Letters to the editor

Co-op vote crosses the line into antisemitism
My husband and I are Jewish. We shop at the East End Food Co-op. I am stunned by the antisemitic vote to remove Israeli products (East End Food Co-op board advances advisory vote on removing Israeli products,” Feb. 20.) We are not religious Jews, but are spiritually connected to being Jewish. We did not support what happened in Gaza by the Netanyahu administration; we abhorred what this criminal administration did to the Palestinian people. But this vote reeks of antisemitism. We are truly upset by this vote. Unfortunately, we will most likely keep shopping at the Co-op because they carry goods we can’t find elsewhere. Shame on those that voted to remove Israeli products. This is reminiscent of Nazi Germany.

Marlene Marcus
Pittsburgh

Selective outrage, selective boycotts
Do the Democratic Socialists of America and the East End Food Co-op board — who appear to be Zionophobic* — really think they can boycott all Israeli products and services? (“Groups attempt to force BDS initiative in Pittsburgh,” Feb. 13; “East End Food Co-op board advances advisory vote on removing Israeli products,” Feb. 20).

In fact, the “boycotting” of Israeli products and services represents the greatest hypocrisy of our time.

Let’s start with food. Many fruits and vegetables are only on supermarket shelves because of drip irrigation, which was invented by Israeli scientists. Only a BDS hypocrite would buy fruits and vegetables grown through Israeli drip irrigation.

The DSA and EEFC boycotters also should throw away all their smart phones and computers since critical components of both were invented by Israeli scientists.

Medical devices and services that every DSA and EEFC boycotter and their family members must boycott include the flexible stent, which has become critical for many cardiology procedures and was invented by Israeli scientists. Obviously, those DSA and EEFC boycotters must demand that their doctors not use the flexible stent, which is tainted by its Israeli invention, and have their doctors search dusty medical warehouses for hard stents, which have not been used in years.

Regardless of the exigency of a medical situation, DSA and EEFC boycotters and their families must demand that EMS first responders never use pressure bandages, which were invented by Israeli scientists. Ditto for PillCam usage by their doctors, which violates their commitment to never use Israeli products.

Also should DSA and EEFC boycotters or their families unfortunately suffer from multiple sclerosis, they must demand that their doctors never use Copaxone — the most widely used drug for MS — because it was invented by Israeli scientists.

Similarly, should DSA and EEFC boycotters or their families suffer from Parkinson’s disease, they must demand that their doctors never prescribe Azilect, which was developed by Israeli scientists, even though it is one of the most widely prescribed drugs for Parkinson’s.

So the next time one hears a BDS or EEFC Zionophobe* claiming they are boycotting Israel, go through this list (and this is just a partial list of the many goods and services that all Americans use that have been invented and/or created by Israelis), and see if they are really boycotting Israel, or are they another among the legions of BDS “ boycotting” hypocrites?

*Zionophobia is a condition described by Professor Judea Pearl, director of the UCLA Cognitive Systems Laboratory and the late journalist Daniel Pearl’s father, as “the denial of the Jewish people’s right to self-determination anywhere in the Middle East.”

Richard Sherman
Margate, Florida