Dear Friends:

The latest Action Alert from the Boycott Israeli Products (BIG)

Campaign relates to Starbucks Coffee. Please see below for the history

of this call as well as Action Items. Most importantly, ACT now!

The Delek Group and Starbucks Coffee International, a subsidiary of Starbucks

Coffee Company, announced plans last year for a joint venture to open Starbucks

coffee shops in Israel. Starbucks has approximately 3,500 chains in the United

States, and according to the Delek Group, plans to open "dozens of stores" in

Israel, with the first stores opening this year.

In addition to supporting Israel, which has illegally occupied Palestinian lands

since 1967 – despite repeated calls from the international community to withdraw

– and which launched a military offensive against the Palestinians in late March

2002, the Chairman of Starbucks Coffee Company, Howard Schultz, has been

known to air his personal views about Israeli-Palestinian violence. Speaking at a

Seattle synagogue in early April 2002, Schultz criticized the Palestinians, saying,

"They aren't doing their job ... they’re not stopping terrorism." He also warned

attendees at the synagogue that "the rise of anti-Semitism is at an all-time high

since the 1930s," and "If you leave this synagogue tonight and go back to your

home and ignore this, then shame on us."

BIG protests the financial support that Starbucks is showing to Israel. We also

protest the comparison of legitimate criticism of Israel’s occupation of Palestinian

lands and its human rights violations against Palestinian citizens with anti-

Semitism.

We call on you to stop purchasing Starbucks products, and to contact the Starbucks

Coffee Company to protest its opening of new chains in Israel.

•

Stop purchasing Starbucks coffee, tea, and coffee-related products.

1) I refuse to purchase all Starbucks products and beverages because

of the intention of Starbucks to open chains in Israel.

2) Israel has refused to withdraw from the Palestinian lands it

occupied in 1967, despite international calls (and United Nations

resolutions) to do so.

3) Israel’s occupation has resulted in 35 years of an apartheid system

and human rights violations against the Palestinian people. The

only way to a peaceful solution in the region is for a full

withdrawal of Israel back to its original, pre-1967 borders, which

would allow for the establishment of a Palestinian state. Israel has

consistently refused to end its occupation.

4) Furthermore, Israel supports the movement of settlers to seize

Palestinian land on the West Bank and establish permanent cities.

These settlements, of which there are hundreds in the West Bank

and Gaza Strip, exploit the natural resources of the land. For

example, 85% of the water in the West Bank is rerouted to the

settlements, leaving only 15% for Palestinians – on whose land the

settlements were built!

5) I call on you to stop your financial support of Israel and cease your

intentions to establish Starbucks chains there until Israel complies

with international law and withdraws from the occupied territories.

6) Sign your name and send the letter to:

BIG Campaign

The Boycott Israeli Goods (BIG) campaign to divest from Israel and to boycott

Israeli products and leisure tourism has gathered momentum across the globe.

Money talks. Many companies will abandon financial support they give to Israel if

their economic interests are threatened. These boycott campaigns will continue to

grow until Israel withdraws from the occupied areas, respects human rights

(including the right of refugees to return to their homes and lands), and obeys

international law.

In addition to their economic effects, activists can and have used boycotts and

divestment campaigns as educational tools. Universities, business people, and

consumers are educated about the support we provide Israeli aggression by our

purchases and investments. Reports from activists have been encouraging and are

analogous to the early successes that snowballed into the pressure on South Africa

that ended Apartheid. Join us and together we will succeed to bring peace with

justice to all people in the Middle East. Remember: "Think Globally and Act

Locally."

To contact us regarding campaigns, send a message to