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(Or sign on to Jewish Voice for Peace's letter supporting the boycott call)

Mothers outside of Leviev-NY 5/10/08

M’azuza Abu Rahmeh, a mother from Bil’in, explains, “I hope that on this important day for mothers that no women in the world will have to live through this type of experience and that instead they will live with their families and homes, in security and peace.” Halima Husain, a mother from Jayyous, adds, “I hope that free people around the world will boycott Israel’s occupation and will not support businesses of wealthy Israelis like Leviev who is building the settlement of Zufim, and that they will stand with us to lift this shadow and darkness that hangs over the Palestinian people.”

With our governments failing to act, the only way to end the suffering of Palestinian mothers and their families is to boycott Israeli companies like Leviev's that profit from the illegal activities of land confiscation and settlement construction. No diamond is worth the destruction of people's lives. This Mother's Day support mothers like Halima Husain, and M'azuza Abu Rahmeh from Bil'in, along with their children. Boycott Leviev.

As mothers from New York City and from around the world, we stand with Palestinian mothers from villages like Jayyous and Bil'in and call on New Yorkers to boycott Lev Leviev's Madison Avenue jewelry store every day, but especially on Mother's Day. Leviev is exploiting this holiday in honor of mothers, the third biggest jewelry shopping period annually in the US, to sell his jewelry, even as his companies ruin the lives of mothers in Palestine.

 (Click here for a high resolution PDF of the Mother's Day card we are distributing in front of Leviev NY)

(Click here for pictures)

Leviev's companies have built homes for Israelis in the settlements of Zufim on the land of the West Bank village of Jayyous, Mattityahu East on Bil'in's land, and homes in the Maale Adumim and Har Homa settlements, which are cutting off Palestinian East Jerusalem from the West Bank.

While all Israeli settlements violate international law and destroy hopes for peace, Leviev's settlements also exact a heavy human toll on mothers and families. Halima Husain, a mother of seven from Jayyous, explains, "The settlement of Zufim was established directly on our land which was planted with olive, almond and fig trees. We registered complaints repeatedly with the Israelis with no results." Now Israel has built its wall through Jayyous in order to annex 70% of the village's farmland for Zufim's expansion. Villagers need Israeli permits to pass through the wall and reach their farmland. Halima continues, "I don't have a permit and my husband Hosni has been denied a permit for 10 months. One of my children has been held for 14 months in an Israeli prison and I haven't been able to visit him for three months with the Israeli excuse of 'security reasons.' And now my husband's income is insufficient to cover my son's university education, the costs of my other son in prison and our household expenses, all because we can't reach our land."

Halima's story is similar to many in Jayyous. The once-prosperous farming village of 3,400 residents is impoverished because families can't access their land. 70% of Jayyous' families are now in great need of food aid. 103 out of a total of 195 students in grades 7-12 have dropped out of school because parents can't cover school expenses. In 2002, before Israel began the wall's construction, 180 students from Jayyous were in universities. That number has now dropped to 50.

In Bil'in, M'azuza Abu Rahmeh, a mother of five boys and four girls, explains, "Our land was seized for the construction of Mattityahu East settlement. And our olive trees were cut down during the construction of the apartheid wall. These trees hold memories for each of my children that are impossible to forget. This pushed us to confront the bulldozers when they uprooted the trees during the wall's construction." M'azuza and her children, including her 23 year-old son Hamza, participated in Bil'in's three-year nonviolent community campaign against the construction of the Mattityahu East and the apartheid wall which was intended to annex the settlement to Israel. M'azuza says that during the protests, "Hamza was gravely injured in the head when he was hit with a rubber-coated steel bullet, and he spent two weeks in the hospital. One month after he left the hospital the Israeli military came to our house at night and, after sowing fear in me and in my small children and turning our house upside down, they arrested Hamza. I felt as if my heart had been ripped from my body. I am pained when I remember our uprooted olive trees, and Hamza's injury and arrest."

During more than 200 demonstrations aiming to prevent the seizure of 50% of Bil'in's land, the Israeli military has injured around 1,000 civilian protesters, including Israelis and internationals, and arrested 50. Around 300 of those injured and 13 of those jailed were children from Bil'in.

