The scotch distilled in West Dunbartonshire: are Auchintoshan, Bowmore, Glen Garioch, McClelland’s, Loch Lomond, Scots Earl, Distillery Select, Glen Scotia, Littlemill, Croftengea, Craigslodge, Inchmurrin, Glen Douglas, Inchfad, Ballantine’s, Chivas, Royal Salute, Clan Campbell, Something Special, Passport, 100 Pipers, Imperial, Long John Aberlour, The Glenlivet, Glendronach, Strathisla, Longmorn, Scapa, Tormore, Jameson, Paddy, Powers, Walker Special Old, Wisers
The second article has the email address of the 3 distillery companies, please send them an email (you can copy the letter below, or write your own)
I posted both of these articles on Facebook - please share both links to spread the word
Please forward this email (with my email address removed) to other scotch drinkers
-----
Kiddush clubs declare boycott on Scottish whiskey

By SAMUEL SOKOL SPECIAL TO THE JERUSALEM POST 06/12/2011

http://www.jpost.com/JewishWorld/JewishNews/Article.aspx?id=224596
Move by Federation of Jewish Men’s Clubs comes after Kiddush-favorite Chivas named in global boycott of Israeli goods.
The Federation of Jewish Men’s Clubs (FJMC) – a partnership of 250 Jewish men’s clubs that claims more than 25,000 members throughout North America – has joined with synagogues both in Israel and in the diaspora in “suggesting a boycott of scotch from distillers located in West Dunbartonshire Council in Scotland at Kiddush and [in] public and private” celebrations.

The FJMC, which is affiliated with the Conservative movement, has called for Jews to avoid certain brands of spirits following a boycott of Israeli goods instituted by the local council of the whiskey-producing region.

RELATED:


“A boycott is like a snowball heading downhill,” said FJMC Executive Director Rabbi Charles Simon.

“It begins at the top of a large mountain, and gathers momentum until it is transformed into an avalanche.

If we wish to stop it, we need to act as soon as possible.”

Among the distilleries named in the boycott are Morrison Bowmore, Loch Lamond and Chivas Brothers.

Chivas Brothers produces the well-regarded Chivas, Glenlivet and Ballantine’s brands which are the preferred spirits in many so-called “Kiddush clubs,” which gather following services in some synagogues.

The decision by Rabbi Simon to urge FJMC members to engage in a counter-boycott came after well known Israeli-Anglo blogger and pro-settlement activist, Jameel Rashid, publicized on his website a letter to several distilleries located within West Dunbartonshire. Rashid wrote: “the global counterboycott of Scottish whiskey products, distilled in the West Durbanshire council region, is beginning.”

Anglo-Israelis, an important target market for purveyors of liquor here, have been circulating e-mails calling on both Israeli and American Jews to cease consumption of Scotch whiskey, and urging supporters of Israel to send copies of Rashid’s missive to the distilleries in question.

When “your local council representatives boycott my country – under the most unethical and immoral of pretext – you cannot expect your market to sit idly and pretend you are not perverting justice,” wrote Rashid.

Both Rashid, the pseudonym for an anonymous Israeli who writes the popular Muqata blog, and the author of the widely read website Israellycool, have posted the home phone numbers of local council members, urging participants in the counter-boycott to call them to express their discontent.

Explaining his rationale for the initiative, Rashid stated that “its best to contact the whisky distillers directly, since the West Dunbartonshire Council of Wise Men couldn’t care less what a pro-Israel, proliberty, person might think... but they might listen to voices of their constituents – specifically the Scotch whisky distilleries in their council’s region.”

The boycott against Israel was initially introduced by the West Dunbartonshire Council in response to what councilmen described as “the disproportionate use of force used against Palestinians” during the IDF’s Gaza incursion in 2009.

The council resolved that it “recognizes the disproportionate force used by the IDF in Palestine and agrees to boycott all Israeli goods as a consequence. Officers should immediately cease the purchase of any goods we currently source, which were made or grown in Israel. Officers should also ensure we procure no new goods or produce from Israel until this boycott is formally lifted by WDC.”

Replying to the council’s assertions, Rashid excoriated the local representatives for whitewashing Hamas’ “barbarism” – citing the use of hospitals, schools and Mosques as cover by Gaza terrorists.

“Why was there an IDF operation in Gaza in the first place? To oppress poor Palestinian Arabs? How would you deal with Gazas’ Arabs targeting Scotland’s babies, other children, and other civilians. Have you not seen the pictures of atrocities the Arabs have visited on innocent children, or does your council not care?” Rashid, in an e-mail to The Jerusalem Post, stated that people have joined his counter-boycott from “all over” Israel and the US.

