UK Government Boycotts Israeli Tycoon Lev Leviev over Settlement Construction

[Jefferson23]

Important victory

Adalah-NY: The Coalition for Justice in the Middle East

Media Contact: [e-mail]

UK Government Boycotts Israeli Tycoon Lev Leviev over Settlement Construction

Decision a Victory for Coordinated Campaign in Palestine, US, UK and Israel

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

New York, NY, March 4 – The government of the United Kingdom has decided to boycott Israeli diamond and real estate mogul Lev Leviev over his companies’ construction of Israeli settlements on Palestinian land in the Occupied West Bank, the Israeli newspaper Ha’aretz Daily reported today. The decision by the UK government followed a coordinated advocacy campaign by human rights advocates in New York, the UK, Palestine and Israel demanding that the UK government end plans to rent the new UK Embassy in Tel Aviv from Leviev’s company Africa-Israel.

The UK’s Tel Aviv Ambassador notified Leviev of the decision by letter, following a British parliamentary debate, and inquiries with Leviev’s company Africa-Israel over its activities in the West Bank, Ha’aretz reported. According to Ha’aretz, “The embassy in Tel Aviv confirmed the details of the story.”

The Ha'aretz article did not note the construction of the settlement of Zufim on the land of the village of Jayyous by Leviev's company Leader. The Israeli army has recently intensified efforts to crush Jayyous’ protest campaign against the construction of Leviev’s settlements and Israel’s wall on village land. Sharif Omar, the head of Jayyous’ Land Defence Committee, commented, “We feel heartened by the UK government decision opposing Leviev’s settlement construction, and we expect our brothers and sisters in the UAE to follow the UK government's example by banning Leviev from selling his diamonds in Dubai. We need more pressure in order to end Israeli repression, return our land, and restore our rights.”

remainder here: http://www.normanfinkelstein.com/article.php?pg=11&ar=2724

[Scurrilous]

1. Leviev company posts $426 million loss

<snip>

"Russian Jewish billionaire Lev Leviev's Africa Israel Group announced the largest loss in Israel's history.

The company lost $426 million in 2008, it announced Monday.

Africa Israel, which is 75 percent owned by Leviev, had a net loss of $637 million in the fourth quarter.

The company was affected by the global economic crisis and the drop in real estate value of its holdings in the United States and Russia."

http://jta.org/news/article/2009/03/30/1004085/leviev-company-posts-426-million-loss

[Jefferson23]

2. Well look at that, thanks for the update!

[bemildred]

6. Good news! nt

[IndianaGreen]

3. This POS is involved in the blood diamond trade

Lev Leviev Blood Diamonds

Lev Leviev commits a compendium of human rights abuses ranging from supporting the oppressive Angolan Dos Santos regime which is renowned for its corruption, lack of transparency and violence, owning diamond mines which employ private security firms known to beat, whip and sexually abuse employees, through to purchasing rubies from Burma which supports the military junta and directly financing the expansion of illegal Israeli settlements. As part of the Jewish Land Redemption Fund, Leviev finances the expansion of Mattityahu East in Modi'in Illit, Zufim, Maale Adumim and Har Homa. All of these are in violation of International Law as set down in the Fourth Geneva Convention and the position is further supported by both the UN and the international Court of Justice. The theft of Palestinian land leads to the impoverishment and subjugation of Palestinian people and violent oppression against Palestinian non-violent resistance.

http://sabbah.biz/mt/archives/2008/12/15/lev-leviev-blood-diamonds/

Israeli 'Blood Diamond' Magnate Lending Sparkle to Oscars

Lev Leviev, the Israeli settlement builder and diamond mogul who has been accused of supporting human rights abuses in Angola, Burma, New York City and Palestine, is lending his jewelry to some attendees of the 80th annual Academy Awards this Sunday. The jewelry loan was reported by Warner Brothers ExtraTV. Leviev has made a concerted effort to associate himself and his businesses with global elites, but a barrage of negative publicity related to these rights abuses has tarnished Leviev's image, suggesting that, as NY Jewish Week wrote recently, "For Leviev, All that Glitters Isn't Gold." Human rights campaigners from Adalah-NY have pledged to contact Academy Award organizers and attendees to voice their concerns over Leviev's involvement.

