Monday, July 19, 2010
Israelis read about the BDS (boycotts, divestment and sanctions) movement in the USA
by Larry Geller
Last week, the board of directors of the Olympia Food Co-op in Washington state decided that no more Israeli products will be sold at its two grocery stores in the city.
This is just a short news article, why is it important?
Because it appeared in the Israeli newspaper Haaretz (Food co-op in Rachel Corrie's hometown boycotts Israeli goods, 7/20/2010).
[Rob Richards, a co-op board member:] "I am trying to be realistic – the Olympia Food Co-Op boycott is not going to change the Israeli policy, but I believe that these small drops will eventually have an effect. I would like to see more co-ops joining the boycott and more voices involved," he added.
In order to be effective, it is probably important that the country being boycotted understands the progress of the movement.
Also in the same article:
The Olympia Food Co-Op boycott is only a tiny part of an effort that the BDS (boycotts, divestment and sanctions) movement is mounting on U.S. companies. On Monday, Jewish Voice for Peace activists planned to attend the TIAA-CREF annual meeting the company headquarters in New York City to deliver thousands of signatures calling on the company to divest its money from Caterpillar, Elbit, Motorola and some other companies, that, as JVP puts it, "profit from the violation of international law through home demolitions, the destruction of life sustaining orchards, the construction of roads and transit that only Israelis can use, the killing of civilians by drones, and many other injustices."
The article is currently the Most Popular on the Haaretz website for stories appearing in the last 24 hours.
There's another story that's not appeared in many newspapers (or this site, as a matter of fact) regarding the fact that boycotts have already been rejected by many of the top co-ops in the country, after considerably more thought and deliberation that what seems to have taken place at Olympia:
http://www.divestthis.com/2010/07/olympia-snowed-washington-co-op-boycott.html
Look for made in Israel's Bar Code on products and boycott: 7290
: July 20, 2010 at 9:08:00 AM HST << Home
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