WASHINGTON (JTA) — Oxfam International is denying a report that it cut ties with a "Sex and the City" star because she endorses an Israeli firm that operates in the West Bank.
The New York Post reported that actress Kristin Davis was no longer working as an Oxfam spokeswoman because she does ads and is a spokeswoman for Ahava cosmetics, which manufactures its products in the Mitzhe Shalem settlement.
Oxfam spokesman Matt Grainger said, however, that Davis and Oxfam have not cut ties but are figuring out how to handle an issue that could become a "distraction" from Oxfam’s work. The group, he said, has advocated against settlements in the past.
"We have an ongoing relationship," Grainger said. "She remains our ambassador and supporter. We’re working through the issue of Ahava together."
He added, "We wouldn’t tell her what to do."
Grainger also said that controversial Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient Mary Robinson, the honorary president of Oxfam who some Israel backers say has been an unfair critic of Israel, had nothing to do with the deliberations on the issue.
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