Please vote in Guardian poll on Scarlett Johansson's links to Israeli company - UK and worldwide Jan. 29, 2014

www.webelieveinisrael.org.uk

Please vote in Guardian poll on Scarlett Johansson's

links to Israeli company. Please can you take a few seconds to go on

online and vote "no" to this criticism of Israel

Please can you take a few seconds to go on online and vote "no" to this criticism of Israel (poll at foot of article): http://www.theguardian.com/global-development-professionals-network/poll/2014/jan/28/communications You will probably be aware of the controversy in recent days because of the actress Scarlett Johansson agreeing to be the advertising face of Sodastream, the manufacturer of machines for making carbonated drinks at home.  Sodastream is an Israeli company which has a manufacturing facility in Area C of the West Bank, at a site which may well become part of Israel in any peace deal. Because it operates in the West Bank it is the subject of intensive boycott campaigning by anti-Israel protesters, including protests at its store in Brighton, here in the UK. The company employs hundreds of Palestinian workers, with pay and conditions well above the Palestinian average. Their livelihoods are at stake if the boycott succeeds. You can read more about Sodastream's operations in the West Bank here: http://forward.com/articles/170873/boycott-israel-push-against-sodastream-could-hurt/ Scarlet Johansson is also a global ambassador for Oxfam. The boycott campaigners are calling for Oxfam to drop her from this role, in line with Oxfam's critical position towards Israel. The Guardian website is running an unscientific online poll about whether Oxfam should break its links with Scarlett Johansson. At the moment it is running 85% in favour of this attack on Scarlett Johansson's links to an Israeli company. Please can you take a few seconds to go on online and vote "no" to this criticism: http://www.theguardian.com/global-development-professionals-network/poll/2014/jan/28/communications Please then forward this email to your friends and family and ask them to vote "no" Best wishes,

Luke Akehurst

Director, We Believe in Israel

PS If you have been fowarded this email and want to join the "We Believe in Israel" mailing list please sign-up here: http://eepurl.com/mIh3D

#NoScarJo: should Oxfam sever ties with Scarlett Johansson?

Scarlett Johansson's deal with an Isreali company working in the West Bank could hurt Oxfam's brand. Should the NGO end its relationship with the actress? Take the poll

• iza Anyangwe
• Guardian Professional, Tuesday 28 January 2014 12.16 EST

Scarlett Johansson's advertising deal with SodaStream International Ltd has caused internal tensions at Oxfam. Should she stay or should she go? Photograph: Rex

Just seven days after Oxfam was last in the news with its report on growing global inequality, the international NGO is making headlinesagain but for very different reasons.

It seems its celebrity ambassador, Scarlett Johansson, has signed an advertising deal with SodaStream International Ltd, an Isreali company operating in the West Bank. According to the blog, The Electronic Intifada, the move has caused an "internal revolt" at Oxfam and the organisation's own website alludes to the conflicted position it finds itself in:

"We are proud of our relationship with Scarlett Johansson [and] Oxfam respects the independence of our ambassadors. However Oxfam believes that businesses that operate in settlements further the ongoing poverty and denial of rights of the Palestinian communities that we work to support. Oxfam is opposed to all trade from Israeli settlements, which are illegal under international law."

Despite the high profile of both the NGO and its celebrity ambassador, this would just be internal politics, under unique circumstances – except, of course, it isn't. Development researcher, Jonathan Glennie, tweeted as he shared the Electronic Intifada blog: "Was same when I was at @savechildrenuk."

And there are other examples of staff concerned about what affliation with a particular celebrity could mean. A Unicef officer in New Delhi isquoted in the Guardian as saying: "It's bad enough having to accommodate celebrities and their entourage in the aftermath of every major humanitarian disaster. But when most people think of the UN now they think of Angelina Jolie on a crusade, not the work that goes on in the field after humanitarian disasters or on a long-term preventive level."

While there is no doubt that celebrity endorsement yields financial dividends for NGOs and can raise the profile of a cause, it can also infuriate staff and create tensions with communities in which the organisation works. So what should Oxfam do? Take our poll and tell us your experiences or thoughts on celebrities and NGOs in the comment threads below.

Click here: The Guardian Website poll