September Project 2010

Olympia Food Co-op boycotts

Israel, pulls products

“Olympia Food Co-op: Products

pulled after board decides to

boycott nation”

“The board voted to boycott Israeli

products as a way to “compel Israel to

follow international law and respect

Palestinian human rights,” according to a

statement the board released.”

Boone, Rolf. "Olympia Food Co-op Boycotts Israel,

Pulls Products." The Olympian 21 July 2010. Web

Olympiakomo.com

SMU Digital Journalism Class Explores Controversy: September Project 2010

PeacePeace Oil: Shalom Aleichem

As Adam Horowitz

reported in the

Mondoweiss “There is

one product not

included in the boycott

- “Peace Oil,” a brand

of olive oil fairly traded

from Palestinian

farmers in the West

Bank and Palestinian

and Jewish women in

the Galilee.”

There is one

solitary product

that is from Israel

that was not

discontinued

because of the

Olympia Food

Coop joining the

Boycott,

Divestment, and

Sanctions

movement.

Horowitz, Adam. "Olympia Food Co-op removes Israeli products from shelves." Mondoweiss: The War of

Ideas in the Middle East. N.p., July 19, 2010. Web. 15 Sep 2010.


Why Israel?

“I salute the great work of the peoplein Olympia….It is a step towardaccountability for Israel’s murder ofRachel Corrie.”

-Yonatan Shapira

It is probably no coincidence thatOlympia is the hometown of theInternational Solidarity Movementactivist Rachel Corrie who was killedseven years ago in Gaza – a Caterpillarbulldozer ran over her as she tried toprevent demolition of a Palestinianhouse.

Natasha Mozgovaya. “Food co-op in Rachel Corrie's hometown boycotts Israeli goods.” Tuesday, July 20, 2010. Haaretz.com

They aren’t banning Turkey, so why ban Israel?

Rachel Corrie in Palestine


Olympia Food Co Op Takes Radical Step Toward Social JusticeCo op's decision to boycott Israeli products is a step in the right direction

“Something extremely valuable is happeningthere. Something truly radical. An awarenessthat people who are truly in favor of socialjustice must take a stand against bigotry, nomatter the target.”

- Daniel Lubetsky “Olympia Food Co Op's stance against boycott” blog.peaceworks.net – August 23, 2010originally posted by Bradley Buirston at Israeli newspaper Ha'aretz – August 8, 2010

photo: christiansincontext.org


Don‟t Boycott Israel

Israeli boycott doesn‟t please everyone.

What they're saying is, "We consider your country so intrinsically reprehensible that we are going to treat all of your citizens as pariahs.“

Weisberg, Jacob. "Don't Boycott Israel." Newsweek 156.5 (2010): 22. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 15 Sept. 2010.


Boycotting Israeli goods is not the

first time Olympia Food Co-Op

is taking on a giant.

Other boycotts include “Colorado” for “legalizing discrimination

against gays, lesbians, and bisexuals in 1992” and “China” for “its

occupation of Tibet.”

ADMIN., "Olympia Food Co-op removes Israeli goods from shelves; first US store to institute boycott." Olympia

BDS (July 19, 2010): n. pag. Web. 14 Sep 2010.


Olympia Food Co-op Boycott Deemed Controversial

Olympia Food Co-op members get another chance to discuss a controversial board decision to boycott Israeli products at its two stores

“This is a pretty big issue. The membership was not informed in the decision making process, which we feel is problematic.”

–Rabbi Seth Goldstein (Olympia, WA)

Local Newspaper: Rolfe Boone, “The Olympian”


Israel violates human rights

Israeli Defense Forces apply various

abusive techniques on Palestinians.

“Security forces killed at least 573 Palestinians and

one foreign national and injured 2,992 Palestinians

and other persons during the year, some of whom

were innocent bystanders.”

Cordesman, Anthony H. The Israeli-Palestine War: Escalating to

Nowhere. Westport: Greenwood Group, 2005. Print.


According to Time magazine journalist Mitch Frank, “The Israeli-Palestinian conflict isn’t a story about good people and evildoers. It’s about human beings who want to live in peace and prosperity on the land that their ancestors lived on.” To Frank, getting yourself out of the dark and coming up with your own, informed opinion is the first step in creating opportunity for peace.

Understanding the

Israeli-Palestinianconflict, its origins, and its effects can help you make a more informed decision about where you stand on the issue.

