Growing BDS in US

The Olympia Food Co-op, in Olympia, Washington, hometown of activist Rachel Corrie, announced last week that no more Israeli products will be sold at its grocery stores, becoming the first American grocery to adopt a boycott of 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 Israeli news daily 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.”

Nine of the co-op board’s 10 members voted to participate in the international boycott, according to the city’s newspaper The Olympian. Harry Levine, a staff representative to the board said, “My personal view is that boycotts can be effective tools in changing governments,”

“I personally support it, and I’m an American Jew,” he added.

According to their website, Olympia BDS, the organization that influenced the co-op, is “a grassroots network of community members in Olympia, WA, joining the call by Palestinian civil society for a non-violent, global movement of boycott, divestment, and sanctions of Israel, until it meets the requirements of human rights and international law”. 

Olympia is the hometown of Rachel Corrie, the International Solidarity Movement (ISM) activist killed by an Israeli bulldozers in the southern Gaza city of Rafah in 2003. Her parents still live there. US Representative Brian Baird, who has traveled to Gaza and is a vocal critic in Washington of Israel’s occupation, is also from Olympia.

Speaking about the products affected, Rob Roberts said, “As far as I know – it concerns any Israeli products. We exempted ‘Peace Oil’ – it’s a joint product produced by the Palestinian farmers. Any product that is made by the company that works to improve the conditions of the Palestinians will be exempted.”

Israeli products removed from the stores include gluten-free crackers, ice cream cones and a moisturizing cream, Levine added.

In June, a group of 800 workers and community activists blocked the gates of the port docks in Oakland, California prompting workers to refuse to cross picket lines, leaving a docked Israeli ship unloaded. Also, a bold step in the growing boycott movement within the U.S.

In New York this week, Jewish Voice for Peace activists are armed with thousands of signatures ready for the TIAA-CREF annual meeting at the company’s headquarters on Tuesday. The Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association - College Retirement Equities Fund (TIAA-CREF) is one of the largest financial service companies in the United States, with over $300 billion in assets.

JVP has collected over 12,000 signatures, in an effort to persuade the company to divest from companies it says “profit from the Israeli occupation of the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem,” more specifically 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."