(from my e-mail)
BACKGROUND: Isolation of Palestinian activism and a way to help bridge the gap:
As with many other causes, Palestine solidarity efforts tend to be rather isolated. Environmentalists don’t tend to focus on Palestinian rights and vice versa though both groups might have some sympathy for the other. A campaign pointing to birth defects in the Palestinian Bedouin population in the northern Negev as a result of pollution from the Ramat Hovav industrial zone might introduce the groups to each other’s causes. In that spirit ICAHD, in collaboration with other groups on occasion, will be sending out notices, letters and documentation about foreign businesses that operate inside the West Bank (and should it ever become again necessary, the Gaza Strip). This will sometimes be part of the email action campaign and So Palestine solidarity folks, meet the anti-globalization movement. There are doubtlessly many people involved in both causes seperately but hopefully this, and other similar campaigns, will provide a meeting point to join efforts. The first one is below and relates to a Domino’s Pizza location in the settlement of French Hill.
In all likelihood, it would be a tremendous waste of time for most Palestine solidarity activists to focus specifically on closing a single pizzeria that operates in a single settlement. What it can do though is again, introduce PS activism to anti-globalization folks and demonstrate the link between multinationals and the settlement infrastructure. More importantly from a solidarity standpoint is the potential to make French Hill and the other East Jerusalem settlements more prominent in discourse. The Domino’s Pizza location can be used to talk about how French Hill plays a part in disrupting the natural urban metropolis of Palestine, Bethlehem to E. Jerusalem to Ramallah, and thus prevents Palestine from having an an infrastructural base to develop around thus preventing an economically viable Palestinian state from ever coming about. Illustrating that in more depth is another matter but it’s one way to bring the discussion to the table.[1]
NOTES:
(1) Sufficiently descriptive texts relating to what is necessary for a viable Palestinian state and how the East Jerusalem settlements are depressingly few given the importance of the issue. Some include: Jan de Jong, “The end of the two-state solution – a Geopolitical Analysis” in Palestinian-Israeli Impasse: Exploring Alternative Solutions to the Palestine-Israel Conflict. Jerusalem, PASSIA, 2005. Jerusalem and Ramallah Heads of Mission (EU), “Report on East Jerusalem”, 2005. http://electronicintifada.net/bytopic/historicaldocuments/413.shtml Jeff Halper, “The End of a Viable Palestinian State”, 2005. http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=viewArticle&code=HAL20050329&articleId=466
ACTION: WHAT YOU CAN DO
In the case of the French Hill Domino’s Pizza, the settlement it lies in is far more important than the illegality of the service establishment. That said, Domino’s shouldn’t just be left off the hook. Various boycott campaigns relating to products from and businesses that operate in the settlements are already ongoing. Publicizing Domino’s Pizza to those campaigns would be a positive step. More importantly though would be to publicize the Domino’s Pizza in the context of the effects of the French Hill settlement on the viability of a Palestinian state and perhaps how Domino’s helps support the economic infrastructure of it. The draft letter below is simply a template to be used or modified as you see fit. It is the letter ICAHD sent to Domino’s Pizza.
Letters can also be written to newspapers in Ann Arbor or Detroit, Michigan, where Domino’s Pizza is based. Be creative with other ways to get the word out.
–Phone, fax, or e-mail your representatives directly to inquire about foreign businesses that operate in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (on behalf of Israel). If you are a U.S. Resident or citizen, find your representative’s contact information at www.senate.gov and www.house.gov. If you have the ability, one fax is generally worth about ten e-mails.
–Phone, email or post a note to Domino’s Pizza to ask them why they have a restaurant in an illegal settlement.
Domino’s Pizza LLC
30 Frank Lloyd Wright Drive
Ann Arbor, MI 48106 USA
Phone: (734) 930-3030
Email http://info.dominos.com/dominos_pizza/contact.nsf/frmContact?openform
–To help us gauge the response, please send a cc of your messages to lucia@icahd.org. We would also be very interested in any responses you get to your letters.
–To contact the state of Michigan Chamber of Commerce write to info@michamber.com or call (517) 371-2100
–To contact your local Domino’s Pizza branch visit: http://www.dominos.com/Public-EN/Site+Content/Primary/Find+A+Dominos/
SAMPLE LETTER
Re: Domino’s Pizza in an East Jerusalem settlement
To Whom It May Concern:
In the process of documenting the economic infrastructure of Israeli settlements in occupied East Jerusalem and the West Bank, the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions (ICAHD) identified a Domino’s Pizza location in the East Jerusalem settlement of French Hill (HaGiva HaTsarfatit). The store’s address is 1 Rehov Haezel, Jerusalem 97853, Israel. The address though, is a misnomer. After the Six Day War of 1967 the Israeli government annexed some 17,500 acres of land to the Municipality of Jerusalem. This area, of which French Hill is a part, is colloquially referred to as East Jerusalem. Please see the enclosed map of Israeli settlements provided by the Israeli human rights organization B’Tselem. French Hill is circled in pen. Enclosed also is a photograph of the Domino’s Pizza location in French Hill.
This annexation is illegal under international law and is not recognized by the international community. On 22 November, 1967, shortly after Israel’s declared annexation of East Jerusalem, the United Nations Security Council passed SC Resolution 242 which emphasized “the inadmissibility of the acquisition of territory by war”. This has been noted through many General Assembly and Security Council Resolutions in the 39 years since. This was most recently noted in General Assembly Resolution 60/106 of December, 2005 which reaffirmed the “the inadmissibility of the acquisition of territory by force” and went on to quote Advisory Opinion A/ES-10/273 issued by the International Court of Justice which states that “the Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (including East Jerusalem) have been established in breach of international law”. The relevant statute of international law is the Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War (1949). Article 49 states “The Occupying Power shall not deport or transfer parts of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies.”
The breach of the Geneva Convention is commonly referred to as a “war crime”. On 24 April, 2006, the trial of Dutch national Guus Kouwenhoven began in The Hague for his role in abetting war crimes committed in Liberia from 1999-2003. While Mr. Kouwenhoven was a supplier of military infrastructure, those who supply the economic infrastructure are liable to the same statutes. By providing economic infrastructure, in the form of a service industry establishment, to the settlers in French Hill Domino’s Pizza is abetting the Israeli government’s illegal settlement enterprise.
We are operating under the assumption that Domino’s Pizza was previously unaware of the status of the area and has not knowingly been complicit in the settlement enterprise in Occupied Palestinian Territories. We hope that Domino’s will act positively on this information and either close or relocate the French Hill location and bring its business practices back within the boundaries of international law. We look forward to receiving your response.