AJC Applauds Scarlett Johansson's Support for Israeli-Palestinian Peace

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Jan 31, 2014, 03:54 ET

NEW YORK, Jan. 31, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- AJC applauds Scarlett Johansson for her resignation as Oxfam International ambassador. The humanitarian aid group criticized the award-winning actress for teaming up with an Israeli company, SodaStream, as its spokesperson. A SodaStream TV ad featuring Johansson is slated to air during the Super Bowl on Sunday, but already has gone viral on the Internet.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20100816/AJCLOGO)

"Bravo to Ms. Johansson for her principled stance against critics of Israel and support of those who not only seek peace, but right now are working to better relations between Israelis and Palestinians," said AJC Executive Director David Harris. SodaStream employs hundreds of Palestinians in its main factory in the Maale Adumim Industrial Zone outside Jerusalem, and has been lauded for fostering an atmosphere of workplace respect and dignity.

Johansson, who represented Oxfam for eight years, said she is "a supporter of economic cooperation and social interaction between a democratic Israel and Palestine." She also called SodaStream "a bridge to peace between Israel and Palestine, supporting neighbors working alongside each other, receiving equal pay, equal benefits and equal rights."

SodaStream has attracted criticism from leaders and supporters of the so-called Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement that, at its core, represents a challenge to Israel's very legitimacy as a sovereign nation.

SOURCE American Jewish Committee