Lev Leviev, the Israeli settlement builder and
diamond mogul who has been accused of supporting
human rights abuses in Angola, Burma, New York City
and Palestine, is lending his jewelry to some attendees of
the 80th annual Academy Awards this Sunday.
The jewelry loan was reported by Warner Brothers ExtraTV.
Leviev has made a concerted effort to associate himself and
his businesses with global elites, but a barrage of negative
publicity related to these rights abuses has tarnished
Leviev's image, suggesting that, as NY Jewish Week
wrote recently, "For Leviev, All that Glitters Isn't Gold."
Human rights campaigners from Adalah-NY have
pledged to contact Academy Award organizers and
attendees to voice their concerns over Leviev's involvement.
The annual Hollywood ceremony had been jeopardized
by a protracted strike of the Writers Guild, which had
been denied a share of revenue generated by their
work online. Ironically, Leviev himself has also been
at the center of labor disputes in New York City involving
unpaid wages. Workers at construction sites co-owned
by Leviev and Shaya Bolmelgreen in New York City
have filed suits over withheld wages, and, according
to the Laborers Union, have complained of dangerous
work conditions, allegedly resulting in accidents
and serious injuries.
Sadly, just one year after the film Blood Diamond was
nominated for five Oscars, there is a chance that
tainted Angolan diamonds that bypass the Kimberley
Process which aims to eliminate trade in "conflict
diamonds" will be worn by stars at the Academy
awards. According to the 2007 "Diamond Industry
Annual Review" for Angola produced by the watchdog
organization Partnership Africa Canada (PAC), "the
Angolan Kimberley System has no way of tracking"
more than 10% of Angola's "diamonds back to source."
As a result, there are "more than a million carats per
year exiting Angola… with the murkiest credentials."
Leviev, who buys, polishes and sells Angolan diamonds,
is directly involved in these failings. Furthermore,
private security companies employed by Leviev in the
mining districts in northeast Angola have been accused
by Angolan human rights monitor Rafael Marques of
"humiliation, whipping, torture, sexual abuse, and, in
some cases, assassinations." Leviev has close ties with
Angola's repressive and corrupt Dos Santos regime which
has failed to hold elections since 1992.
Leviev's companies have also built homes in at least five
Israeli settlements on Palestinian land in the Israeli-occupied
West Bank in violation of international law. The settlements
that Leviev has built seize vital resources and divide
Palestinian territories into isolated enclaves, destroying
hopes for the creation of a viable Palestinian state.
Leviev became involved in a flap with the international
charity Oxfam after the New York human rights
coalition Adalah-NY contacted Oxfam on January
8 following media reports that Oxfam had accepted
support from Leviev. In response, Oxfam stated
publicly that Leviev had never been an Oxfam
donor, nor would they accept donations from any
individual who constructs settlements in occupied
territory in contravention of international
humanitarian law. Twenty days after Adalah-NY
raised the issue, an article which claimed that Leviev
donated to Oxfam was finally removed from the
news site belonging to an organization of which
Leviev is the president.
After attending the gala opening of Leviev's first US
diamond store in Manhattan, actress Susan Sarandon
was approached by Israeli, Palestinian and US
human rights organizations urging her to cut ties
with the billionaire. An open letter sent to Sarandon
from the US-based Jewish Voice for Peace noted
Leviev's alleged misdeeds in Angola, Burma, and
New York, as well as in the Occupied Palestinian
Territories saying: "Leviev's strong support of the
settlements seriously compromises any efforts at
a just peace in the region. His efforts to expropriate
more lands from Palestinians, using both financial
and strong-arm tactics, greatly increase Palestinian
suffering. . . As Jews who yearn and work for a just
peace for Palestinians and Israelis, we implore you
to take a public stand against Leviev."
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