Oxfam replies but doesn't answer

I've posted about this before, here and here but some time back, Oxfam rejected a £5,000 donation from a Professor Honderich on the grounds that he had expressed sympathy with Palestinian suicide bombers in a book. I wrote to them to complain and they wrote back to "justify" their position. Later it transpired that they were in a partnership arrangement with Starbucks whose Chief Exec is on record supporting the war criminality of Ariel Sharon. Again I wrote to them to complain at their manifest hypocrisy. Again they wrote back "justifying" said hypocrisy. I think it was on the grounds that a) you can't identify a company with it's CEO who was after all expressing a personal. penchant for war crimes and b) the CEO supports a two state solution. Obviously it's pointless getting into too much debate with such disingenuous hypocrites but I did wonder at the time that, if the CEO's views are irrelevant, why was he asked where he stood on the so-called two-state solution? Anyway, now the partnership deal is coming to an end, the Jewish Chronicle has reported that "enraged Muslims had bombarded Oxfam with protests that Starbucks founder and Chairman Howard Schultz was a major supporter of Israeli and Jewish interests." See that? "Jewish interests". So I wrote to Oxfam as follows:

I should be grateful if you would let me know if any protests were made by Muslim groups regarding Mr Schultz's support for "Jewish interests" or was it simply his support for the state of Israel and, in particular, Ariel Sharon's policies in the illegally occupied territories that were the basis of the complaint? I am particularly keen to know if any organisations invoked "Jewish interests" in their complaints.

Here's the bizarre reply:

Thanks for your email on the issue of the collaboration with Starbucks.

Our current one year collaboration with Starbucks will come to an end in September 2005. This collaboration provides support to coffee farmers in Ethiopia and enables Starbucks and Oxfam to share knowledge on coffee purchasing with the aim of finding solutions to overcome poverty and ensure stability in coffee farming communities. After September 2005 Oxfam will still continue dialogue with Starbucks as well as other coffee retailers and roasters on tackling the global coffee crisis.

Oxfam GB has considered how to advance its campaigning work particularly on Fairtrade. There have been significant changes in the coffee market since Oxfam opened discussions with Starbucks on this collaboration last year. Other retailers, including Marks and Spencers and AMT Espresso have both gone 100% Fairtrade. Given these developments Oxfam GB now feel it is more appropriate to work in broader collaboration with a range of retailers, including Starbucks.

I hope that clarifies our position on the collaboration and explains how we will continue our dialogue with Starbucks after the existing collaboration ends.

You can see more about our work in our work in Israel and the Palestinian territories on our website here

In general, we are advocating for a just and peaceful solution to the conflict. We recognise the need for a solution that will allow both Palestinians and Israelis to live, and make a living, within secure borders. We support a two-state solution in which citizens from both societies can enjoy their full range of human rights under international law.

I hope that helps you understand our position on these difficult issues.

With best wishes,

So there we have it. Ok we still don't know if Muslims complained about "Jewish interests" but we do know that Oxfam supports the same solution as George Bush, Tony Blair and Ariel Sharon: the two-state solution.