“The International Kiddush Club of America is giving us top billing as well,” he added.

The West Dunbartonshire Council, while it has not responded publically to calls endorsing a boycott of locally manufactured spirits, has defended the decision which sparked the protest.

The Council explained that it does “not in any way seek to censor or silence authors and commentators from Israel.” “The Council’s boycott only relates to goods ‘made or grown’ in Israel. The vast majority of mainstream books by Israeli authors are published in the UK, and are therefore not affected by this boycott. Only books that were printed in Israel and transported to the UK for distribution would be potentially boycotted.”

Members of the council did not reply to requests for comment about the whiskey boycott made by the Post.

Kirsteen Beeston, a spokeswoman for Morrison Bowmore Distillers, told the Post that “Neither Morrison Bowmore Distillery nor Auchentoshan take any political stance, and this policy has been made independently from us, and without our consultation.”

Kirsteen highlighted Auchentoshan’s efforts to reach out to the Jewish community and its connections to the London Rabbinical court. She stated that she is forwarding all e-mails received to the council to “ensure it is made fully aware of the potential implications of its policy.”

Gary Sakol, the deputy director of the Zionist Federation of the UK, commented that “Whilst not from West Dunbartonshire, this makes me ashamed to call myself Scottish, and I truly hope those involved will reverse their action.”

When you buy scotch please don't buy the brands listed below for the time being. Please copy

and email the letter (or write your own) to the distillleries. Please send this to your scotch loving

friends.

June 01, 2011

http://www.israellycool.com/2011/06/01/the-great-whisky-counter-boycott/

Jameel of the Muqata blog has been following the West Dunbartonshire Council decision to ban books from Israel (not to mention the shenanigans of some of the councillors), and has come up with a plan: a counter-boycott of Scotch Whisky distilled in West Dunbartonshire.

Jameel writes:

I believe its best to contact the whisky distillers directly, since the West Dunbartonshire Council of Wise Men couldn’t care less what a pro-Israel, pro-liberty, person might think…but they might listen to voices of their constituents; specifically the Scotch whisky distilleries in their council’s region.

You can contact them directly at:

Distillers of: Auchintoshan, Bowmore, Glen Garioch, McClelland’s

Distillers of Loch Lomond, Scots Earl, Distillery Select, Glen Scotia, Littlemill, Croftengea, Craigslodge, Inchmurrin, Glen Douglas, Inchfad

Distillers of Ballantine’s, Chivas, Royal Salute, Clan Campbell, Something Special, Passport, 100 Pipers, Imperial, Long John Aberlour, The Glenlivet, Glendronach, Strathisla, Longmorn, Scapa, Tormore, Jameson, Paddy, Powers, Walker Special Old, Wisers

This is the most current and accurate list I could procure based on the addresses of distiller’s in the West Dunbartonshire Council region. Please contact me if I have omitted any whisky from this region, and I will gladly update the list.

I urge you to write to these fine distillers of whisky, and express your outrage and support of the counter-boycott. Pass this list on to your friends and neighbors. It is simply immoral for the West Dunbartonshire Council to boycott Israel.

Following is the letter I sent them today…feel free to use it in expressing your sentiments to these distillers.

—-

Letter to the Fine Whisky Distillers of West Dunbartonshire

Tuesday, 31st May, 2011

To The Fine Whisky Distillers of West Dunbartonshire;

Auchentoshan Distillery, Dalmuir, Clydebank, Dunbartonshire G81 4SJ
Distillers of Auchintoshan, Bowmore, Glen Garioch, McClelland’s

Lomond Industrial Estate, Alexandria, Dunbartonshire G83 0TL
Distillers of Loch Lomond, Scots Earl, Distillery Select, Glen Scotia,
Littlemill, Croftengea, Craigslodge, Inchmurrin, Glen Douglas, Inchfad

Kilmalid, Stirling Road, Dumbarton, Lanarkshire, G82 2SS
Distillers of Ballantine’s, Chivas, Royal Salute, Clan Campbell,
Something Special, Passport, 100 Pipers, Imperial, Long John
Aberlour, The Glenlivet, Glendronach, Strathisla, Longmorn, Scapa
Tormore, Jameson, Paddy, Powers
Walker Special Old, Wisers

Gentlemen,

I would like to preface this letter, in that I have enjoyed your fine whisky products for many years, and believe they are truly world-class. Unfortunately, due to the actions of your esteemed West Dunbartonshire council members, I will not be able to enjoy your whisky in the foreseeable future.

