U.S. Students Group Calls to Boycott an Israeli Hummus Brand

Tuesday November 30, 2010 19:43 by Ane Irazabal - IMEMC & Agencies

A group of Princeton University students proposed a boycott of the Sabra hummus brand for its donations to the Israeli army.

(photo from www.google.com)

On Monday, a referendum was organized by the Princeton Committee for Palestine to decide whether to offer alternative brands of hummus in the campus.

The group argued that the only hummus brand, Sabra, which is available, is linked to human rights violations, due to the fact that it supports members of the Israeli military, Haaretz reported.

In view of the referendum, the spokeswoman of Sabra in the U.S., Ilya Welfeld, claimed that the company only makes donations in North America and that non of them are to support political or military organisms.

However, Sabra is owned by PepsiCo and Strauss Group, an Israeli food conglomerate, which according to its website, makes contributions "to the men and women who serve in the Golani brigade, for welfare, cultural and educational activities, such as pocket money for underprivileged soldiers, sports and recreational equipment, care packages, books and games for the soldiers' club."

The results of the referendum have not been released yet, but if it succeed, the student government would make a formal request to the Ivy League school's administration to provide additional brands of hummus, Haaretz reported.

The pro-Israel student group Tigers of Israel opposed the referendum, arguing that the reasons put forth by the Princeton Committee for Palestine were not accurate.

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