After Jewish-American reggae singer Matisyahu boldly snuffed attempts to have him banned from the Rototom Sunsplash festival, it has become known that media mogul Oprah Winfrey also turned away a BDS request earlier this month.
The New York Post revealed Sunday that a BDS “delegation” showed up at her magazine’s offices, carrying a letter urging her to publicly reject Israeli jeweler Lev Leviev’s products.
Oprah had worn Leviev diamonds on the cover of the May issue of her magazine, O – the 15th anniversary edition.
Diamonds.net reported soon after the event that representatives and activists affiliated with Adalah-NY, an advocacy group focused on boycotting Israel and Israeli products, had sought to meet O executives at the magazine’s headquarters at the Hearst Corporation in Manhattan.
Adalah-NY said in a statement that it had sought to deliver to O executives a letter allegedly signed by 5,600 people calling on Winfrey to publicly distance herself from companies owned by Leviev. However, executives from O apparently told the Hearst Corporation mailroom and staff to refuse to accept the letter, which included allegations that Leviev’s companies’ were connected to human rights abuses in Angola and the “Palestinian territories.”
The Post sees a trend forming.
“In October, New Jersey’s second-favorite native sons, Bon Jovi, will end their current tour in Tel Aviv – rejecting BDS pressure to cancel the concerts after the dates were announced in the spring.
“Support for Israel even popped up in Paris this month. Mayor Anne Hidalgo dedicated an artificial beach to Tel Aviv – despite intense opposition from the BDS movement and its sympathizers in the French media.
“Across the globe, too many in media, the arts and politics are happy to go with the flow and pile on Israel. It’s refreshing to see stars — especially American ones — standing up to the bullies by taking truly principled stands,” wrote the New York City publication.