Toronto (February 1, 2018) –Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center (FSWC) strongly opposes the UN human rightsoffice’s recent report on 206 companies doing business in or with ties to Israel’s disputedterritories – a report that furthers theUN’s biased anti-Israel campaign and lends support tothe Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS)movement that has been deemed discriminatory by Canada and many othercountries.

“The United Nations shouldreconsider this blacklist campaign whichsupports the BDS movement and instead join its member states such as Canada inrecognizing that such a movement is inherentlyantisemitic and discriminatory as it focuses only on goods produced byJewish-owned companies or companies that are supporting the Jewish familiesliving in these disputed territories,” said FSWC President and CEO Avi Benlolo. “Such boycott campaigns areall too reminiscent of the Arab League boycott of Israel launched in 1945 to weaken theJewish economy and can have a devastating effect on the ability of Israelis, Palestinians and others employed atthese companies to make a living.”

Of the 206 companies, most ofwhich are based in Israel and the US, two are said to be tied to Canada. The UNstated that it plans to release a blacklist of company names once itsinvestigations are completed and all companies have been contacted. 

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Media Contact:

Avital Borisovsky  
Communications Associate 
416.864.9735 x 29  
aborisovsky@fswc.ca

Follow us on Twitter at @CanadianFSWC 

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Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center for Holocaust Studies (FSWC) is a top Jewish human rights foundation in Canada's organized Jewish community. It directly impacts over 100,000 people each year and 500,000+ peripherally. FSWC is committed to countering racism and antisemitism and to promoting the principles of tolerance, social justice and Canadian democratic values through advocacy and educational programs including workshops, Freedom Day, Spirit of Hope Benefit, Tools for Tolerance and the widely acclaimed Tour for Humanity. FSWC is affiliated with the Simon Wiesenthal Center, an international Jewish human rights organization headquartered in Los Angeles which has won two Academy Awards, has built two Museums of Tolerance (with a third being built in Jerusalem) and is an NGO at the United Nations, UNESCO, OAS, OSCE, the Council of Europe and the Latin American Parliament. Visit us at www.fswc.ca. 

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