The Olympia Food Co-op Board of Directors has decided to boycott Israeli goods at their two locations in Olympia, Washington. At a July 15th meeting packed with Co-op members, the Board reached this consensus. The Co-op becomes the first US grocery store to publicly boycott Israel
“We met last Thursday for the board members meeting and a pretty large group – about 40 people – presented the boycott project and answered our questions,” Rob Richards, a board member, told Haaretz. “A couple of board members were concerned about what will be the financial effect on the organization, but it’s minimal. For me personally there is a moral imperative that goes beyond any financial concern. So we decided to adopt the boycott which went into effect the next day.”
“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.
Noah Sochet, a Co-op member and Olympia BDS organizer adds, “As a US citizen and as a Jew, I’m proud to say that my Co-op no longer underwrites the suffering in Palestine.”
One Israeli product is exempt from the boycott: “Peace Oil,” a brand of olive oil fairly traded from Palestinian farmers in the West Bank and the Galilee, will continue to be carried by the Co-op.
The boycott follows on the heels of another incident at the nearby Evergreen State College. On June 2, students at the Olympia-based college voted overwhelmingly to approve two resolutions calling on the college’s foundation to divest from companies profiting from the Israeli occupation of Palestine, as well as calling on the college to ban the use of Caterpillar equipment due to Caterpillar’s complicity in Israeli war crimes. The college is the alma mater of Rachel Corrie, who was killed by a weaponized Caterpillar bulldozer in the Gaza Strip in 2003.
“The fact that it is the home town of Rachel Corrie’s parents and that it is represented by Rep Brian Baird (who has been to Gaza and is outspoken against Israel) makes this ripe for issues,” said Jennifer Laszlo Mizrahi of The Israel Project, a pro-Israel organization. ”
(YWN Desk / Haaretz)
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16 Responses
Dumb, moronic tree-huggers. Let that idiot Sochet go to Israel and see for himself exactly what his lovely Palestinians have done & are doing to his fellow Jews.
Just the right thing to get me REALLY upset on Tisha B’av. After all, learning & reading about the historical troubles we’ve endured makes this little snippet apropos.
Rachel Corrie: in life AND death you still cause trouble. I’d hoped you’d be able to rest peacefully. Unfortunately, politicizing your unnecessary death makes a mockery of it.
This is their contact info, incase you’re inclined to give them a piece of your mind. Funny, isn’t it, that this coop allegedly supports those who are disciminated against. Yeah, right.
Contact: [email protected]
http://www.olympiabds.org
360-918-8665
Sochet, beware! PETA is after you, because of your name.
This was my Email to them:
Do you also boycott the arab Terrorist ??
Do all of you go 2 show your support against Iran ??? When that dog Achmidinajed-shmad, shows up @ the UN ???
I bet u the answer is:NO
And we all Know it…
And I’ll finish off by saying it as it is:
You don’t deserve to get the Best Food and items of the world: The ISREALY ones !!!!
Obviously they have all been brainwashed by their President. They must have had a Beerfest with him.
dear Mr. Sochet;
If you sponsor such boycott don’t be a hipacrut boycott every product from Eretz Yisrael including medicine that were created their, computer programs and processors. Look inside your cash registers computer there are Israeli parts and since you want to boycott eliminate these parts. All medical procedures that were develop in Eretz Yisrael you must declare you will not use them no matter what; things like a diagestive track camera that you swallow to check you inner workings, you might need one for you blood stream to get the inner workings of your “brain”. Rachel death was caused unfortunately from her own doing. She was were she should have not been. You go stand on the Runaway at Seattle Washington and if you get hit with a plane landing who’s fault the tower, the pilot or you. How can you judge unless you go to SDeot and see
If they want to boycott Israel they should at least do it the right way. Israel created the intel chips and windows software that is most likely used in their cash registers. They also created cell phones and voicemail which I’m sure the store uses for business. There is a brilliant video about the Israeli products in the world today (and the list is extensive.) It is called “So you want to boycott Israel.” It’s about nine minutes long and really does a good job.
