Quit Actions In Support of 
Divestment and Boycott of Israel

SodaStream Out of the Castro!

In 2012, QUIT! launched a campaign of tabling and street theater to get Cliff's Variety to dump SodaSttream. SodaStream manufactures its home soda makers in illegally occupied West Bank territory.  The international boycott is picking up steam, and we're asking Cliff's to get on board.  Cliff's is one of the oldest businesses in the Castro, which is an international symbol of the queer community.  We need to show them that being pro-queer means supporting human rights for all, not just carrying cool products.

Learn more about the SodaStream campaign and what you can do to help Cliff's see the light.

Israeli Government Out of Our Film Festival

In 2007, QUIT! initiated a campaign to get Frameline, which presents the San Francisco International LGBT Film Festival, the largest queer cultural event in the world, to drop its long-standing partnership with the Israeli Consulate.  For a time it seemed that the festival had heeded this call but in 2010, the Consulate stepped up the pressure and Frameline agreed to be part of the "Brand Israel" campaign we call "pinkwashing."  In 2010 and 2011 we held spirited demonstrations outside the festival.  The call for Frameline to respect the international campaign for boycott of  Israeli institutions has been joined by Jewish Voice for Peace, Palestinian Queers for BDS, and a number of prominent queer artists, writers and filmmakers.

Israeli Government and Frameline documents  

February 2012
Protesting Batsheva Dance Company in San Francisco

QUIT joined with activists from New York, Montreal, Minneapolis and Arizona to protest the Batsheva Dance Company's 2012 North American tour.  At Yerba Buena Cultural Center in San Francisco, QUIT greeted dance-goers with a flier asking, "Which Tutu Is for You," counterposing Bishop Desmond Tutu’s stance opposing Israeli apartheid with the silence of the Israel Ballet Company and Bathseva in the face of international calls for solidarity with Palestinian liberation. When theater managers complained that the singing was too loud and threatened to call the cops, a protester responded, “The traffic on Howard Street is much louder than us, so why don’t you call the police on the cars?”

April 2010
No Pinkwashing of War Crimes

Queers who support human rights protested outside the Roxie Theater on Thursday, April 8th, the opening night of the Out In Israel LGBT Cultural Festival. Out in Israel is a marketing event series aimed at convincing LGBT people in the U.S. that Israel is a cool, progressive, gay-friendly country. This is all part of a public relations scheme by supporters of Israel in this country to repair an image tarnished by atrocities, such as its massacres in Gaza last year.

A recent report by a leading Israeli think tank, alleges that the “deligitimization challenge” to Israel’s policies of apartheid and ethnic cleansing radiates out from “hubs,” including the Bay Area. Out in Israel is the first salvo in this new propaganda war, and if last week’s film night was any indication, it’s not having much success. Only about 50 people showed up for the films.

QUIT! called the action, which featured a skit called “Queer Eye for the Palestinian Village.” A couple Queer Guys were called in to give a makeover to a West Bank village so it could be turned into a queer-friendly Jewish settlement. Just rip out those unsightly olive trees, get a Caterpillar bulldozer to get rid of that mosque — so over — and you’ll have a perfect view of Tel Aviv and a great square for nude sunbathing. Oh, but you’ll need some hot Israeli soldiers to come in and kill all the people who are living there.

Read more on Indybay, including the statement from Palestinian groups Aswat and Al Qaws urging queer groups to protest this festival.

Read article in the Bay Area Reporter.

May 2012:  Sarah Schulman takes on Pinkwashing in the New York Times.

June 20, 2009
International Day of Deshelving Israeli Goods

The end of apartheid stands as one of the crowning accomplishments of the last century, but we would not have succeeded without the help of international pressure. There is no greater testament to the basic dignity of ordinary people everywhere than the divestment movement of the 1980s.  A similar movement has taken shape recently, this time aiming at an end to the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories. We should hope that average citizens again rise to the occasion, since the obstacles to a renewed movement are surpassed only by its moral urgency..." Archbishop Desmond Tutu, 2002, http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/Israel/Israel_Time_To_Divest.html

Since mid-2001, QUIT! has been working, along with other Bay Area Palestine solidarity groups, to support the international Palestinian-led campaign for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions against Israel.

March 2009:  Call to international queer filmmakers to withdraw from the Tel Aviv International LGBT Film Festival.  Read the call.

Valentine's Day 2007, we are proud to introduce our new Victoria's Secret Weapon line!  Most of Victoria's Secret's bras and some of its other products are produced by the Israeli textile giant Delta Galil.  "Delta Galil is the nation's largest manufacturer and marketer of textiles and is one of the largest private-label underwear manufacturers in the world," reports a 1999 article in The Jerusalem Post. "The company was one of the first local firms to benefit from the peace process, as it moved manufacturing to neighboring countries with low labor costs." QUIT! launched its campaign to show Victoria's customers who's under their underwear with a fashion show at a VS outlet in San Francisco.  View our lovely full-color catalogue!  More info about Delta Galil and Victoria's Secret.

October 2006, we have produced a leaflet to distribute at showings of "Catch a Fire," a film about resistance in South Africa starring Tim Robbins and Derek Luke. We urge other groups to distribute it as well.  Download the flier (MS Word) (view as HTML)

October 2006, we protested an event hosted by the Israeli consulate general at the San Francisco LGBT Center featuring Israeli novelist Alon Hilu.  Read our flier asking queers to respect the cultural boycott. 

2005-2006 QUIT led the international Boycott World Pride campaign, protesting Interpride's decision to hold the second World Pride celebration in occupied Jerusalem.  This campaign grew to include dozens of queer organizations internationally and had a significant effect on the way the event was perceived in the media and in queer communities.  QUIT published op-eds, gave several radio interviews and maintained a website which provided a focal point for diverse boycott efforts.  Learn more about the World Pride Boycott. 

Ongoing Estee Slaughter campaign, targeting the company owned by Ron Lauder, a major supporter of Israel's policies of dispossession and repression of Palestinians.

June 2003, QUIT dropped a banner on stage at the end of the showing of "Yossi and Jagger," at the San Francisco International LGBT Film Festival.  The film centers on a gay relationship between Israeli soldiers on the Lebanon border. Coverage of the action.  Read the flier.

2002-3, campaign to deshelve Israeli products at Rainbow Grocery.

2003, Queer Settlers landed on Starbucks, dubbing it "A Cafe without People for People without a Cafe."  Read about this creative direct action which inspired copycat settlements from New York to Australia.

For more information about the international campaign for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions:  http://electronicintifada.net/bytopic/boycott-divestment-sanctions.shtml