For more information on the campaign to boycott Leviev's companies see: www.adalahny.org

1. Afifeh Abed, Birzeit, Palestine
2. Aseel Rateb Abu Rahmeh, Bil'in, Palestine
3. Sana Abu Rahmeh, Bil'in, Palestine
4. Paula Abrams-Hourani, Vienna, Austria
5. Hiba Abu Salem, Aida refugee camp, Bethlehem, Palestine
6. Micaela Adame, Sevilla, Spain
7. Barbara Agostini, New York, NY, USA
8. Dalal Akil, Beirut, Lebanon
9. Sulafa Al-Bassam, New York, USA
10. Widad Albassam, Chicago, USA
11. May Al-Issa, London, UK
12. Nazhat Al-Issa, London , UK
13. Dalia J.Al-Khadra, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
14. Naomi Allen, Brooklyn, NY, USA
15. Orly Almi, Tel Aviv, Israel
16. Kifah Alqam, Bethlehem, Palestine
17. Mouna Anderson, Lexington, MA, USA
18. Fayza Arar, Beit Omar, Hebron, Palestine
19. Violeta Aranda, Sevilla, Spain
20. Salwa Ashira, Bethlehem, Palestine
21. Layali Azar, Brooksville, Florida, USA
22. Arwa Aziz, New York, NY, USA
23. Maie Ayoub Vonkhol, NY, USA
24. Donna Baranski-Walker, Redwood City, CA
25. Julia Barnett Toronto, Canada
26. Najah Barsoum, NY, USA
27. Georgina Bedrossian, NY, USA
28. Greta Berlin. Le-Bar-sur-Loup, France
29. Marcia Bernstein, Brooklyn, NY, USA
30. Didi Beydoun, NY, USA
31. Judy Bjorkman, Owego, NY, USA
32. Susan Blackwell, Birmingham, USA
33. Monique Blin, Paris, France
34. Elizabeth Block, Toronto, Canada
35. Rima Bordacosh, NY, USA
36. Leila Bordacosh, NY, USA
37. Claude Boucherot, Paris, France
38. Lila Braine, New York NY, USA
39. Joyce Bressler, Nyack, New York, USA
40. Sandra Butler, Oakland, California USA
41. Allison L. Brown, New York, NY, USA
42. Mary P. Buchwald, Brooklyn, NY, USA
43. Elly Bulkin, Montclair, NJ, USA
44. Madeleine Bullock, Canberra, Australia
45. Paola Canarutto, Italy
46. Maya Chami, Beirut, Lebanon
47. Kathleen Christison, Santa Fe, NM, USA
48. Jacinta Clarke, Auckland, New Zealand
49. Ruth Clark, Edinburgh, Scotland
50. Pauline Coffman, Oak Park, IL, USA
51. Elinor Cohen, New York, NY, USA
52. Marisa Consolata Kemper, Cairo, Egypt
53. Celia Cruz, Lansing, Michigan, USA
54. Fatima Daana, Ramallah, Palestine
55. Shadia Obeid Daraghmeh, Tubas, Palestine
56. Ron and Maria De Stefano, New Jersey, USA
57. Afifa Dirani, Beirut, Lebanon
58. Nancy du Plessis, New York, NY, USA
59. Noelle Elia, New Rochelle, NY, USA
60. Rania Elias, Jerusalem, Palestine
61. Hedy Epstein, St. Louis, MO, USA
62. Dalia Fakhouri, Oberlin, Ohio, USA
63. Simone Fattal, Paris, France
64. Lily Farhoud, Menton, France
65. Eileen Fleming, New York, NY, USA
66. Françoise Foliot, Paris, France
67. Elisabeth Franken, Bruxelles, Belgium
68. Genevieve Cora Fraser, Massachusetts USA
69. Carol Gable, Mamaroneck, NY, USA
70. Racheli Gai, Tucson, Arizona, USA
71. Marcey Gayer, New York, USA
72. Carolyn Gelenter, London, UK
73. Emmaia Gelman, Bronx, New York, USA
74. Felice Gelman, Tarrytown, NY, USA
75. Irene Gendzier, Boston, USA
76. Cybele Ghossein, Chicago, USA
77. Mirene Ghossein, New Rochelle, NY, USA
78. Yara Ghossein, NY, USA
79. Begoña Gil, Sevilla, Spain
80. Joan Glickman, New Rochelle, NY, USA
81. Neta Golan, Ramallah, Palestine
