CJPME Factsheet 244, created May 2024: This factsheet outlines the boycott campaign against the Israeli company SodaStream due to its historical operations in the occupied West Bank and subsequent relocation to the Naqab desert. It details SodaStream's exploitation of Palestinian labor, complicity in settlement expansion, and continued violations of Palestinian human rights, prompting ongoing BDS efforts. Despite the closure of its factory in the occupied West Bank, the boycott persists as SodaStream's practices perpetuate Israeli occupation and discrimination against its Palestinian workers.

What is SodaStream?

SodaStream Inc. is an Israel-based company which develops and manufactures carbonation machines and accessories intended for home use. SodaStream produces sparkling water makers, flavoured syrups, and C02 carbonation cylinders. In 2015, in response to pressure from the international BDS movement, SodaStream shut down its main factory located in the occupied West Bank, moving its main operations to the Naqab (Negev) desert.  As of May 2024, SodaStream is sold by several Canadian retailers including Canadian Tire, Best Buy, Home Depot, Costco and Walmart.

Why is SodaStream on the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) list?

Starting in 2011, the Boycott, Divestment and Sanction Movement (BDS), launched by Palestinian society, called for a boycott of SodaStream for its main operations in the occupied West Bank.[1] The factory was in an illegal settlement called Ma’ale Adumim, built on the remains of seven Palestinian villages.[2] The SodaStream plant directly contributed to the economy and development of the settlement. SodaStream enjoyed tax reductions from the Israeli government, low real estate prices, and lax labour laws.[3] SodaStream’s presence in the West Bank also entrenched Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestinian territories through the “economic strengthening of the settlement.”[4]

SodaStream also exploits and mistreats Palestinians. By hiring Palestinians from the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem, SodaStream benefits from cheap labour since Israeli labour norms are not fairly applied to Palestinian workers.[5] Palestinians working at the factory in the occupied West Bank reported inhospitable and inhumane working conditions, including 12-hour shifts, Israel’s discriminatory permit system, and the fear of being fired on the spot.[6] In an interview in May 2013, a Palestinian worker at SodaStream said: “I feel humiliated and I am also disgraced as a Palestinian ... We Palestinian workers in this factory always feel like we are enslaved.”

How has the BDS campaign impacted SodaStream?

Following years of grassroots campaigning by BDS activists, SodaStream shut down its factory in the occupied West Bank in 2014. According to Rafeef Ziadah, a spokesperson for the BDS Movement, “BDS campaign pressure has forced retailers across Europe and North America to drop SodaStream, and the company’s share price has tumbled in recent months as our movement has caused increasing reputational damage to the SodaStream brand.”[7] Between October 2013 and 2014, SodaStream’s stock price dropped from $64 per share to $24.[8]

In a 2014 annual report, SodaStream CEO Daniel Birnbaum acknowledged the impact of BDS on SodaStream products. “A number of political groups have called for consumer boycotts of products originating in this disputed territory, including our products. While, as part of the ramp-up plan for the Lehavim facility, we are gradually phasing out our facilities in Mishor Adumim, both of which we expect to complete by the end of 2015, we may continue to be subject to such activities.”[9]

Why should SodaStream still be boycotted?

In 2015, SodaStream relocated its main factory to the Idan Industrial Zone in the Naqab (Negev) desert.[10] The factory is located beside Rahat, a planned township where Palestinian Bedouins have been forcibly evicted “against their will.”[11] This is part of a long-time Israeli policy since the 1950s to forcibly expel and dispossess Palestinian Bedouins from their land, traditional lifestyles, and ancestral practices.[12] The Naqab desert has been targeted as part of Israel’s attempt to urbanize and industrialize the region at “the expense of the de-development of the Bedouin Native population and economy.”[13]

According to Omar Barghouti, Palestinian activist and co-founder of the BDS Movement, “The BDS campaign against SodaStream will continue, as the company is moving to a location where it is directly colluding in the ethnic cleansing of Bedouin Palestinian citizens of Israel in the Naqab. SodaStream’s move is part of the Israeli government’s plans to steal the traditional lands of Bedouin Palestinian communities in the Naqab, forcibly displacing them and concentrating them in ‘urban’ areas.”[14]

The mistreatment of Palestinian workers continues at SodaStream’s Lehavim facility in the Naqab. In September 2014, Palestinian Bedouin women “complained that they are required to work 12-hour shifts in similar conditions to the plant in Mishor Adumim.”[15] Similarly, Palestinians from occupied East Jerusalem and the West Bank travel up to four hours to reach the new factory in the Naqab due to Israel’s racist and arbitrary system of checkpoints that impedes the movement of Palestinians, entrenching Israel’s apartheid system.[16]

When will the boycott strategy end?

The boycott of SodaStream will end once it is no longer complicit in violations of Palestinian human rights. Despite the closure of its factory in the occupied West Bank, SodaStream upholds Israel’s policy of dispossession, forced displacement and ethnic cleansing through the relocation of its factory to the Naqab desert. More importantly, it maintains Israel’s oppression and apartheid-like policies through its mistreatment and discrimination against Palestinian workers.

[1] Robins-Early, Nick. “Pepsi Just Bought SodaStream. So About That West Bank Boycott Controversy…” The Huffington Post. August 21, 2018.

[2] Palestine Solidarity Campaign, “The Case Against SodaStream.” August 2014.

[3] “SodaStream: A Case Study for Corporate Activity in Illegal Israeli Settlements,” Who Profits, January 2011.

[4] Palestine Solidarity Campaign, “The Case Against SodaStream.” August 2014.

[5] For more information, see CJPME Factsheet No. 172 SodaStream International, June 2013

[6] Westbrook, Stephanie. “SodaStream “treats us like slaves,” says Palestinian factory worker.” Electronic Intifada. May 9, 2013.

[7] “SodaStream to Close Illegal Settlement Factory in Response to Growing Boycott Campaign.” Palestinian BDS National Committee, October 30, 2014.

[8] Robbins, Annie. “The Titanic of the occupation – SodaStream.” Mondoweiss. October 7, 2014.

[9] SodaStream International Ltd. Annual report for the fiscal year ending Wednesday, December 31, 2014. Accessed May 22, 2024.

[10] Who Profits. “SodaStream Completes Withdrawal from Its Factory in Mishor Adumim in the West Bank.” July 2015.

[11] “SodaStream to Close Illegal Settlement Factory in Response to Growing Boycott Campaign.” Palestinian BDS National Committee, October 30, 2014.

[12] Shuttleworth, Kate. “SodaStream factory shows Palestinian Bedouins’ plight.” Al Jazeera. September 25, 2015.

[13] Who Profits. “SodaStream Completes Withdrawal from Its Factory in Mishor Adumim in the West Bank.” July 2015.

[14] Shuttleworth, Kate. “SodaStream factory shows Palestinian Bedouins’ plight.” Al Jazeera. September 25, 2015.

[15] Who Profits. “SodaStream Completes Withdrawal from Its Factory in Mishor Adumim in the West Bank.” July 2015.

[16] Shuttleworth, Kate. “SodaStream factory shows Palestinian Bedouins’ plight.” Al Jazeera. September 25, 2015.