Activist Success: UK Won't Lease from Settlement-Builder

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By Will
Haaretz reported that the British embassy cut negotiations to lease a floor in Africa-Israel's Kirya Tower in Tel Aviv because the company is involved in West Bank settlement construction.

This is a significant success for the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement (BDS). It is the result of hard work by activists, who petitioned and pressured the government not to do business with the parent company, Africa-Israel, which is owned by Lev Leviev, a diamond-dealer and tycoon who recently moved from Israel.

The UK government seemingly bought the petition's argument "that moving the embassy into a building owned by a company that builds in the settlements would send a message contravening British policy, and would be tantamount to criminal complicity."

Activists also pressured Dubai to stop prevented Leviev from opening a diamond store there -- a promise Dubai made and then apparently skirted by allowing his pricey goods to be sold through a different store.

Such direct and narrowly tailored activism is highly effective. Activists around the world should adopt such campaigns and they will only grow.

It is so rare we get good news these days. Soon, governments will take such actions on their own, without prodding from activists. Hopefully.