<snip>

Sadly, just one year after the film Blood Diamond was nominated for five Oscars, there is a chance that tainted Angolan diamonds that bypass the Kimberley Process which aims to eliminate trade in "conflict diamonds" will be worn by stars at the Academy awards. According to the 2007 "Diamond Industry Annual Review" for Angola produced by the watchdog organization Partnership Africa Canada (PAC), "the Angolan Kimberley System has no way of tracking" roughly 10% of Angola's "diamonds back to source." As a result, there are "more than a million carats per year exiting Angola… with the murkiest credentials." Leviev, who buys, polishes and sells Angolan diamonds, is directly involved in these failings. Furthermore, private security companies employed by Leviev in the mining districts in northeast Angola have been accused by Angolan human rights monitor Rafael Marques of "humiliation, whipping, torture, sexual abuse, and, in some cases, assassinations." Leviev has close ties with Angola's repressive and corrupt Dos Santos regime which has failed to hold elections since 1992.

http://www.alternet.org/workplace/77569/israeli_'blood_diamond'_magnate_lending_sparkle_to_oscars/?comments=view&cID=845415&pID=841475

[ProgressiveMuslim]

4. That is exciting news! Adalah NY had this guy targetted for awhile now!

[grassfed]

5. The Israeli barcode starts with 729

http://www.bdsmovement.net/?q=node/9

[ShadesOfGrey]

8. Yep! I've been boycotting Israel this year too.

I had a real hard time finding a replacement for one of my prescriptions though. The Israeli generic brand TEVA is the generic brand of choice of both my local Walgreens and Rite-Aid now. When Rite-Aid switched to TEVA, I transfered to Walgreens. Then after a couple of months, Walgreens switched to TEVA. I called two other pharmacies before finding one that carried a different generic brand. I'm crossing my fingers that they don't switch to TEVA.

I'm also boycotting China. Makes shopping difficult but so worth it IMO.

[Vegasaurus]

12. Good luck.

Hope you or your family members don't need any life saving medical techniques, or any of the other Israeli advances.

It's easy to give up hummus, and another to give up potentially life saving treatment.

But go ahead and give it a try!

[Scurrilous]

7. Finance minister rules out help for Africa Israel

<snip>

"Israel's finance minister ruled out government intervention to help financially distressed real estate developer Africa Israel Investments (AFIL01.TA) meet payments to bondholders.

The ministry also said on Monday institutional investors' exposure to bonds in Africa Israel was low, amounting to only 0.6 percent of pension savings they manage.

Africa Israel said on Sunday it would begin talks with bondholders to restructure its debt and warned of difficulties to meet payments starting from 2011.

Its shares tumbled 13.6 percent on Monday after losing 25.5 percent on Sunday. Prices in bonds of Africa Israel, which has been hard-hit by the global real estate meltdown, also plummeted.

"Our policy is not to intervene in cases of debt repayment difficulties," finance minister Yuval Steinitz told a news conference. He declined to say whether he had been approached for help by billionaire diamond dealer Lev Leviev, who controls over 70 percent of Africa Israel."

more


Africa Israel Faces Debt Restructuring, Threatening Leviev Control

<snip>

"Haaretz reports that Lev Leviev’s Africa Israel Investments faces insurmountable debt obligations and will be forced to negotiate a restructuring with his creditor banks. This means that Leviev could lose control of his empire or, at the very least, that he will be forced to cede a large portion of his company to the banks. Depending on how they view his leadership, he may or may not remain with the company.

Despite the fact that AI’s share price has rebounded handily in recent months it is still down 75-80% from a year ago. Further, Leviev’s real estate portfolio has taken a tremendous pounding, with one property alone, the old New York Times Building, falling in value from $690 million t0 $315 million. AI lost $1 billion in 2008. Its 2nd quarter 2009 statement will report an estimated $350 million loss.

Earlier this week, Global BDS activists announced that a British subsidiary of the Wall Street investment house, Blackrock, had divested of its Africa Israel holdings, putting further financial pressure on Leviev. This action came as the result of pressure from Norwegian banks which offer Blackrock funds to their customers. The banks had investigated AI’s participation in settlement building projects in the West Bank (Maaleh Adumim and a number of others) and determined that such violations of international law would not be acceptable to their clients.

