East End Food Co-op votes against boycott of Israeli products
The issue of banning Israeli products at the East End Food Co-op has been discussed since at least July 2024
Following almost two years of controversy, the East End Food Co-op’s board of directors rejected a forced boycott of Israeli products at its June 15 meeting.
The issue of banning Israeli products at the East End Food Co-op has been discussed since at least July 2024, when the store’s union, UE Local 667, voted to endorse the BDS movement against Israel. The union spent more than a year gathering 500 signatures required by the store’s bylaws to present a petition for a referendum to the board.
The petition accused Israel of an “ongoing genocide against the Palestinian people and war in the Middle East.”
Since mid-2024, co-op board meetings were often beset with anti-Jewish and anti-Israel hostility, sometimes devolving into comparing Zionists to Nazis.
In February, the co-op’s board of directors approved a motion creating an advisory referendum asking its members if “Israeli sourced products” should be removed from the grocery store.
According to information distributed by the union, the co-op stocks five Israeli products: Field Day Tahini; Soom Chocolate Tahini; Manischewitz Gefilte Fish; Equal Exchange Extra Peaceful Olive Oil; Let’s Do Organic Gluten-Free Ice Cream Cones; and Four Season bell pepper varieties.
Ironically, the Extra Peaceful Olive Oil is produced by a nonprofit organization of Arab and Jewish women in Israel that “uses fair trade to foster educational and economic opportunities and model mutual respect and collaboration between Jews and Arabs. They’re inspired to be agents of change, building bridges between communities, setting a positive example for their children, and promoting peace for future generations,” according to the product’s website.
The co-op has more than 17,000 members.
“The board did the right thing in firmly rejecting a pressure campaign that has deeply fractured our community for two years,” said Julie Paris, Mid-Atlantic Regional director of StandWithUs. “Food co-ops are meant to be spaces of cooperation, diversity, and teamwork, open to everyone who walks through the door. We are grateful that this community-owned grocery store will not be co-opted by an extremist political agenda that fuels hatred and conflict, rather than building understanding and peace.”
Full story to come. PJC
Toby Tabachnick can be reached at ttabachnick@pittsburghjewishchronicle.org.
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