Sodastream: a shining example of coexistence or the friendly face of occupation?

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Located 10 kilometres east of Jerusalem, the Ma’ale Adumim settlement stretches as far as the eye can see on the hills of the West Bank, like an impregnable fortress overlooking the road leading to the Dead Sea.

Red-tiled roofs, small detached houses with pretty gardens; the peacefulness of the place is equalled only by its strategic value. A value which, in a country obsessed with security, has largely contributed to its development, making it one of the biggest Israeli settlements in the Occupied Territories.

It is home to over 35,000 people, attracted by the quality of life and the low property prices. Aside from the houses, public spaces and innumerable facilities, it is also home to an industrial zone – Mishor Adumim – where several well-known companies are based.

One of them is SodaStream, a company listed on the NASDAQ stock market, which earned itself a great deal of media coverage at the start of the year by choosing American actor Scarlett Johansson as its brand ambassador.

Present in 46 countries around the world, this Israeli company revolutionised the world of fizzy drinks by developing a device able to carbonate tap water, allowing people to make homemade sodas.

With the design of its bottles, it’s “Soda Bars” and its new ambassador, the brand hopes to compete with the top brands such as Coca Cola and Pepsi by playing the health and sustainable development card.

But it was not these ambitions that brought SodaStream into the spotlight.

It is the fact that it produces its goods in an area considered “occupied” by the international community.

Those heading the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) campaign argue that, by doing so, SodaStream is playing a direct role in Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian territories.

But SodaStream CEO Daniel Birnbaum refutes this accusation, one which is made against all the Israeli firms operating in the West Bank.

“We are not settlers,” he tells Equal Times.

“What’s more, it was not my decision to set up a factory here; I inherited this situation when I became the head of SodaStream. I, personally, am opposed to settlements. But you shouldn’t mistake the enemy.

“This industrial zone was built in the middle of the desert. The idea that our presence here is an obstacle to peace is a decoy.”

To prove his point, Birnbaum invites his detractors to look at the figures: 1300 workers, 800 of which are Palestinian, come to work here every day.

Half of these 800 Palestinians come directly from towns and villages in the West Bank, which means they need a permit issued by the Israeli military authorities (the other half are Palestinians from East Jerusalem, who do not need a permit to go to the West Bank).

SodaStream takes care of obtaining the permits for its workers. “We also pay contributions into a health insurance fund for them, because we know that the social cover provided by the Palestinian Authority is much less advantageous than Israeli social security.

“We want to ensure perfect pay equality between our Israeli and our Palestinian workers,” continues Birnbaum.

 

“More of a necessity than a choice”

With a salary of 6000 shekels a month (US$1700), 25-year-old Mohammed enjoys a substantially higher income than that of his young compatriots.

He has to cross the military checkpoint every day to get to work at SodaStream from his home town of Ramallah, the Palestinian capital, just a few kilometres from Ma’ale Adumim. He works on an assembly line, 12 hours a day, six days a week.

He sees it as a luxury, given how hard young people in the Palestinian territories have been hit by unemployment in recent years.

“I make a very good living,” he confides. “There’s a good atmosphere and the working conditions are good too. There’s no difference between Arabs and Jews. The truth is, I’m very happy to be working at SodaStream.”

But he would stop short of calling the factory a model for peace.

“Ma’ale Adumim is nonetheless a settlement, and the settlements are hindering our chances of aspiring to an independent state,” continues Mohammed.

“I don’t particularly want SodaStream to be boycotted because it could affect my job. But, at the same time, I do think the settlers should leave. If I could earn the same wage in Ramallah, I would rather work for a Palestinian boss.”

These remarks illustrate the dilemma facing many Palestinian workers.

Endemic unemployment and a sluggish economy mean the Israeli settlements represent an indispensable provider of jobs and attractive salaries, which are taken up more out of necessity than out of any kind of renunciation of a dream of national emancipation.

Moreover, such jobs, be they in Israel or in a settlement, always come with a work permit. And these permits are rare.

In March 2014, permits were granted to 47,500 workers out of an active population of around one million.

The remainder are condemned to find work with Palestinian employers, with substantially lower pay and no chance of crossing a checkpoint into Israel.

“The jobs in the Israeli settlements are well paid but they hide another reality, which is that the occupation is preventing the Palestinian economy from developing independently,” explains an Oxfam spokesperson for the Palestinian territories.

“Most of the natural resources are in Area C [the part of the West Bank under Israeli control, as opposed to Areas A and B, where the Palestinian Authority exercises total or partial control].

“In the rural areas, given the impossibility of developing viable agriculture, many Palestinians decide to go and work in the Israeli settlements; but it’s more of a necessity than a choice. The need to feed one’s family comes before any political aspirations.”

 

Calls for boycott

It is hard to pick and choose in these times of economic hardship. There is an air of pessimism throughout the territories, and the renewed failure of the latest round of Israeli-Palestinian talks has made the prospect of an independent Palestinian state more uncertain than ever.

At the same time, the campaign for a boycott of products from Israeli settlements is growing. It is already hitting agricultural goods from the Jordan Valley and is starting to strike other sectors of the Israeli economy, though its impact is as yet difficult to assess.

Unable to achieve their goal through negotiation, Palestinians are now relying on the international community to help them bring an end to the “Occupation”.

The general view is that a campaign like the BDS could work, based on the example of South Africa, which was the target of a similar campaign during the Apartheid era.

In the meantime, SodaStream is pressing ahead with its drive to expand and is in the process of building a new factory in the Negev, on Israeli territory.

Could this factory be destined to replace that of Ma’ale Adumim, to save the company from any accusations of colonisation in the future? No one yet knows. But, responding to journalists, Birnbaum maintains that he has no intention of moving his employees to promote a political agenda.