Mitch Frank. Understanding the Holy Land: Answering Questions about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Penguin Group. (2, 130) 2005.


About 300 people filled The Olympia Center on Thursday night for a passionate debate on a recent controversial decision by the Olympia Food Co-op board to boycott Israeli-made products.

During an intense meeting with co-op and non co-op members, “About 115 people signed up to speak at the meeting, and speakers were asked to limit their comments. During the first hour, about 20 people spoke in support of the boycott, and 10 people spoke against it.” Noah Sochet, who said “he has worked at the co-op for six years,” said “the board’s decision was not made overnight, that the idea of boycotting Israeli products started two years ago.”

Rolf Boone “The Bellingham Herald”, Aug. 14, 2010

MANY MAY SPEAK, WHO DECIDES?

SMU DIGITAL JOURNALISM CLASS EXPLORES CONTROVERSY: SEPTEMBER PROJECT 2010

Israeli-Palestinian conflict: the

root of the problemIsrael and Palestine at war over land.

“The ongoing battle between the Israelis and

Palestinians is rooted in a struggle between

the two peoples over land, national

identity, political power, and the politics of

self-determination.”

Milton-Edwards, Beverley. The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: a

People's War. London: Routledge, 2009. Print.


Olympia Food Co-Op Feeds the Feud

By participating in the BDS, the Boycotts, Divestment, and Sanctions, Washington’s Olympian Food Co-Op is playing with politics instead of playing with their food.

Diament, Nathan. "Pre-Rosh Hashana Conference Call With Ambassador Michael Oren." Institute for Public

Affairs. IPA, September 13, 2010. Web. 14 Sep 2010.

The BDS is described by Ambassador Michael Oren in a conference as, “the

lavishly-funded and global efforts to deny Israel the right to defend itself, and

indeed to deny Israel the right to exist.” Olympia Food Co-Op joining this

campaign is feeding the Israeli-Palestine feud.


Support builds for boycotts against Israel, activists say

Peace talks have been going on for decades and all they have resultedin are more dispossession

The movement has gained energy from a Palestinian boycottannounced in May of products made by Israeli settlers, but it also hassparked a backlash from Israeli lawmakers, who are now consideringa bill that would bar non-Israelis involved in "boycott divestmentsanctions" efforts from entering Israel for 10 years.

Farah Stockman. (2010, August 22). Support builds for boycotts against Israel, activists say. Boston Globe,p. A.2. Retrieved September 16, 2010, from US National Newspapers. (Document ID: 2116366251).


Israeli envoy to enter Port Townsend fray over proposed co-op boycott

International politics have a local spotlight on Sunday, with two presentation offering opposing views of Israel in light of an expected decision about the Port Townsend Food Co-op

“Kittredge has called Israelis “bullies” who do not respect the rights of Palestinians and do not allow farmers to use their land”

Local Newspaper: “Peninsula Daily News”, Charlie Bermant


Peace talks may better opinions of Israelis and help put an end to product boycott at the food co-op.

“President Obama called Friday [September 3] for Israel to extend its moratorium on settlement construction in the West Bank as a good-will gesture to move peace talks with the Palestinians forward.”

U.S. Urges Israel to Extend Settlement Moratorium

By HELENE COOPER

September 10, 2010 NY Times


http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/c/helene_cooper/index.html?inline=nyt-per

Failing all else, Palestinians try boycott; Peaceful West Bank protest is the latest effort in the protracted struggle

to end occupation, gain statehood

An insufferable situation

“We are definitely committed to a path ofnonviolent resistance and defiance in theface of the settlement enterprise, and weare defiantly expressing our right to boycottthose products and I believe it is working.”

-Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad

Janine Zacharia. (2010, May 16). Failing all else, Palestinians try boycott; Peaceful West Bank protest is the latest effort in the protracted struggle to end occupation, gain statehood. The Washington Post,p. A.10. Retrieved September 16, 2010, from US National Newspapers. (Document ID: 2034208181).


Olympia Food Co-op removes Israeli goods from shelves

The Olympia Co-op becomes the first US grocery store to publicly join

the protest against human right abuse in Israel.

“My hope is that by being the first in the US to adopt the boycott we act as a catalyst for other co-ops to join in. Each entity that joins may have a small effect on the big picture, but drop by drop fills the tub.” –Rob Richards (Co-op board member)

Local Newspaper: “Olympia BDS” http://www.olympiabds.org/


Olympia Food Co-op Boycotts Israeli Goods

Why the Critics Are Wrong

“Critics of the Olympia Food Co-op’srecent decision to boycott severalIsraeli products until Israel ends itsinhumane occupation of Palestinianland and its suppression of Palestinianhuman rights have no moral or ethicalbasis to criticize the Food Co-op unlessthey can offer an alternative strategy toend Israel’s occupation.

