CODEPINK PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 19, 2014
Contact:
- Rich Forer, Colorado-based activist and author, 505-265-1898
- Alli McCracken, CODEPINK Press Coordinator, 860-575-5692, [email protected]
- Sophia Armen, Boycott REMAX Coordinator, 818-625-6284, [email protected]
Activists to Deliver 3,000 Petition Signatures to RE/MAX Challenging Its Role in the Sales of Illegal Israeli Settlements on Palestinian Land
When: 11:00am, Thursday, November 20, 2014
Where: RE/MAX, LLC, 5075 S. Syracuse Street, Denver, CO 80237 (Call Rich Forer at 505-265-1898 to find out where activists are meeting before delivery)
DENVER, COLORADO -- Community leaders and activists will deliver over 3,000 petition signatures to the headquarters of RE/MAX International in Denver on Thursday, November 20, 2014 at 11 AM. This petition condemns the sale of illegal Jewish-only settlement properties in the West Bank.
The petition delivery is a part of the new campaign, Boycott RE/MAX: No Open House on Stolen Land, launched by the peace group CODEPINK. The petition demands RE/MAX stop selling settlement homes on occupied Palestinian land, and the campaign targets RE/MAX national offices, shareholders, and individual realtors. It is part of the broader international Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement, a call by Palestinian civil society to engage in non-violent activism to end these injustices by boycotting companies and institutions that are complicit in Israel’s occupation and its discriminatory practices against Palestinians.
RE/MAX is a multinational corporation with franchises in over 90 countries, including Israel. RE/MAX Israel sells Jewish-only homes in illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank and operates a RE/MAX office in the settlement of Ma'ale Adumim in the West Bank. RE/MAX Israel sells properties in major settlements including Adam, Beit Arye, Beit El, Giva’at Ze’ev, Ma’ale Adumin, Oranit, Salit, Sha’arei Tikva, and Zufin. Through these practices, RE/MAX International is enabling and perpetuating the system of settler colonialism and occupation that continues to displace thousands of Palestinians and undermine a just and sustainable peace.
Among those delivering the petitions is Richard Forer, renowed author of Breakthrough: Transforming Fear Into Compassion - A New Perspective on the Israel-Palestine Conflict. Katie Falkenberg, the CODEPINK Colorado coordinator, will also be with the group delivering the letter.
“RE/MAX should want to protect its brand name by making sure that RE/MAX Israel abides by international law, but it seems that profits has trumped ethics,” said CODEPINK co-founder Medea Benjamin. “That’s something our campaign aims to change.”
Activists will be available for interview at the petition delivery.
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