82. Susan Goldstein, Toronto, Canada
83. Sherry Gorelick, NY, USA
84. Rosario Granado, Sevilla, Spain
85. Judy Greenspan, Berkeley, CA, USA
86. Suzy Habashi, NY, USA
87. Nimat Hafez Barazangi, Ithaca, NY, USA
88. Fouzia Hakim, MA, USA
89. Eman Hamad, Clifton, NJ, USA (originally from Lifta, Palestine)
90. Lubna Hamad, New York, NY, USA
91. Jawaher Hammad, Auja, Palestine
92. Rusayla Hammad, Auja, Palestine
93. Enas Hammad, CA, USA
94. Touran Hamidi, Westbury New York, USA
95. Yasim Hamidi, Westbury, New York, USA
96. Nancy Harb Almendras, Wiesbaden, Germany
97. Louis de Hautefeuille, Paris, France
98. Janice Hayden, Concord, MA, USA
99. Jacqueline Hazzi, NY, USA
100. Sarah Heaton, London, UK
101. Jenny Heinz, New York, NY, USA
102. Maryse Helal, Cairo, Egypt
103. Jeannette Herzberg, Raanana, Israel
104. Pat Hesslein, New York, NY, USA
105. Majida Hilmi, NY, USA
106. Susanne Hoder - Rhode Isalnd, USA
107. Carol Horwitz, Brooklyn, NY, USA
108. Suzanne Hoyt, NY, USA
109. Houda El-Hourra, NY, USA
110. Katherine-Hughes-Fraitekh, Albequerque, New Mexico, USA
111. Deborah Hyams, London, UK
112. Suhair Issa, Bethlehem, Palestine
113. Nadia Issaoui, Algiers, Algeria
114. Virginia Ivarra, Washington, USA
115. Ghada Jiha, New York, NY, USA
116. Naila Jirmanus, Boston, MA, USA
117. Jacqueline Jraissaty, Beirut, Lebanon
118. Yael Oren Kahn, London, UK
119. Nur Kaoukji, London, UK
120. Lorraine Katen, Mammaroneck, NY, USA
121. Nazik Kazimi, Newton, MA, USA
122. Nada Khader, Chappaqua, NY, USA
123. Sukain Khalawi, Bethlehem, Palestine
124. May Khalil, Clifton, NJ, USA (originally from Lifta, Palestine)
125. Abla Khoury, Beirut, Lebanon
126. Najla Khoury, Beirut, Lebanon
127. Georgia Kingsley Guida, Brooklyn, NY, USA
128. Odile Lepelletier, New Rochelle, NY, USA
129. Ruth Lessuck, New York, NY, USA
130. Rebekah Levin, Chicago, IL, USA
131. Therese Liebmann, Brussels, Belgium
132. A.Loikow, Washington, DC, USA
133. Denise Love, Grandville, MI, USA
134. Rayan Majed, Beirut, Lebanon
135. Sahr Mandour,Beirut, Lebanon
136. Aleksandra Martinovic, Varazdin, Croatia
137. May Makki, NY, USA
138. Joan Mallory, Mammaroneck, NY, USA
139. Maria Manrique, Sevilla, Spain
140. Miriam Margolyes, London, UK
141. Laurel Marx, NY, USA
142. Susan Masters, NY, USA
143. Wendy May, Australia
144. Kate MacQueen, Los Angeles, CA, USA
145. Eileen Measey, Leamington Spa, England
146. Hilda Meers, Aberdeen, Scotland, UK
147. Jeannine Melly, NY, USA
148. Gail Miller, Woodstock, NY, USA
149. Viola Miller-Ferjentsik, Westchester, NY, USA
150. Luisa Morgantini, Vice President of the European Parliament
151. Dorinda Moreno, Central Coast, CA, USA
152. Susanne Moses, Tel Aviv, Israel
153. Hijar Mousa, Bethlehem, Palestine
154. Suzanne Mousset, Bruxelles, Belgium
155. Elana Nachman, Oakland, CA, USA
156. Dorothy Naor, Herzliah, Israel
157. Denise Nassar, NY, USA
158. Inaam Nassar, Austin, Texas, USA
159. Hiam Nassar, Austin, Texas, USA
160. Joanna Nassar, Beirut,Lebanon
161. Rouba Nassar, Austin, Texas, USA
162. Ibtissam Nassar, Queens, NY, USA
163. Arwa Nasser, Weschester, NY, USA
