By Hagai Matar, City Mouse Haaretz Last update - 11:52 21/06/2009
www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1094506.html

A new vegan bar opened last week in Tel Aviv that bans Israel Defense Forces
soldiers in uniform and boycotts products made in West Bank settlements.

The Rogatka - "slingshot" - bar was opened by an "anarchist collective" who
once ran the Salon Mazal bar; it is located on Yitzhak Sadeh street in
central Tel Aviv.
The new ideologically-devoted bar will not seek to make a profit, and the
founders say they hope it will bring together left-wing activists,
environmentalists, and other fellow travelers, under the banner of cheap
drinks and fair trade products.

The bar's ban on soldiers in uniform and the carrying of weapons, along with
its boycott on products made in the settlements, derive from what employees
see as the connection between all forms of oppression, from the slaughter of
animals to sexism to occupation.

"We can't hold views against discrimination and oppression, while at the
same time support the infrastructure that exploits human beings and other
animals," said Adi Vinter, one of the bar's founders.

"We wanted to show it's possible and even worthwhile to live differently,"
Vinter added.