99-10-7, After ten days of campaigning: Benetton backed down

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Press Release
October 7, 1999 - Tel Aviv

Following a worldwide public campaign, launched by Gush Shalom, the Italian fashion giant Benetton and its subsidiary Kappa announced this evening the cancellation of their plans to have their sportswear produced at Matperat Barkan (Barkan Sewing Workshop), a factory located at the Israeli settlement of Barkan on the occupied West Bank.

After a bit more than a week in which the Kappa/Benetton offices were
flooded with messages, and following frequent conversations and intensive
correspondence between the campaign organisers and the company's
directors, came this evening a clear-cut declaration from Marco Boglione,
a senior director, who undertook "not to source directly or indirectly
Kappa garments in the territories."

Gush Shalom is congratulating Benetton and Kappa with this decision, and
intends to go on with renewed energy with efforts to prevent Israeli and
international companies from investing in settlements, and with the
campaign for an Israeli consumer boycott against settlement products. "It
is our intention to bring home to the Barak government the message that
the Israeli settlements in occupied territory is in total contradiction to
the internationally-accepted norms. Settlements and peace simply don't go
to together. For peace the settlements have to be removed, and by
settlements we also mean Barak's "settlement blocs" - says Gush Shalom.

Gush Shalom's was joined by public figures and organizations from all over
the world in convincing Benetton. Israelis, Palestinians, Arab Americans,
peace activists from Holland, France, United States. Italy. Rabbi Arthur
Waskow from New York was among them, the Quakers, the Anti Discrimination
Committee; Clare Kinberg, editor of the feminist Jewish magazine Bridges.
Also Palestinian Minister Yaser Abed Rabo added his voice a few days ago.

Gush Shalom: it was a very positive experience of cooperating with such
diverse groups who all agree that Israel is legitimate in the '67 borders,
and the settlements are an obstacle to peace.

For more details: Adam Keller +972-3-5565804

For those who want to contact Marco Boglione directly by phone:
+39-011-2617222

For corrrespondence published by Boglione on the company's site:

http://www.basicpress.com/primopiano/html/corrispondenza.asp
Claude Akpokavie
Departement des Droits Humains et des Normes Internationales du Travail
Confederation Mondiale du Travail
33 rue de Treves, B-1040 Bruxelles, Belgique
Tel: 02 - 285 47 19 - Fax: 02 - 230 87 22
E-Mail : This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
URL: http://www.cmt-wcl.org
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The original appeal--

ALERT: BENETTON SUBSIDIARY TO OPEN FACTORY AT WEST BANK SETTLEMENT

The well-known "United Colours of Benetton" may soon have a stake - via their subsidiary Kappa - in a plant of sportwear at the industrial zone of the Israeli settlement Barkan, south-east of Qualqilia on the West Bank. Plans in that direction were reported in Yediot Aharonot of Sept.19 (buried
between all kind of economic news).

We contacted the Italian headquarters and got the impression that it may effect the Benetton concern if they would receive a lot of polite, critical letters.

There are several things to keep in mind.

- Benetton not only claims very loudly to be concerned for social
and political issues in general, but also to be specifically
interested in promoting Israeli-Palestinian peace.

- The deal for the plant in the Barkan settlement is not yet concluded which should make it easier for the company to back down.

Here follows the content of the letter which we sent ourselves. You could use it for making your own.

-----------------------------------------
Through the Israeli press we learned about plans which involve the Benetton concern in establishing
a sportswear production system in the West Bank, in the industrial zone of the Israeli settlement
Barkan.
As Israelis working for peace with our Palestinian neighbors, we strongly
object to those plans.

On the phone you presented the world famous "United Colors of Benetton" as being just a corporate e
ntity separate from the 21, INVESTIMENTI Group one of whose subsidiaries considers this West Bank s
ettlement plant.
We have no doubt that this is true, as far as the legalities of the
corporate world are concerned; in fact, we already gathered as much from
the detailed information available on your own website. Still, on the
public level there can be no real separation between the Benetton family
and the various companies it holds.

Over the past decade, the name Benetton has become well-known all over the
world, due to great efforts invested in (often unconventional) publicity
campaigns waged by your company. A major point of these campaigns was to
make Benetton known, not only as a company making certain products
commercially available and seeking to be judged by their quality, but also
as a company - and a family heading that company - which takes a clear
position on a whole range of social, political and moral issues.
Specifically, Benetton has taken a public position in favor of promoting
peace between Israelis and Palestinians - much to our taste, as a matter
of fact.

Now, we are faced with the situation that a subsidiary (Kappa) - the
control of which is in the hands of the famous Benetton family's holding
company whose Managing Director is Alessandro Benetton - is about to
commit an act in flat contradiction to all that we have hitherto
associated with the name Benetton. Under such circumstances, we expect all
those concerned - whatever their formal corporate relation to each other -
to act so as to prevent a deal which might put a serious taint on the name
of Benetton.

Gush Shalom Infoteam
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Addresses:

Sig. Luciano Benetton
Benetton, SpA
Italy

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Mr. Federico Sandor
Benetton Company
phone: +39-0422-449036
fax +39-0422-449930

or: Public Relationsdepartment:
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Benetton Group S.p.A
0039 - 0422 - 449036
Federico Sartor
( This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it )

Benetton Group S.p. A.
Villa Minelli
31050 Ponzano (Treviso)
Italy
email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
(investor relations)

Andrea C. Bonomi
Managing Director
21 Invest Limited
(Britain)
Tel: 44-171-7922033
Fax: 44-171-7928424
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Gérard Pluvinet
Managing Director
S.C.I.
Tel: 33-1-42893010