In response to the Co-operative Group’s boycott of Israeli goods, four U.S. states have banned investments in the company as a result of their respective anti-BDS laws: Arizona, New York, Illinois, and Florida. The New York State Office of General Services and the State Board of Administration of Florida placed the Co-Op Group in a list of institutions determined to participate in acts of boycott, divestment, and sanctions, and both Arizona and Illinois included it in its list of “prohibited investments.” The Manchester-based supermarket retailer initiated its anti-Israel policy in 2009 when it refused to stock products from Israeli West Bank settlements. The company then expanded its policy in 2012 to bar engagement with Israeli suppliers known to work with settlements. The boycott directly cuts ties with the four main exporters of Israeli fresh produce, Agrexco, Arava Export Growers, Adafresh, and Mehadrin, and severs contracts worth up to £350,000 under the pretense of “exceptional circumstances,” stating on its website that “this position does not constitute a boycott of Israeli businesses. We remain committed to sourcing produce from and trading with Israeli suppliers that do not source from the settlements.” However, Luke Akehurst, director of the We Believe in Israel, a grassroots group that campaigns against boycotts, declared, “The Co-op Group’s boycott of certain Israeli suppliers has done nothing to advance peace and coexistence or to help the Palestinians. All it has achieved is to alienate Jewish and other pro-Israel customers…” The Co-op Group is the 5th largest retail grocery chain the United Kingdom, and the only major British retailer to boycott Israeli goods.The Co-op Group is also a major funder of the Co-operative Party, which holds an electoral pact with the Labour Party. Given the current balance of power in Britain, the company’s boycott does not come as a shock. The Labour Party has increasingly faced criticism for the anti-Semitic rhetoric of its party, with up to 50 members facing suspension for allegations of anti-Semitism between April and June of 2016. Jeremy Corbyn, the leader of the Labour Party, has been quoted referring to Hezbollah and Hamas as his “friends,” and has faced severe backlash for his failure to adequately respond to anti-Semitism within his own party Following the general election last month where Corbyn and his party scored a major electoral victory over the Conservative party currently in power, the American state’s anti-BDS actions are all the more significant. Banning the Co-op Group’s financial services and retail stores from their states serves as an act of defiance against a political climate that has increasingly alienated members of the British Jewish community. The action also represents a significant victory for efforts to ensure that state anti-BDS bills are being implemented. New York, Illinois, Florida, and Arizona’s actions follow stipulations within their respective anti-BDS resolutions that require the compilation of a list of companies that engage in boycotting activities against Israel, pursuant to each state’s definition of BDS.
As the end of the summer approaches, we reflect on the various accomplishments achieved in the fight against the BDS movement, and against anti-Semitism worldwide. Read Brief
Amy Sara Clark Times of Israel August 10, 2017 They are (Jewish progressive) women, hear them roar. The 1972 Helen Reddy song that became the anthem of feminism’s second wave could very well be the slogan of Zioness Movement — the brand-spanking-new progressive group, which makes its official launch on Saturday at Slutwalk Chicago. “What we’re asking for is to be included in important movements in the United States. We are asking not to be excluded,” Amanda Berman, a 30-something attorney who lives in New York City, told The Jewish Week in the group’s first media interview. “We are true progressives, this is sincere for us,” she added. “It’s something that [Zionist] progressive women have been struggling with for a long time.” Unapologetic for either of their identities, Berman and between one and two dozen other co-founders launched the movement after organizers of the annual march against rape culture said publicly that people wearing Stars of David would not be “invited to participate.” The statement came in the wake of a decision by organizers of the Chicago Dyke March to kick out three women who were holding a rainbow flags with Stars of David last month. “We are asking not to be excluded.” SlutWalk Chicago has since reversed the decision, instead banning all nationalist symbols from the march — except for Palestinian flags, which they view as symbols of resistance rather than nationalism. “For too long, we have allowed certain individuals to advance the idea that intersectionality excludes Jews and Zionists,” said co-founder Talia Shifron in a press release. The law student at Loyola University Chicago and president of her university’s chapter of the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights added, “Zionism is a movement for self determination and civil rights, just like other movements who fight for these same causes, and it is time for us to join in solidarity to dismantle all forms of oppression.” “For too long, we have allowed certain individuals to advance the idea that intersectionality excludes Jews and Zionists.” Once Berman’s group decided to take action, they got the organization together in rapid-fire succession. They developed an image — a woman wearing a countenance of courage and a Jewish star around her neck — a Facebook page that, as of Wednesday early afternoon had 358 likes, a website and twitter and Instagram accounts. Between one- and two-dozen people, living in cities across the country, make up the core organizing committee. “This really has come together in about two weeks,” Berman said. As for what’s next, Berman and friends are taking it one step at a time. There are a number of directions the group could go in, and any would be good, as long as they’re heading left. Original Post