PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Santa’s Workshop – ᐃᓄᐃᑦ ᓄᓇᖓᑦ, (Inuit Nunangat – North Pole).
Beginning November 29, 2024, Santa Claus is asking all citizens of conscience and those who cherish the lives of children, to gather at Indigo, Chapters, and Coles locations across Canada, to demand that CEO Heather Reisman stop funding the HESEG Foundation. Santa is also calling on the Canada Revenue Agency to revoke the HESEG Foundation’s charitable status, as part of a holiday season of public pressure and action.
During the recent double-check of his Naughty and Nice lists, Santa saw a dramatic decrease in the number of children. Over 20,000 names had disappeared from his list since last year. Requesting assistance from his elves, Santa learned about the “Indigo Kills Kids” campaign and how Indigo Books’ CEO, Heather Reisman, uses her profits to donate to the HESEG Foundation—a charity in Israel that provides scholarships to “lone soldiers,” non-Israeli citizens, who enlist and complete service in the Israeli military.
Continuing their research, Santa and his elves also learned that Indigo was using the legal system to silence the “Indigo Kills Kids” campaign, winning an injunction against the campaign’s website and social media accounts, and preventing Canadians from accessing these sites to learn about Indigo’s complicity in the ongoing genocide in Gaza. Thankfully, Santa saw the campaign rebrand and redirect to “Boycott Indigo Books.”
Additionally, upon reading UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese’s reports on genocide in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, Santa searched Hind Rajab’s name and was devastated to hear her final call to the Palestinian Red Crescent. Hind was only 5 years old when she was killed by Israeli forces while she waited for help.
It was all too much. Santa had no choice but to place Indigo Books & Music Inc. at the top of the Naughty list, and to support the “Boycott Indigo Books” campaign. He has also taken the time to write to Indigo and explain why they will only be receiving coal this holiday season.
Santa and “Boycott Indigo Books” call on a full boycott of Indigo Books & Music Inc. until the following conditions are met:
- Indigo Books & Music Inc. drops its lawsuit targeting “Indigo Kills Kids” and Heather Reisman drops the charges on the Indigo “Peace 11” protesters.; and
- Heather Reisman and Gerald Schwartz stop funding and remove themselves as Directors of the HESEG Foundation and/or sell their shares in Indigo Books & Music Inc.; and
- The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) holds accountable Reisman, Schwartz, and all directors of Canadian charities that fund the Israeli Defense Force (IDF) and illegal settlements in the West Bank.
Media contact: Boycott Indigo Books, indigokillskids@proton.me
About Boycott Indigo Books:
Boycott Indigo Books (formerly known as Indigo Kills Kids) is a grassroots initiative aimed at raising awareness and advocating for justice in light of the financial support provided by Heather Reisman and Gerald Schwartz to the Israeli military through the HESEG Foundation. HESEG, a Canadian charitable organization, provides financial support and incentives for “lone soldiers,” non-Israeli citizens who voluntarily enlist in the IDF which is committing genocide in Gaza and upholding the violent structures of apartheid in the region. The campaign seeks to hold those in power accountable for their role in supporting genocide and a violent occupation in the Palestinian territories.
To learn more, visit boycottindigobooks.com, @boycottindigobooks on Instagram, and @NotoIndigo on X, all new pages which have been launched in response to Indigo’s censorship of indigokillskids.ca.
See Santa’s letter to Indigo below.
