The worldwide Body Shop chain of stores maintains that it is 'values—driven' and lists 'the pursuit of social and environmental change' first on its mission statement. It proclaims that its skin care, hair care, and make—up are 'developed with the objective of helping you feel good about yourself.'

If extinguishing the state of Israel as a Jewish homeland floats your boat, then slathering on Body Shop products ought to make you ecstatic.

Among its many charities, the Body Shop funds the 'The Body Shop Human Rights Award.' The latest recipients of the $300,000 prize listed on its website include:

From Israel — National Committee for the Defence of the Rights of the Internally Displaced is a self—help and advocacy advisory service, and a network for all community—based organisations campaigning for the right of return of internally displaced Palestinians.

Superficially, this may sound like innocent and pure humanitarianism. But the so—called 'right of return' for Palestinians is a code word for the swamping of Israel, a democratic state, with millions of Arabs born elsewhere, claiming to 'return' to a land in which they have never set foot. Should all of those claiming to be 'Palestinians' be shoehorned into Israel, in short order it would become another Arab political entity, and undoubtedly would proclaim Islam to be the official state religion. Israel, in short, would no more be a Jewish state, and the dreams of Arafat and bin Laden would be realized.

I wonder if the Body Shop would support the 'right' of present day Germans, the grandchildren and great—grandchildren of Germans expelled from Poland, Estonia, Hungary, Lithuania, and other countries in the wake of defeat in World War II, to 'return' to these lands most of them have never visited? How about the Indians, descendants of those expelled or fleeing from the creation of the State of Pakistan?  Or the Pakistani descedents of those who fled India?

For that matter, there are Tories who fled the American Revolution for Canada, and their descendents must number in the millions. And there are tens of millions of descendents of Irish people who fled British rule to settle in America. Are they all to be allowed a 'right of return' to the booming Celtic Tiger? If so, they would all qualify for EU citizenship.

In all historical cases, save that of the Palestinians, the international law rule is that once you leave a country and start a family elsewhere, your bloodline becomes established as locals, and your forfeit any internationally—imposed right to 'return' to the country of your ancestors.

The Human Rights Award is not the only time the Body Shop chain has proclaimed its support for "the Palestinians," who appear to be a favorite cause of company founder Dame Anita Roddick. She has proclaimed George Bush a "war criminal" and has written an

"open letter to George W. Bush," denouncing him for "rank imperialism and war—mongering" and "the danger you pose to the world, which you have molded into a place where it is all too easy for leaders to commit egregious crimes under international law —— including the crime of aggression —— without the price tag that the Nazi leaders paid at Nuremberg."

The Body Shop should explain to its upscale and nature—loving customers worldwide why George Bush is implicitly likened to the Nazis, and why the Jewish State of Israel, and Israel alone, should be subjected to a rule granting citizenship to people who have never set foot within its borders, and most of whom wish to drastically alter the nature of its polity and society.

A company which condemns the testing of cosmetic products on animals somehow finds itself allied with groups dedicated to the destruction of the Jewish state, some of which use terror bombing of innocent civillians going about their daily lives. That's a very strange value to be driven by.

Grateful thanks to Dan Lidawer and Ed Lasky for help with research on this article.