rights' activists supporters. I hope they have to pay a ton!!
Excellent!
heel goed
I'm sure Soda Stream will be looking at this with great interest relating to their store in Brighton . Clearing the streets of BDS fascists is long overdue
Why none of the Palestinians employed by soda stream are not involved to conterclaim the bds movement
Good for them! May others follow their lead!
Excellent point, Dan Cohen
Merxi.
I think they would like to but are afraid to.
This makes my day. Thanks.
Good for SodaStream!!!
If you are in any doubt as to the bridge building and positive effect the Sodastream factory in Ma'aleh Adumim has for local Palestinians and Israeli's alike, watch this video made by United With Israel >
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zl85AL1l0H0. Better still, forward it to Guardian readers.
Phenomenal! Go from Strength to Strength!
This lawsuit was a put up or shut up event. This should expand with the same expected result for companies other than Soda Stream as well.
A sensible ruling indeed!
In support if SodaStream’s amazing peace initiative (and as a response to BDS and to Fox’s boycott), we should all go out and buy a SodaStream soda maker and their products, and to encourage everyone to do so.
A small ray of light in a dark world
We should sue soda stream for hiring Arabs. In fact, no Arabs should work in Israel and we should boycott companies that do.
I'm all in favor of BDS. And it would be against a country whose name starts with the letter "I." That country is not Israel, but Italy, which just found Amanda Knox guilty after finding her innocent. No new evidence was presented, but the marsupials in charge of the prosecution changed their theory of why the murders were committed: The guy who was convicted of killing Meredith Karcher (and who confessed) didn't flush the toilet.
What should be flushed is the entire system of Italian "justice" which apparently hasn't changed since Caligula. I urge colleges and universities in America to boycott all Italian products made in Italy, starting with Perugina chocolates, as Knox was originally convicted in Perugina. Guess I won't be getting that Lambo anytime soon.
I have gut sympathy for Knox, for reasons you allude to, but stepping back from it, there really seem to be a lot of factors that suggest some guilty role on her part.
Steve Goldstein No motive, no evidence, no nothing. Bull****.