OFFICIAL RELEASE: TODAY: Bikini-clad activists protest Israeli cosmetics at stores in Santa Monica, Marina del Rey

Posted by CODEPINK Staff

SANTA MONICA -- Inside upscale cosmetics stores here and in Marina del Rey in a two-hour "tour," bikini-clad activists streaked with mud of the women's peace group CODEPINK will rally with chants and signs to expose the dirty truth of the Israeli cosmetics company, Ahava Dead Sea Laboratories: that it profits from its exploitation and illegal practices of the Occupied West Bank.

"We are here to tell Ahava, which claims to be devoted to beauty and purity, that you cannot cover up occupation and violation of international law," said Paris Marron, CODEPINK's national online organizer. "We call on Ahava to come clean."

The action, which follows four others in Israel and New York of the past two months, is part of CODEPINK's "Stolen Beauty" boycott campaign against the Israeli company -- which sells its products in upscale shops, spas and salons worldwide -- designed to pressure the company to end its illegal practices and pressure Israel to end its violations of international law against Palestine and its people. CODEPINK also plans to educate consumers about Ahava's dirty secrets and encourage consumers to boycott Ahava products.

CODEPINK recently sent a fact-finding mission to the Ahava headquarters in the Israeli settlement of Mitzpe Shalem in the Occupied West Bank. What they found made their skin crawl.

"Its products produced in the Occupied West Bank are labeled of 'Israeli origin' even though, according to international law including the relevant UN Security Council Resolutions, the West Bank cannot be considered to be part of the State of Israel," said Medea Benjamin, CODEPINK co-founder. "The company also exploits occupied natural resources for profit, which is a violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention."

Ahava does its best to hide its dirt, even hiring Oxfam Ambassador and 'Sex and the City' star Kristin Davis as its spokesperson.

Stolen Beauty' is CODEPINK’s contribution to the international Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) Movement against institutions and corporations that give tacit or material support to the Israel's occupation of the Palestinian Territory, designed to pressure the Israeli government to end the occupation of the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem. Conditions there have since worsened because of Israel's 21-month blockade of Gazan borders, Israel's continued demolition of Palestinian homes in East Jerusalem, and land appropriations and violent repression in the West Bank.

For more information and exact schedule, please call Jodie Evans, CODEPINK co-founder, at 310-621-5635.