Members of the Park Slope Food Coop in Brooklyn have voted to boycott about a dozen products from Israel and Israeli settlements in occupied Palestine, capping years of contentious debate over the conflict in Gaza. The vote took place on Tuesday night during a three-hour virtual meeting attended by around 7,000 of the co-op's 17,000 members.
Sixty-seven per cent of participants voted in favour of the boycott, which is expected to impact brands of tahini, peppers, persimmons and other products. The decision follows months of duelling campaigns that a local rabbi opposed to the boycott described as a 'proxy war'. The co-op, founded in 1973, has a history of socially conscious boycotts, including against apartheid South Africa and Chile under Augusto Pinochet.
Alyce Barr, a member for nearly five decades and a sponsor of the boycott proposal, said: 'Our co-op has a long and proud tradition of more than 20 boycotts. We want to build on this tradition by boycotting Israeli products until Israel complies with international law.' The pro-boycott faction was led by Park Slope Food Coop Members in Solidarity with Palestine and endorsed by over two dozen advocacy groups, including several Jewish ones.
The debate has drawn attention beyond the co-op, with Democratic congressional candidates Dan Goldman and Brad Lander both weighing in against the vote. Tensions have flared into confrontations, with pro-boycott advocates reporting verbal abuse and having their table flipped over. The co-op's leadership condemned antisemitic and anti-Arab comments made during a general assembly, including references to 'Jewish supremacism' and 'Arab supremacy'.
General manager Joe Szladek said the co-op increased security measures after incidents including threatening letters, suspicious substances sent through the mail, and hostile social media activity. 'These measures are not being taken in response to any one viewpoint or group of members,' he said in an email.
