Oxfam row Scarlett Johansson has no regrets

Hollywood star Scarlett Johansson has said she has no regrets about quitting her role as an Oxfam ambassador to promote SodaStream.

The actress dropped her title last month after becoming the face of the fizzy drinks firm which has a controversial factory in an Israeli settlement in Palestine.

In an interview with the Observer, Johansson denied her deal with SodaStream was a mistake.

She said: “No, I stand by that decision. I was aware of that particular factory before I signed. And it still doesn’t seem like a problem – at least not until someone comes up with a solution to the closing of that factory and leaving all those people destitute.”

The actress said she felt the case against the factory was unclear, saying: “I think that’s something that’s very easily debatable.

“In that case, I was literally plunged into a conversation that’s way grander and larger than this one particular issue. And there’s no right side or wrong side leaning on this issue.”

Johansson said the argument by the UN, the Red Cross and the International Court of Justice that the SodaStream factory contravenes international law did not sway her, telling the Observer: “Sure, I think that’s the way you can look at it.

“But I also think for a non-governmental organisation to be supporting something that’s supporting a political cause … something feels not right about that to me.

“There’s plenty of evidence that Oxfam does support and has funded a BDS (boycott, divest, sanctions) movement in the past. It’s something that can’t really be denied.”

However, Oxfam denied the allegation to the Observer.

Johansson added that she now understands that British opinion on the status of the West Bank is more clear-cut than she has found elsewhere.

“That’s one thing I’ve realised,” she said. “I’m coming into this as someone who sees that factory as a model for some sort of movement forward in a seemingly impossible situation.”

Agencies/Canadajournal