CodePink’s “Stolen Beauty” Campaign: Creativity in Action

Abstract

In the wake of the 2008–2009 period of intensified conflict known as “Operation Cast Lead,” activists from the US feminist antiwar group CodePink organized delegations to the Gaza Strip in partnership with the Israeli Coalition of Women for Peace to bring humanitarian aid and hear the stories of those affected by the violence. CodePink also visited Israel where they “met with Palestinians and Israelis who were working for a just peace for both their peoples” (CodePink n.d. a). During one of these delegations, Israeli and Palestinian women encouraged CodePink activists to also visit the West Bank and to consider taking on a piece of the boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) call to action. Using the Who Profits (www.whoprofits.org) database of companies profiting from the Israeli occupation of the West Bank as a starting point, CodePink cofounder Medea Benjamin and Rae Abileah took an exploratory trip to the West Bank, where they visited Mitzpe Shalem, the Israeli settlement where the cosmetics company Ahava has its factory. The activists “saw firsthand what was going on there and saw that yes, this is a settlement north of the Green Line” (CodePink Interview 1 2012). After doing some additional fact-finding work, CodePink decided to launch the Stolen Beauty campaign targeting Ahava cosmetics because “we wanted to look for a product that is used by women, that markets to women and [that] … clearly violated international law and human rights” (CodePink Interview 1 2012; CodePink Interview 7 2012).