25 August 2025

On Monday, 18 August 2025, Healthcare Workers 4 Palestine – South Africa (HCW4P-SA) wrote to the Smile Foundation (letter below) to raise our concerns over Cape Union Mart’s involvement in the current Socks for Smiles campaign, which raises funds for paediatric surgery.

Cape Union Mart is the subject of an active boycott campaign by the South African BDS Coalition and other Palestine solidarity organisations. This campaign relates to its chairperson and principal owner’s longstanding and unrepentant financial support for Zionist organisations, including one which raises funds for Israel. This despite the ongoing genocide being perpetrated by Israel in Gaza, and the decades of occupation and violations of international law which preceded it.

HCW4P-SA shared our concerns about charity washing with the Smile Foundation, with Cape Union Mart engaging in this philanthropic partnership in a bid to sanitise their tarnished public image as the boycott continues to make a strong impact. This partnership risks allowing the moral authority of the Smile Foundation to be used as a shield against criticism, allowing harmful actions to continue with less scrutiny, and is especially insidious in the context of grave international crimes including genocide.

Unfortunately, the Smile Foundation has failed to acknowledge or respond to our letter, and HCW4PSA calls on the public to make their voice heard by insisting on an end to this partnership.

Members of the public are requested to raise their concerns with the Smile Foundation by visiting www.hcw4palestine.org.za/smilefoundation/ to send an email (with the option to use our template) to info@smilefoundationsa.org and/or michelle@smilefoundationsa.org.

Enquiries:            info@hcw4palestine.org.za or +2771 857 6869.

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18 August 2025

Dear Smile Foundation,

Concern Regarding Collaboration with Cape Union Mart in the Socks For Smiles Campaign

Healthcare Workers 4 Palestine – South Africa (HCW4P-SA) acknowledges and commends the incredible work that the Smile Foundation does in providing free, life-changing surgery to children with facial abnormalities and burn injuries. Your work transforms lives and has rightfully earned respect from many across South Africa.

It is with this acknowledgement in mind that we write to raise a serious concern regarding your collaboration with Cape Union Mart as a retail outlet for the Socks For Smiles fundraising campaign.

As you may be aware, Cape Union Mart is the subject of an active boycott campaign by the South African BDS Coalition and other Palestine solidarity organisations. This campaign relates to Cape Union Mart’s chairperson and principal owner, Mr Philip Krawitz, due to his longstanding and unrepentant financial support for Zionist organisations, particularly Keren Hayesod. Keren Hayesod is, essentially, a fundraising arm of the Israeli state which is currently perpetuating a genocide in Gaza. This genocide has included many instances, reported in the international media, of the burning to death of men, women and children by the deliberate actions of Israeli forces. These war crimes have occurred when Israeli forces have deliberately bombed tents sheltering displaced Gazans. Benjamin Netanyahu, the prime minister of the Israeli state, who Mr Krawitz supports, has an International Criminal Court warrant for his arrest for war crimes and crimes against humanity committed against Gazans.

Evidence contained in publicly available reports and compiled by civil society organisations shows that Mr. Krawitz has:

• Funded organisations directly linked to the Israeli military, including those providing material and moral support to soldiers engaged in military operations in Gaza.
• Participated in and been honoured by Zionist organisations that have openly defended and promoted Israeli state policies violating international law, including the siege of Gaza and settlement expansion in the occupied West Bank.
• Used his influence to strengthen ties between these organisations and South African institutions, despite widespread condemnation of Israel’s current military actions by the UN and global human rights bodies.

This collaboration risks inadvertently aiding what is often termed “charity washing.” Charity washing occurs when individuals or corporations with a tarnished public image, due to unethical or harmful actions, engage in philanthropic partnerships to divert attention from these actions and sanitise their public image.

In this instance, charitable collaboration with a high-profile NGO such as the Smile Foundation risks providing a veneer of benevolence and social responsibility to individuals and businesses whose other activities directly contribute to gross human rights violations and war crimes. The public visibility and

 

moral authority of the Smile Foundation may be used as a shield against criticism, allowing harmful actions to continue with less scrutiny.

This form of reputation laundering can be especially insidious in the context of grave international crimes such as genocide, because it enables perpetrators and enablers to reframe themselves as community benefactors. This, in turn, can dilute or neutralise public outrage, making it harder for justice and accountability efforts to succeed.

While your intention is clearly to help children in need, the association with Cape Union Mart may undermine the moral standing and inclusivity of your important work. It risks alienating supporters and beneficiaries who are deeply affected by or opposed to the atrocities currently being perpetrated by Israeli forces in Gaza, while inadvertently serving the public relations interests of those complicit in them.

We therefore respectfully urge the Smile Foundation to review its decision to partner with Cape Union Mart for this campaign. There are many other companies who would be proud to support the Socks For Smiles initiative and who could help achieve the same fundraising goals without bringing these serious ethical concerns into play.

Yours sincerely,

Saadiq Moolla

Chairperson

Healthcare Workers 4 Palestine – South Africa