Thus, Leviev has become the first financial victim of the BDS movement: the first Israeli company to suffer a substantial hit. No doubt, he will not be the last. This puts other Israeli companies which profit from the Occupation on notice that they are vulnerable."

more


BlackRock divests from Leviev, an ‘NYT’ advertiser (and guess who doesn’t report it)

<snip>

"Good news on the divestment front. BlackRock, an English investment house, has divested itself of holdings in Lev Leviev’s Africa-Israel fund, which helps build colonies in the West Bank, apparently following pressure from three Scandinavian banks that have investments with BlackRock. A friend writes:

One of Leviev’s settlements, Matityahu East (pic at link), is on land belonging to the Palestinian village of Bi’lin. Which brings us back to Ethan Bronner’s piece in the New York Times on the nonviolent protests in Bi’lin against the occupation. That piece completely omitted a hugely important facet of the non-violent struggle, and one the NYT has never covered: Bi’lin’s 2-year campaign, along with international allies like Adalah-NY, against the builders of the settlement that is confiscating Bi’lin’s land, builders that include Leviev and Shaya Boymelgreen.

Note that the NYT’s op-ed page has run more than a dozen jewelry ads by now from Lev Leviev, and they’ve never mentioned anything about the campaign against him. Bronner quotes Emily Shaeffer, but doesn’t mention she went to Canada shepherding Bi’lin’s court case there against two real estate companies that are building in the settlement. Nor does he mention that Israel started cracking down much more heavily on Bil’in following campaign leader Mohammed Khatib’s testifying in court in Montreal. No mention of BlackRock’s divestment from Africa-Israel, which is responsible for about 30% of the housing of Matityahu East, an outpost of the older settlement, Modi’in illit. Bronner mentions that former Norweigian Prime Minister Gro Harlem Brundtland was one of the "elders" visiting Bi’lin, but does not mention Bil’in’s effort to get the Norweigian state pension fund to divest from Africa-Israel.

In sum, Bronner was writing about Bil’in’s non-violent campaign, but left out a central part of that campaign, the village’s efforts & those of supporting orgs in Palestine, Israel, US, UK, Norway, UAE, to boycott the builders of the settlement. This is a major non-violent effort, & the NYT has never covered it, even though it’s been widely covered in the international press, maybe 100 articles. Remember when the UK decided not to rent their new Tel Aviv embassy from Leviev? That was all over the place on major wires, the BBC. Maybe 15 stories, including JTA. But silence from the Times."

more

[LeftishBrit]

9. Good. As you know, I don't support a boycott of Israel - but boycotting this particular individual

is another matter.

[Violet_Crumble]

10. I think this sort of action really is one of the best ways to go...

It's something that has a real impact on the company being boycotted, and it's a specifically targetted thing. I hope more countries follow the lead of the UK....

[Scurrilous]

11. Israel: Billionaire with settlement links targeted in divestment campaign

<snip>

"Fifty-nine clients from a US-based financial services and retirement firm have called for it to divest from a company involved in the construction of Israeli settlements and owned by Israeli billionaire Lev Leviev. The move came just over a week after the Norwegian government decided to withdraw all its investments from an Israeli defence firm involved in the separation wall in the West Bank.

The clients of the Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association, College Retirement Equities Fund (TIAA-CREF) launched an appeal for it to divest from Leviev's Africa-Israel holding group.

The TIAA-CREF clients made the appeal in an open letter published by Adalah-NY, a non-governmental organisation involved in a campaign calling for divestment against Israel.

Signatories of the letter include renowned author, philosopher and University lecturer Noam Chomsky, American historian Howard Zinn and prominent law professor George Bisharat among others.

"Increasingly we are witnessing investors, organisations and celebrities disassociating themselves from Leviev as more information surfaces of his companies' human rights violations, " Adalah-NY spokesperson Dena Qaddumi told Adnkronos International (AKI).

The divestment call came shortly after Africa-Israel announced that it was unable to repay debts, sending its stocks plummeting, and triggering emergency meetings of shareholders.

"The movement to boycott and divest from Leviev's companies, the government of Norway's decision to divest due to it's role in building the apartheid wall, and the protests over the Toronto International Film Festival's focus on Tel Aviv all show that the movement for a boycott, divestment and sanctions against Israel is breaking new ground," Patrick Connors, a media specialist from Adalah-NY told AKI."

http://www.adnkronos.com/AKI/English/Security/?id=3.0.3758448930