Christmas Carols for Palestine

New York Human Rights Carolers Debut Songs Protesting Lev Leviev’s Israeli SettlementsNew York, NY, Dec 22 – Fifty New York human rights carolers sang parodies of holiday tunes today in front of LEVIEV New York to protest Israeli diamond mogul Lev Leviev’s destruction of communities in Palestine, Angola and in New York City. This was the fourth protest at Leviev’s Madison Avenue jewelry store since its gala opening on November 13.

Leviev’s companies are currently involved in building homes in at least four Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. All Israeli settlements violate international law according to a broad international consensus. Two weeks ago, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice specifically criticized Israel’s plans for construction in Har Homa, one settlement where a Leviev company is contracted to build. In Angola where he mines many of his diamonds, a security firm working for Leviev was accused of physically abusing workers. In New York City, his developments with his ex-partner Shaya Boymelgreen have come under attack from the community group ACORN and the Laborers' Union.

Riham Barghouti of Adalah-NY commented, “Because Leviev has made it impossible for many Palestinians to live normal lives and to celebrate the holidays of Eid Al Adha and Christmas this month, we will spoil his holidays and continue our campaign against his human rights abuses.”

Stealing Palestinian Land (to the tune of "Winter Wonderland")
Sales will ring, are ya list'nin'?
In the lanes jewels are glist'nin'.
A beautiful sight, Leviev's happy tonight,
Stealing lots of Palestinian land.

Gone away is the bluebird;
Here to stay is a boo-bird.
We'll sing you this song as he goes along,
Stealing lots of Palestinian land.

In the meadow he will build a snowman,
And pretend his lawyer is in town.
He'll ask, "Now are you legal?" Lev says, "No, man!
But I won't let the question get me down!"
Later on, he'll conspire
As he dreams by the fire,
And face unafraid the plans that he's made
Building lots of homes on stolen land.

[Softer] And face unafraid the plans that he's made
Building lots of homes on stolen land.
[Softer] And face unafraid the plans that he's made
Building lots of homes on stolen land.

The protest closed with a rousing song to the tune of “Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer”:
Leviev the Red-Faced Magnate (to the tune of Rudolph)
Leviev the red-faced magnate
Likes to uproot olive trees
And the way he can fund this,
Is with every shopping spree.
But if you spend cash elsewhere,
Palestinians won't lose land,
And Leviev the crooked jeweler,
He'll just have an empty hand.

Two days be-fore Christmas eve,
We're here to announce.
Leviev won't sell gems tonight,
We know customers will do right!

Lev we all hope you're listening,
Stop building on stolen land,
We'll be here almost weekly,
Until you don't have more demand

(REPEAT ONCE FROM THE TOP)
This caroling is similar to actions taken in Manchester UK in 2004.See: http://www.archive.org/details/Alt_Carols_04