Niva, S. (2010, July 26). CounterPunch. Retrieved September 10, 2010, from CounterPunch

Until they do so, they are simplyembracing and providing cover forthe injustices of Israel’soccupation, whether they are willingto admit it or not.”


http://www.counterpunch.org/

Olympia Food Co-op begins boycott of Israeli products

There is more than one side to conflict inthe Middle East

“This decision punishes one side in the MiddleEast conflict and negates any responsibility onthe part of Hamas, Islamic Jihad andPalestinian rejectionism. The market’s boarddid not invite anyone to speak on behalf ofIsrael’s position when it was in the process ofmaking its decision. Its deliberate failure to befair and open in the decision-making processgoes against basic democratic principles.”

-Doron Yaniv, Everett

Yaniv, D. (2010, July 22). Editorials/Opinion: The Seattle Times. Retrieved September 13, 2010, from The Seattle Times

Northwest Voices | Letters to the Editor


http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/home/index.html

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/northwestvoices/

The Canadian Union of Postal Workers has voted to support the boycott of Israel in the first Israeli boycott resolution at a national level by a union in North America.

“At their annual national convention in Ottawa earlier this year, CUPW workers voted overwhelmingly in favor of a resolution of support for the Palestinian people's inalienable rights, including the right of return of refugees. The resolution also supports the global campaign of boycott, sanctions and disinvestment against Israeli apartheid.”

"CROSS-CANADA Action FOR PROGRESSIVE SOCIAL CHANGE." Canadian Dimension

42.4 (2008): 6-7. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 17 Sept. 2010.


Israeli Report: Settler industry hurt by boycott

The Palestinian authority-led boycott of settlement-produced goods is having profound economic effects on the settlement industry in Israel.

"Since Palestine announced a boycott on products from the territories, I have had a 40% drop in production in recent months. exports to Europe have completely stopped and traders in territories have stopped working with us. The damage is huge."

http://coteret.com/2010/08/26/yediot-reports-on-damage-to-settlement-industry-caused-by-targeted-boycott/Remez, Didi, August 26th, 2010


Romans Sack Jerusalem!Roman Empire scatters Jews and renames their land Palestine

“Jerusalem became officially offlimits to all Jews, and the countrywas ironically renamedPalestine, after the ancientPhilistines, arch-enemies of theearly Israelites.”

- James Fieser & John Powers Scriptures of the World's ReligionsCopyright 2008 photo: therablog.blogspot.com


Buycott Israel! Campaign to Counter BDS

StandWithUs executive director Roz Rothstein says

that, “This is a movement to counter BDS with positive

energy.”

In reaction to the BDS, the Buycott Israel

campaign was launched. StandWithUs is a

movement promoting Israeli goods, that is an

effective and peaceful response to the anti-Israeli

boycott, divestment, and sanctions,

"Campaign to buy Israeli goods is launched." JTA: The Global News Service of the Jewish People. JTA, August

29, 2010 . Web. 15 Sep 2010.


Desmond Tutu backs U.S. food

co-op boycott of Israeli productsSouth African Nobel laureate Archbishop

Desmond Tutu issues statement of support for boycott announced by food co-op in Rachel Corrie‟s hometown of Olympia, Washington.

„“The Olympia Food Co-op has joined a growing worldwide movement on the part of citizens and the private sector to support by non-violent tangible acts the Palestinian struggle for justice and self-determination.‟ Tutu said.”

Mozgovaya, Natasha. "Desmond Tutu Backs U.S. Food Co-op Boycott of Israeli Products." The Haaretz Daily Newspaper[Israel] 28 July 2010. Web


In her controversial work, Kathleen Christison, author of Perceptions of Palestine: Their Influence on U.S. Middle East Policy, blames Zionist U.S. propaganda for a skewed perception of Palestinians and its heavy influence on Middle East policy. She says, “If public discourse had not been warped, policy might have been quite different.”

Kathleen Christison. Perceptions of Palestine: Their Influence on U.S. Policy. University of California Press . 15-17. (1999)

Olympia Food Co-op’sdecision to boycott Israeli-made products and activismlike it are increasing in theUnited States as citizens arebegin to see a Palestinianperspective on the conflictin the Holy Land.


