Palestinians lose SodaStream jobs after Israel boycott
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Hundreds of Palestinian workers are now unemployed after the factory where they worked in a West Bank settlement was targeted by an international boycott movement and forced to move to Israel, the company's chief executive said Monday.
Daniel Birnbaum, CEO of SodaStream International Ltd., said the last 74 Palestinian workers left Monday after being denied permits to work inside Israel at the new factory.
"We gave them an opportunity to work," he told Israel's Channel 2 TV, calling Palestinians the main victims of the boycott movement. But he also criticized the Israeli government for not granting them work permits.
In all, about 500 Palestinians lost their jobs after the factory moved last year amid a low-profile boycott campaign known as BDS — an acronym for boycott, divestment and sanctions.
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Hundreds of Palestinian workers are now unemployed after the factory where they worked in a West Bank settlement was targeted by an international boycott movement and forced to move to Israel, the company's chief executive said Monday.
Daniel Birnbaum, CEO of SodaStream International Ltd., said the last 74 Palestinian workers left Monday after being denied permits to work inside Israel at the new factory.
"We gave them an opportunity to work," he told Israel's Channel 2 TV, calling Palestinians the main victims of the boycott movement. But he also criticized the Israeli government for not granting them work permits.
In all, about 500 Palestinians lost their jobs after the factory moved last year amid a low-profile boycott campaign known as BDS — an acronym for boycott, divestment and sanctions.
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