The Boycott Divestment and Sanctions movement in South Africa (BDS SA) say they will increase the pressure on US musician Pharrell Williams to end his controversial campaign with Woolworths. This week, BDS South Africa’s spokesperson Kwara Kekana sent a five page letter to Williams urging him to cut ties with the retailer until the company ends its trade with Israel. The lobby group has also requested to meet with the artist to discuss the issue in person.

Woolworths has signed-up the award winner singer, songwriter and producer in its “Are You With Us?” marketing campaign, a move BDS SA believes is an attempt to counter the #BoycottWoolworths campaign.

“If you are truly committed to the pursuit of happiness of all people, as we think you are, we strongly urge you to reconsider your collaboration Woolworths. A true commitment to the pursuit of happiness for all people irrespective of their ethnicity, culture, religion, race, language, gender and sexual orientation requires, in the words of Ban Ki Moon, ‘working to end conflict, poverty and other unfortunate conditions in which so many of our fellow human beings live’,” reads an extract of the letter.

“By refusing to collaborate with Woolworths at this stage, or postponing your collaboration with Woolworths until such time that it ceases its trade with Israeli entities, or making your collaboration with Woolworths conditional on it undertaking to sourcing its products ethically and not from countries such as Israel, you will have taken a concrete action towards working to end the unfortunate conditions the Palestinians are currently forced to live under.”

BDS SA has also launched the new “Are You With Us” video for the #Boycottwoolworths campaign. Watch it here: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=VIT7AnbL7SY …

Due to its trade with Israel, Woolworths is currently facing the largest consumer boycott South Africa has seen since the end of Apartheid. In August 2014, a call for the complete boycott of Woolworths till it ends its Israeli trade was made by various SA organizations led by the National Coalition 4 Palestine, a coalition consisting of South African civil society organizations, trade unions, youth movements and other groups.

Read the full letter here: http://www.bdssouthafrica.com/post/letter-to-pharrell-williams-17-june-2015/