illegal settlements
Video: far-right Israeli minister Ben Gvir ‘rushed to hospital’ from crash after hiding from protesters
National security head hid from protesters, now he’s in hospital after car crash after running red light
Israel’s far-right national security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir has been ‘rushed to hospital’ after a car crash in central Israel, reportedly having run a red light leading to the crash. Middle East Eye has posted Instagram video of the crash scene:
The crash was caught on a safety camera at the lights:
The crash comes just a day after extremist, who praised illegal settlers who murdered Palestinians as ‘heroes’ and has spoken publicly about ‘clearing’ Gaza for Israeli settlement, refused to leave a building without armed police, out of fear of Israeli demonstrators demanding Israel negotiate the return of captives held in Gaza. Israel has killed at least seventy of its own citizens there during its genocide of Palestinians. Ben-Gvir then tried to cover for his fear by waving as he was hustled into a vehicle for his getaway:
Israeli press are reporting that he is only ‘lightly hurt’, unlike the tens of thousands of Palestinian women and children maimed and murdered under Israel’s apartheid, genocidal regime.
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Activists labelling Israeli supermarket items as ‘apartheid’ and ‘apartheid Starmer’
Hum(our)ous and deadly serious
Activists have begun labelling Israeli items in supermarkets as ‘apartheid’ products, in a campaign to raise public awareness of Israel’s crimes against Palestinians and promote the peaceful ‘BDS’ (boycott, divestment and sanctions) movement to pressure Israel into ending its apartheid and war crimes – with different versions laid out to match (at least) Sainsburys and Tesco label layouts:
And Keir Starmer has also made himself a target of the campaign for his unstinting support of Israel’s flagrant breaches of international law, after at least one group took the original labels and edited them to reflect his ties to and funding from right-wing and pro-Israel groups and figures, before applying them liberally to supermarket shelves:
The global BDS campaign’s effectiveness can be seen in the fact that Israel created a whole ‘Ministry of Strategic Affairs’ to combat it and the way that Israel’s supporters constantly attack it. The UK government is in the process of passing probably-unlawful legislation to ban local authorities from applying BDS against goods and services from illegally-occupied territories.
The campaign has also been deployed against global brands such as Starbucks and McDonalds, with reportedly substantial impact on their profits.
Israel’s genocidal campaign in Gaza has so far killed at least 33,000 civilians, mostly women and children, and wounded more than twice that number of people – often with life-changing injuries. The country is facing a genocide case brought against it before the International Court of Justice by South Africa.
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Exclusive: Dublin airport rebrands Starbucks cafe – but still selling Starbucks products
Airport says Starbucks sales are a ‘temporary’ measure as critics point to boycott over Gaza and firm’s conduct toward unions
A ‘new’ cafe in Dublin airport’s Terminal 1 is still selling Starbucks products under a different brand name, Skwawkbox can reveal.
The airport announced the opening of its new ‘Vista’ cafe on Thursday in what is said was a unit ‘previously occupied by Starbucks:
But critics were quick to link the announcement to the boycott of Starbucks by many in response to the firm’s links to Israel and its ongoing anti-union activities in the US, with hundreds of responses like the examples below:
I think this is still Starbucks they've just rebranded the name of the café to try and avoid the ongoing boycott. If you zoom in you can see the Starbucks menu, plus they're still using Starbucks cups! There's also zero online presence for "Vista Coffee" – it doesn't exist!
— James M (@MamesJolloy) January 4, 2024
Why is there what looks like a @Starbucks logo in the corner of the left hand screen?
Can you clarify whether this is a rebranding of the existing outlet or has the new one stolen Starbuck's property?
Hope you can clarify; I'm sure you don't want to be associated with theft. pic.twitter.com/xipWJA1eTm— Brian (@LifeOfBOS) January 5, 2024
Starbucks has seen its share price hit since the boycott on sales, despite the company CEO issuing a statement that Starbucks ‘condemns violence, hate, lies and weaponised speech – he did not mention Israel or Gaza in the statement – and that Starbucks ‘stand[s] for humanity’.
Starbucks in the US has been engaged in a long campaign against unionisation by workers that saw leaked video in 2022 show the firm’s founder begging store managers to step up their anti-union activities – and the firm suing the union for trademark infringement. Boycott calls grew after a post went out on the Starbucks Workers Union official Twitter account posted a message of solidarity with Palestine after the widely-misrepresented Hamas raid last October and Israel’s genocidal assault on Gaza that has killed over 30,000 civilians, more than two thirds of them children and women. Starbucks share price has fallen by around seven percent since the boycott. It is not the only global brand to see profits fall – McDonalds’ CEO has admitted that the business has taken a ‘meaningful’ hit.
A spokesperson for Dublin airport confirmed that the Vista cafe is using Starbucks products, but told Skwawkbox that both the brand and the product usage were temporary and that the Starbucks cafe closed because its contract had run out:
Vista is a temporary brand. Starbucks closed at the end of December as their contract expired. An exciting new local coffee brand will be permanently moving into this location in March. Until then, the new operator (using Starbucks’ products) is running the unit temporarily as Vista, ensuring passengers get their caffeine fix.
This change is part of a major overhaul of the food and beverage offerings in T1 and T2 at Dublin Airport which will happen over the coming months. Passengers will see several units operate on a temporary basis in the short term – under generic brands – while the fit-out works are completed.
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