SodaStream, the manufacturer of fizzy drink-machines and other bubbly products, on Monday night hosted close to 3,000 Bedouin and Jews in an Iftar, the Ramadan fast-ending meal, at its factory in the Bedouin city of Rahat in southern Israel.
Bedouin and Jewish Israelis, as well as some Arab guests from the PA, attended the feast on Monday together with US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman.
Tonight I had the pure joy to attend the Ramadan Peace Festival at SodaStream’s factory in the Negev. Muslims, Druze, Christians and Jews working together, each making the other better, happier and more prosperous. This is peace! pic.twitter.com/ICtPjtgA9b
— David M. Friedman (@USAmbIsrael)
Ambassador Friedman later tweeted about the event: “Tonight I had the pure joy to attend the Ramadan Peace Festival at SodaStream’s factory in the Negev. Muslims, Druze, Christians and Jews working together, each making the other better, happier and more prosperous. This is peace!”
Back in 2015, SodaStream was forced shut its factory in Israel’s liberated territories in response to calls to boycott its product abroad, and opened a new facility in the predominantly Bedouin city of Rahat.
In 2018, PepsiCo purchased SodaStream for $3.2 billion.