Posted on 03/06/2003 9:04:56 AM PST by anotherview
"Short of traveling to Israel, there really is no better way to help the desperate Israeli economy than to buy Israeli products on an ongoing basis." That is the theme of the new "Buy Israeli" campaign organized by the "Israel Now" consortium, which is dedicated to educating the Canadian Jewish public on issues such as this.
"With tourism in Israel down some 80%," writes Judy Hazan of Israel Now, "[and] with more than 87,000 business failures between 2001 and 2002, Israel is suffering an economic catastrophe. Almost a quarter of Israelis have seen their standard of living drop below the poverty line. Foreign boycotts of Israeli goods are gathering steam. Even in Canada, the Quebec Federation of Labour has become the latest group to advocate such action."
The "Buy Israeli" campaign posits that if every Jewish family in Toronto would use 10-20% of its weekly shopping budgets for Israeli goods - such as flowers, prepared foods, wines, cosmetics, plastic goods, clothing, jewelry, and Judaica - sales of Israeli products would double its current level. "Canada imports some $200 million in consumer goods from Israel each year," Hazan writes, "and an increase of 25% is equal to the total revenue from most UJA annual appeals!"
On another note I don't understand the drop-off in tourism. The death rate of tourists in traffic incidents and from violent crime in places like Rome and Mexico is far worse than the remote potential for danger in Israel!
http://www.imisammo.co.il/
Good Stuff!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.