The Body Shop Editorial Just Won’t Go Away

I have read your long letter, and applaud you for your ability to present an articulate article. But the fact that you can write well does not make you right.

I received a long email from Mr or Ms A Preston of Philadelphia Pennsylvania, on September 13, 2004, deriding my editorial concerning the Body Shop’s donation of $300,000 towards the Palestinians’ Right of Return.

Please see Archives: The Body Shop Promotes The Death Of Israel: Wednesday, August 11, 2004.

My editorial gave birth to a plethora of letters and boycotts against the Body Shop; to the point where the Body Shop has been compelled to send press releases to better explain their position.

The letter I am responding to was far too long to publish. Nonetheless; here’s the gist of what A Preston wrote:

1) Only a part of the $300,000 was awarded to the Palestinians.

2) Why did I write this editorial when the event happened 2 years earlier?

3) Amnesty International sits on the side of the Palestinian Right of Return.

4) The Anti Defamation League of B’nai Brith didn’t support my views.

5) The Body Shop supports many other charities.

PUBLISHER’S RESPONSE:

I have read your long letter, and applaud you for your ability to present an articulate article. But the fact that you can write well does not make you right.

Whether some, or all of the $300,000 of the Body Shop’s money went to the Palestinian cause, of what they perceive to be their Right of Return, is irrelevant to me, since one penny is too much.

Does the Body Shop have a charity for murdered Israeli children eating at a Pizza Parlor, or dancing at a Disco, or riding to school on a Bus? No answer required.

Why did I write the article when I did, since the award was given 2 years ago you ask?

The $300,000 award was proudly displayed on the Body Shop Web Site at the time of my editorial. Therefore; my editorial against this award was very much in legitimate context, and very current to the Body Shop’s own marketing.

And, since when is there a statute of limitations on exposing people and corporations who do the wrong thing?

If the Palestinians and their progeny have a Right to Return to what they claim were their homes in what is now Israel; do the millions of Jews who had to flee from their Arab homes pre-1948 (which include their progeny), have the same Right of Return to where they once lived and prospered in Arab lands?

You brought up Amnesty International. Do you remember how they leapt upon the Jenin Massacre that never happened. Yet; have virtually never really condemned the Palestinians for their long list of atrocities committed against Jews.

But; when it comes to Israel, Amnesty International is a prolific condemner. They’re not a reference I take seriously when dealing with Israel, Middle Eastern borders and the slaughter of Jews.

When Amnesty International pays as much attention to the Islamic slaughter of one another, their horrific treatment of women, and the fact that virtually every Islamic nation is backward and a tyranny, maybe then I will pay some attention to what they have to say.

Because the Anti Defamation League of B’nai Brith made no mention (and I will only take your word for it) of the Body Shop Award; so what? I don’t need any group; Jewish or otherwise, to legitimize my thoughts or to speak on my behalf.

And, because the Anti Defamation League has no opinion on this subject of the Body Shop (one of which you are aware of that is), that doesn’t mean they sit in support of the Palestinian Right of Return and people or groups who finance it. As a matter of their public policy, they do not.

I don’t care what other charities the Body Shop aligns itself with. That does not give them approbation to contribute to the destruction of Israel.

When I did my talk-radio show in Montreal between 1997 and 1999, I raised well more than $1,000,000 for secular worthwhile charities including: sheltering the homeless, feeding hungry school children, defending animal rights and the environment. But; that didn’t give me justification to support TERRORIST groups.

Nor did it make me morally superior to anyone else. You seem to believe that the Body Shop is entitled to support TERRORISTS because the Body Shop gives to other charities as well.

Would you think it appropriate for companies like the Body Shop to donate one penny to Islamists who do tremendous social work, but, from time to time blow up World Trade Center Buildings in the USA, Railroads in Spain, Subways and Schools in Russia?

Let’s for a second agree that the Palestinians deserve their claim to a Right of Return because they were there before the Jews (which they weren’t).

Does that mean you should get out of your house so a native American can claim his/her Right of Return? Don’t you believe in equivalence?

Europeans have “occupied” North America for only a few hundred years. Jews have lived as a nation in what you call Palestine for over 3,000 years. But somehow, this seems to be lost on you?

The nice thing about individual rights guaranteed by most democracies, is that I have as much a right to voice my opinion, as you have to voice yours. Just as I have a right not to shop at the Body Shop or anywhere else that supports groups I oppose.

As I often like to say: Ain’t Democracy Grand?

Thank you for your letter.

Best Regards

Howard Galganov

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One Comment

  1. I always knew that one day you too would live in the land of our people; Miami.
    Whatever you decide, make sure you have your lap-top, free Wi-Fi, and of course, Pet-Friendly.

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