East End Food Co-op member shocked by anti-Israel experience at store
Anti-Zionism, aisle 2EEFC employees confront Jewish customer

East End Food Co-op member shocked by anti-Israel experience at store

“I told him if people want to support terrorists on their own time that’s fine, but I don’t want to be confronted with it when shopping."

East End Food Co-op. (Photo by David Rullo)
East End Food Co-op. (Photo by David Rullo)

If Michelle Dresbold was surprised by a recent interaction she and a friend had with an employee of the East End Food Co-op, she was left dumbfounded the following day when she reported what happened to the store’s management.

The incidents were preceded by months of concern regarding the co-op’s stance on Israel.

A member of the co-op for more than 15 years, Dresbold, who is Jewish, became apprehensive about continuing to support the co-op beginning in September, when she heard about the efforts of UE Local 667 — the union which represents the store’s employees — to force the co-op to divest from Israel, and more recent contentious board meetings focused on the issue.

She wrote the store’s management an email voicing her disapproval of the union’s efforts.

“I wanted to make sure that I’d be comfortable and not intimidated when I shopped there,” Dresbold said.

She received a reply she characterized as “almost like a form letter.”

“They basically said, ‘We can’t help what people outside of the co-op say in a meeting,’ but they assured me I would be comfortable there, that it was apolitical and I wouldn’t have any reasons to feel intimidated,” she said.

That was enough for Dresbold, and she visited the store in December with her friend Jim Laser, who was in town for a visit.

The employee waiting on them as they checked out their groceries wore a keffiyeh and a pin that read “Labor for Palestine.” Laser, who isn’t Jewish, didn’t appreciate the message being communicated to customers and told that to the employee. Dresbold quickly agreed.

“The worker said, ‘Well, they just bombed a hospital in Gaza,’” Dresbold said. “I said, ‘Look, if they didn’t build it over tunnels or command centers then they wouldn’t be bombed.’”

Laser rebutted the employee’s claims with “remember Oct. 7,” before Dresbold urged the employee to learn the whole story before commenting on the situation.

“It was a 15- or 20-second interaction,” Laser recalled. “But we did express our dismay at the pin she was wearing, and she was quite ready to respond.”

The next day Dresbold returned to the store to report the interaction to the co-op’s management.

She recounted the events, as well as the assurances she had received earlier that she wouldn’t feel intimidated or uncomfortable.

“He said, ‘Well, we don’t have a dress code here. We can’t tell people what they can or can’t wear.’ I said, ‘Are you telling me if tellers started wearing Trump or MAGA hats and people said they were uncomfortable you wouldn’t tell them to take off their hats?’”

The manager, she said, stumbled through an answer.

“I told him if people want to support terrorists on their own time that’s fine, but I don’t want to be confronted with it when shopping,” she recalled.

As she was talking to the manager, a nearby employee stared at her, she said.

“He said, ‘Terrorists? What are you saying, “terrorists”? They’re killing babies,’” Dresbold recalled.

She ignored the employee’s statement. The manager did not offer to speak with the clerk or to ask the employee next to him to leave during his conversation with Dresbold. Instead, he asked Dresbold if she wanted to revoke her membership in the co-op, Dresbold said.

She replied that she didn’t want to be a member of a co-op that made her feel uncomfortable when she shopped.

That’s when the employee standing next to the manager shouted, “Good because we don’t f—–g want you here,” Dresbold said.

She recounted the experience to several friends, who then contacted the co-op about the incident.

A representative of the co-op eventually reached out to her.

“She said that she was horrified and that the reason she worked there was because it was supposed to be an inclusive atmosphere,” Dresbold said. “I did speak with the manager, as well, who is supposed to call me back.”

Tyler Kulp, East End Food Co-op general manager, said in an email to the Chronicle that he couldn’t discuss any interaction he or management had with the employee about the event because it was a personnel issue. He confirmed that the store has no formal dress code but does have a personal appearance policy.

The co-op, he said, maintains an immersive training program, which informs workers of best practices regarding customer service, and employees are encouraged to be helpful and respectful. But, he added, there are instances where “human nature causes unfortunate impersonal interactions.”

“Management attempts to stay apprised of all activity in the store, good or bad, and works to ensure that all customers enjoy a positive shopping experience,” he said.

While the board and management of the co-op are aware of members canceling their membership — both those who are disturbed by the union’s attempt to force the store to divest from Israel and those disappointed that the co-op continues to carry products from the Jewish state — he said the store doesn’t take an official stance on international conflicts.

“Our mission is to serve the local community, regardless of identity or affiliation,” he said. “The conflict between Israel and Palestine has been considered by the board and management and while we find violence and suffering reprehensible, as a business EEFC has purposely refrained from supporting or denouncing requests to boycott Israeli products.”

For Dresbold, the damage has been done. She plans to cancel her membership.

Asked what it would take for her to come back, Dresbold is clear.

“First, I want the guy who swore at me and said that horrible thing, fired. Second, there would have to be some kind of learning program so these people are deprogrammed. And I won’t come back if people are wearing those buttons,” she said. “I just won’t do it.” PJC

David Rullo can be reached at drullo@pittsburghjewishchronicle.org.

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