If you are going to watch it, (I’m not posting the link out of respect for those who don’t use youtube) it does discuss women’s products for 15 secs. (between 5:45-6:00) so you may want to skip that part as you may find it inappropriate.
Have a meaningful remainder of Tisha B’av as we mourn the suffering of Jews over the past thousands of years.
P.S. There is no location in the world called Palestine, although the author mentions it as if there is. I believe the area he is referring to is part of the State of Israel as mandated by the U.N. in 1948!
YITZCHOKY,great points!
They are all self hating jews that help to destroy the jewish people and the jewish country
Comment I left them:
Please don’t be fooled by individuals with agendas! There is no more humanitarian country than the state of Israel that has against all odds flourished in a hemisphere where terrorism is supported and nurtured.
If you are looking to educate yourself about the Palestinian situation study all sources and the root causes as to why there is such an impasse in the region.
Ask yourself some basic cultural questions:
What has Israel done for the victims of the Haiti earthquake? What has any Arab country done for the same? What about those countries that we know support terrorism?
Do I know what the literacy levels of countries that support terrorism are? What are the same literacy levels in Israel?
Equal rights for women, rights for animals social groups and organizations – who has more?
Family values? Or honor killings? Where are they prevalent?
Sharia? It is the code of Islamic law that some countries use – would I want to be subject to that system?
Current court system that prosecutes and metes out justice in Gaza – what do I know about it? How does it operate?
Have I checked unbiased eyewitness accounts who have seen how patients from Gaza and Arab Countries are treated in the Hadassah Hospital in Jerusalem, Israel? How many jews seek medical attention in other middle east countries?
How many patents have ever been filed by Syria? How many by Israel?
How many Pizza shops or buses have been attacked on a casual day in Israel? How many in Damascus? Teheran? Tripoli?
When you say the term “civil Palestinian society” have you watched the lynching of three Israeli soldiers in the west bank by common folk? Have you seen the bodies of two teen age boys (American Citizens) murdered while hiking in the Judean Hills and left to be found in a cave?
No sane or cultured individual seeks to blockade or wall peace loving populations. It is unavoidable with murderous and corrupt leadership.
This is the tip of the iceberg – if you don’t seek to check relevant explanations and the historical sources you are ignorant, biased and uneducated.
If nothing else, this just shows how blind people can be to the truth.
http://www.olympiafood.coop/20100716-BoardBoycottIsrael.pdf
left out one big think Arabs want an Israeli identity card not a plastinian one why??? They want to live and mak a living and not pay off every new thug every week. Don’t give don’t work. Say something wrong kill your wife and rape her or such. Don’t believe me go live in aza or bethlehem and then after 2 years come back and back the boy cott.
It is incredible how phony, anti semetic and self serving these fakes are. Sure, it’s the goods from Israel that deserve boycotting, right? Have you seen the human rights records of ANY Arab country? You might want to check out their dismal record. So, if you want to be a phony and boycott Israeli products, please stop using Instant Messaging or just about any other computer product. Many of them were invented in Israel!! Big boy you are boycotting soup croutons and marshmallows!
“Rachel Corrie: in life AND death you still cause trouble.”
Speaking as someone who was a sad attendant at the memorial for Rachel in Olympia those 7 years ago, I believe Rachel would be proud that she is still causing trouble for the occupation of Palestine!
LindaJ,
I imagine that by now Rachel knows the truth and regrets her actions.
Several points come to mind:
First, Rachel Corrie got what she deserved. There is no reason to memorialize her.
Second,. if these behemos want to boycott Israel they should do it 100%. That means NO computers (Intel designs and manufactures it chips in Israel). and NO cell phones (Motorola is also in Israel.
Third, let all Jewish owned companies bouycott the behemos.