Yohanna Kinberg, the associate rabbi of Temple Bnai Torah in Bellevue,

Washington is a member of the Olympia Food Co-op along with her husband.

They both are against the Board of Directors decision and takes matters into

their own hands.

Kinberg said, she protested the board‟s boycott decision with a lone vigil

outside one store on July 21. After posting news of the boycott vote on

Facebook, she was joined the next two days by larger groups numbering

about 20. She said that demonstrations against the boycott have continued

daily since then. The focus of the organizing effort right now is to focus on the

bad process of the co-op board and not make this a referendum on Israel. The

pro boycott people are not people you can argue with.

Paul Haist,”The Jewish Review”, 15th of September 2010

7th of Tishrei, 5771

CO-OP PROTESTS IT’S OWN BOYCOTT


Olympia co-op boycott debate cordial, passionate

Olympia August 14th, 2010—Nearly 300 people pack the Olympia center Thursday night for a heat-filled debate about the controversial decision made by the board of the Olympia food co-op to boycott Israeli-made products.

One by one, board members introduced themselves to the audience, but only board member Ron Lavigne spoke at length, saying the board understood its decision would be controversial but was there „to address the hurt and anger and to try and heal the community.‟

Rolf, Boone. “Olympia co-op boycott debate cordial, passionate” The Bellingham Herald. 14 Aug. 2010


One piece of product stays, “Peace Oil”

The Olympia Food Co-op Board of Directors has decided to boycott Israeli goods at their two locations in Olympia, Washington.

Well, Not exactly. The Olympia food Co-op has not boycotted everything. “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.”

Kasama July 24th, 2010

Tellnolies.org


Still Struggling, Israel and Palestine

Their [Jewish and Palestinian people] internecinestruggle, the overidentification of their expatriatecommunities with one side or the other , and thealignment of rival international interests haveintensified their conflict to the point that they havenot been able to create and live out their twonarratives as linked by anything other than mutualhostility.

Their histories have always been written as anapologia for one side or the other, with heavyemphasis on the tragedy of one at the hands of theother, and not as an indivisible world historicalphenomenon in which they are both swept up.

Stephen P. Cohen, “Beyond America’s Grasp: A century offailed diplomacy in the middle east” 2009, print. P. 175

Two Jewish men praying at wall.


First U.S. Store to Boycott!

“My hope is that by beingthe first in the US to adoptthe boycott we act as acatalyst for other co-ops tojoin in. Each additionalorganizational entity thatjoins may have a very smalleffect on the big picture, butdrop by drop fills the tub,”says board member RobRichards of the OCF boycott.

-Haitham Sabbah, “Catbird Seat” July 21, 2010

As tensions mount, board members explain why they chose to boycott.


Two choices – Peace, or Endless War

Peace is Israel’s highest aspiration and a necessary conditionfor its secure existence.

“Two peoples live in the Land of Israel – the Jewish peopleand the Arab-Palestinian people. Both have natural andhistorical rights to this land. Therefore, the alternatives areclear: either compromise and partition, or endless war.”

Lukacs, Yehuda. "Review of Documents on the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict, 1967-1983." The American Political Science Review. 79.4 (1985): 1275. Print. p. 283


Group Forms to Oppose BoycottIts Our Co Op formed with goal of rescinding co op's boycott

“If you would like to speak out against theboycott, and I hope you will, but you're alsointerested in being part of a united voice, Ihope you'll join our group. … Please sendan email to [email protected]...”

- David Scherer WaterOlympia Power & Light

Issue #19Letters section


mailto:[email protected]







Food Co-op in Rachel Corrie’s

hometown boycotts Israeli

goodsThe Olympia Food Co-op announced

last week that no more Israeli products will be sold at its two grocery stores.

"The fact that it is the home town of Rachel Corrie‟sparents 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.

Mozgovaya, Natasha. "Food Co-op in Rachel Corrie's Hometown Boycotts Israeli Goods." The Haaretz Daily Newspaper. 20 July 2010. Web. 14 Sept. 2010.


Against Boycott and Divestment

"Punishing Israel's most progressive elements will not help to end the occupation"

"The idea that precipitating Israeli economic collapse will somehow hasten a democratic outcome is like blockading Gaza to sink Hamas."

Avishai, Bernard. “Against Boycott and Divestment” The Nation 5 Jul. 2010


Education

September Project 2010