It has come to my attention that the West Dunbartonshire Council claims to have voted unanimously to boycott Israeli products.

The West Dunbartonshire Council clearly states their point on their website, updated on the 30th of May, 2011.

http://www.west-dunbarton.gov.uk/council-and-democracy/news/corporate-statement-on-the-boycott-of-israeli-goods/

The actual boycott resolution is as follows:

‘This Council deplores the loss of life in Palestine which now numbers well over 1,000. This Council also recognises the disproportionate force used by the IDF in Palestine and agrees to boycott all Israeli goods as a consequence. Officers should immediately cease the purchase of any goods we currently source, which were made or grown in Israel. Officers should also ensure we procure no new goods or produce from Israel until this boycott is formally lifted by WDC.’

I find it disturbing that the esteemed council found no reason to mention the reason for the IDF’s operation in Gaza. There was no mention of the intentional targeting of civilian infants, children, women and men by Gaza’s Hamas government, the thousands of rockets they launched at Israel’s civilian population, and the restraint that Israel employed over the previous years when attacked on a daily basis.

The IDF does not target civilians. The vast majority of Palestinians that Israel killed have been terrorists. Go check the facts. I have. Palestinian terrorists routinely use hospitals, mosques, and schools to launch their rocket attacks on Israel. Try defending your population from terrorists and see if you can guarantee zero collateral damage. Does your council not condemn the barbarism of the Arab terrorist because in the back of their minds they are concerned terrorists might hunt them down and terrorize THEIR families?

Why was there an IDF operation in Gaza in the first place? To oppress poor Palestinian Arabs? How would you deal with Gazas’ Arabs’ targeting Scotland’s babies, other children, and other civilians. Have you not seen the pictures of atrocities the Arabs have visited on innocent children, or does your council not care? We are not talking about isolated attacks on Israel, but about thousands of rockets they have launched at Israel’s civilian population.

The restraint of Israel under attack is astounding. Colonel Richard Kemp, previous Commander of British Armed Forces in Afghanistan said when presenting his report to the United Nations Human Rights Council in October 2009: “During its operation in Gaza, the Israeli Defence Forces did more to safeguard the rights of civilians in a combat zone than any other army in the history of warfare.” (source)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said to the US Congress last week: “Of the 300 million Arabs in the Middle East and North Africa, only Israel’s Arab citizens enjoy real democratic rights. I want you to stop for a second and think about that. Of those 300 million Arabs, less than one half of 1% are truly free, and they’re all citizens of Israel! This startling fact reveals a basic truth: Israel is not what is wrong about the Middle East; Israel is what is right about the Middle East!” (source)

Lastly, the Palestinian Authority President, Mahmoud Abbas stated this past Saturday that the future state of Palestine will be “free of Jews.” (source)

The State of Israel offers equal freedom for all its citizens, Jew, Arab, and Christian alike, including full parliamentary and judiciary representation. The State of Israel is the unchallenged leader of democracy in the Middle East, and the West Dunbartonshire Council boycott unfortunately attempts to undermine the very success of Israel as a democracy.

Therefore, it saddens me to have to inform you that the global counter-boycott of Scottish whisky products, distilled in the West Durbanshire Council region, is beginning. I don’t know anyone who bears malice toward these fine distilleries. When, however, your local council representatives boycott Israel, under the most unethical and immoral of pretext, you cannot expect your market to sit idly and pretend your are not perverting justice.

• The counter-boycott is on the purchase of Scottish Whisky, distilled in the West Durbanshire council region.
• The counter-boycott is not retroactive and applies only to purchases made from June 2011 onwards.
• The counter-boycott will not prevented global residents from purchasing whisky products, distilled outside of West Dunbartonshire.
• Attempts to depict this counter-boycott as racist are also entirely inaccurate. The counter-boycott is instigated in response to conduct and boycott initiated by the West Durbanshire Council and applies to no specific ethnic or religious group. This is in direct opposition to the West Durbanshire Council which refuses to condemn the actions of Palestinian terrorists targeting Israeli civilians and the anti-Semitic, racist declarations of the Palestinian Authority, which calls for a “Jew-free” apartheid, State of Palestine.

The counter-boycott is publicizing the list of West Durbanshire distilled whisky by internet and distributing press releases to news agencies and others around the globe.

Sincerely,

Jameel Rashid

Take that, Jimmeh!


On a personal level, I am glad Glenmorangie and Glenfiddich are not on the list.