164. Elena Nasereddin, New York, New York, U.S.A.
165. Diana Neslen, Ilford Essex, United Kingdom
166. Lisa Nessan, Oakland, CA, USA
167. Marlene Newesri, New York, NY, USA
168. Orna Neumann, London, UK
169. Siham Nuseibeh, Kuwait City, Kuwait
170. Josiane Olff-Nathan, Strasbourg, France
171. Fatima Otifat, Ramallah, Palestine
172. Nujood Otifat, Auja, Palestine
173. Tharwa Otifat, Ramallah, Palestine
174. Alejandra del Palacio, Mexico
175. Karin Pally, Santa Monica, CA, USA
176. Odile Pascalides, Paris, France
177. Tamar Pelleg-Sryck, Tel Aviv, Israel
178. Ann F. Perry, VA, USA
179. Ann Petter, New York, NY, USA
180. Alison Phillips, Pitlochry, Scotland
181. Jesse Ponce de Leon, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA
182. Gillian Potter, Cairo Egypt
183. Lysander Puccio, New York, NY, USA
184. Cherryl Qamar, Woodstock, NY, USA
185. Dena Qaddumi, London, UK
186. Gianna Quach, NY, USA
187. Marie-Madeleine Raoult, Montréal, Canada
188. Fahima Rabie, Birzeit, Palestine
189. Yvette Raby, NY, USA
190. Michelle Raccagni, NY, USA
191. Susan Ravitz, Easton, PA, USA
192. Miriam M. Reik, New York, NY, USA
193. Mary Rizzo San Benedetto del Tronto, Italy
194. Joanne Robinson, Yonkers, NY, USA
195. Roberta Robinson, NY, USA
196. Phyllis Rodriguez, White Plains, NY, USA
197. Eleanor Roffman, Cambridge, MA, USA
198. Constancia Dinky Romilly, New York, NY, USA
199. Suzanne Ross, New York, NY, USA
200. Edith Rubinstein, Brussels, Belgium
201. Meredith Ryan, Westchester, NY, USA
202. Renee Sader, Beirut, Lebanon
203. Claude-Marie Safar, Paris, France
204. Mariam Said, NY, USA
205. Nidal Said, NY, USA
206. Liliane Saltiel, New York, USA
207. Sumayyah Samaha, NY, USA
208. Majeda Rafek Nabhan Samhan, Bil'in, Palestine
209. Annmarie Sauer, Antwerp, Belgium
210. Doreen Shapiro, Brooklyn, NY, USA
211. Lee Sharkey, Farmington, Maine, USA
212. Ann Shirazi, New York, NY, USA
213. Karam Shuman, Chicago, USA
214. Roopa Singh, NY, USA
215. Nancy Ann Siracusa, New York, NY, USA
216. Sheila Slater, New York, NY, USA
217. Nayla Sleiman, Cal, USA
218. Eustacia Smith, Bronx, NY, USA
219. Kathy Sommers, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA
220. Vicky Steinitz, Cambridge, MA
221. Beth Stephens, Montclair, NJ, USA
222. Sallye Steiner Bowyer, Santa Cruz, California, USA
223. Alexis Stern, New York, NY, USA
224. Meg Swanson, Los Barriles, BCS, Mexico
225. Diana Takieddine, Washington, USA
226. Laila Taqatqa, Beit Fajjar, Palestine
227. Ruth Tenne, London, UK
228. Janet Thebaud Gillmar, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA
229. Leila Tourny, Beirut, Lebanon
230. Nicole Trad, Paris, France
231. Yvette Van Hauwe, Brussels, Belgium
232. Miriam A. Volkmann, Berlin, Germany
233. Carol Weinshenker, New York, NY, USA
234. Naomi Wimborne-Idrissi, London, UK
235. Rev. Gretchen Winkler, Chicago, IL, USA
236. Devra Wiseman, Leatherhead, UK
237. Rachel Wofsy, New York, NY, USA
238. Ann Wright, London, UK
239. Suha Younis, Ara, Occupied 48 Palestine
240. Alia Yunis, Los Angeles, CA, USA
241. Nida Zahran, Bethlehem, Palestine
242. Dorothy Zellner, New York NY, USA