Controversy
West Bank location and mud extract
There was a controversy about whether Ahava is in breach of international law, due to the location of the factory on the West Bank section of the Dead Sea shore. According to a 2012 report by Who Profits?, Ahava extracted mud from the occupied portion of the Dead Sea shore. Ahava was the only company that has an Israeli permit to extract mud for commercial purposes.
Ahava's factory itself was located in the occupied West Bank, triggering global protests. Ahava was licensed to extract mud from the West Bank section of the Dead Sea coast. According to human rights organization B'Tselem, several Israeli commercial ventures in the West Bank, including Ahava, breached the Hague Convention on the Law and Customs of War on Land, which prohibits exploitation of resources in occupied territory.
Ahava's position
Ahava's position was that the facility in Mitzpe Shalem was legal and that there did not exist a recognized right of any people's other than Israel to the West Bank, also reminding the mud as excavated from the Israeli part of the Dead Sea. Ahava's CEO has threatened legal action against boycotters.
Boycott campaigns
Boycott campaigns have been organized by organizations such as Code Pink, which said that Ahava's products come from "stolen Palestinian natural resources in the occupied territory of the Palestinian West Bank", and are produced in Mitzpe Shalem.
European Union
In 2012, the British Natural History Museum was denounced in a letter signed by a group of 21 prominent academics and cultural figures for participating in a joint European Union-funded research programme with Ahava. The signatories said that "[Ahava-DSL] extracts, processes and exports Palestinian resources to generate profits that fund an illegal settlement. Israel's settlement project has been held... to break international law. Organisations which aid and abet this process may well themselves be found to be in violation." The museum said Ahava-DSL was chosen from a list approved by the European Commission and they "would not participate in any academic or educational boycotts that could restrict academic freedom".
As part of the economic agreement between Israel and the European Union, Israel cannot label products made in the West Bank as "made in Israel"; products made in the West Bank are subject to higher tariffs compared to products made in Israel. In November 2009, Dutch MP Van Bommel (Socialist Party) asked Dutch FM Verhagen (CDA) whether or not Ahava products that were marketed at the time in the Netherlands originated from the Palestinian Territories. If so, Ahava would not be entitled to a tax-exemption at Dutch customs. Verhagen promised to launch an investigation through the Dutch customs authority. In February 2010, the state-secretary of Economic Affairs Heemskerk responded to Van Bommel through a letter to the Dutch Parliament, saying records for the years 2007–2009 indicated that Dutch customs had not given tax-exemption to Ahava products.
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United Kingdom
Ahava's store in a fashionable street of London's West End closed in September 2011 after constant protests by anti-Israeli activists. Owners of the surrounding stores complained to the landlord Shaftesbury plc that the repeated protests were affecting their business. A pro-Israeli group also held fortnightly counter-demonstrations, which attracted renewed controversy when members of the far-right English Defence League turned up, unasked, and joined in the demonstrations in support of Ahava.
In January 2011, Managing Director for the retail chain John Lewis, Andy Street, stated that it had stopped stocking Ahava products:
As a socially responsible retailer, John Lewis takes very seriously the treatment of workers and their working conditions. We expect all our suppliers not only to obey the law, but also to respect the rights, interests, and well-being of their employees, their communities, and the environment.
South Africa
In September, 2011, South African Industry Minister Rob Davies agreed in principle that goods manufactured in the occupied territories should not be labelled as a product of Israel since that is misleading. Davies said: "We're persuaded it's in the interest of South African consumers to know whether their products are coming from Israel or from the occupied territories." The new South African rules will ensure that such products, such as Ahava, are labeled "product of illegal settlement in the Occupied Palestinian Territories" before they can be sold in South Africa.
Prior to this, South African activists had submitted an affidavit to the South African Police Service accusing retailer, Wellness Warehouse, and local Ahava importer, SDV Pharmaceuticals, of violating South African trade law by selling Ahava products carrying false labels of origin.
In May 2012, South Africa’s Minister of Trade and Industry announced new labelling rules for Israeli settlement goods; Ahava was mentioned by name as a company whose goods were fraudulently labeled as “Product of Israel” when their place of origin is the occupied Palestinian Territories.
