A food cooperative in New York City has become angry after pro-Palestinian members called for a ban on Israeli products.
Jewish members of the historic Park Slope Food Co-op have described how they were hit with anti-Semitic comments for opposing the campaign to boycott products from Israel during the war in Gaza.
One woman was even told she smelled “of Palestinian blood,” according to a complaint filed by real estate developer Ramon Maislen. obtained by the New York Post.
Maislen and others said they received no response when they reported it to the co-op’s dispute committee.
As a result, Maislen has now taken his concerns to the New York State Division of Human Rights.
Real estate developer Ramon Maislen has filed a complaint with the New York State Human Rights Division, saying he and other Jewish members of the Park Slope Food Co-op were harassed for opposing an effort to boycott Israeli products.
Founded in 1973, the co-op requires its 16,000 members to work a two-hour, forty-five minute shift every six weeks in exchange for the privilege of buying deeply discounted groceries and voting on store policies.
The country previously faced a new campaign to boycott Israeli products in 2012, which was later denied – with the cooperative voting to change its bylaws so that a boycott could only be approved by a 75 percent majority. according to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
But the issue was raised again on October 31, 2023 when a member proposed at a monthly general meeting that the cooperative implement a boycott, divestment and sanctions program.
The idea was initially “received with applause” and members of the Park Slope Food Co-op Members for Palestine began canvassing for the store and asking other members to sign. petition to join the BDS movement.
That prompted another group, known as the Coop Members for Unity, to hand out flyers urging “the rejection of the bigotry, division and hostility created by the BDS/Israel boycott campaign and its corrosive effects on our community’. Forward reports.
Founded in 1973, the co-op requires its 16,000 members to work two-hour, forty-five minute shifts every six weeks in exchange for the privilege of purchasing deeply discounted groceries and voting on store policies.
For months afterward, the issue lingered on the board’s ballot and in the pages of the co-op’s newsletter, with members accusing others of making the store an undesirable place for Jews.
One woman even reported that she was afraid she would be yelled at if she bought a matzah from Jerusalem before Passover.
However, others spoke of their guilt at eating Israeli food while children in Gaza starve, and at least one person accused the cooperative of being unwelcome to Muslims for not displaying Ramadan food and fueling anti-Muslim sentiment by printing letters . who accuse BDS of anti-Semitism.
In February, the editors posted a note at the top of the Letters section noting that there would be a one-month pause on Middle East letters to review submissions policy.
Members of the Park Slope Food Co-op Members for Palestine have been campaigning in front of the store asking other members to sign a petition to join the BDS movement
Yet problems continued, with one Jewish woman claiming that while trying to inform passersby about the boycott efforts in May, she was confronted by a shopkeeper who called her a Nazi.
The hateful member began walking away, but not before shouting “Sieg Heil” at the 35-year-old, according to Maislen’s petition.
“Anti-Semitic things have happened to me, but that way in public, so brazen, with that language… I was really shocked,” the unidentified woman told the Post.
She said she has not yet returned to the store or worked there after her complaint to the cooperative’s Disputes Committee was met with a half-hearted apology, saying the local grocery store “is no longer a welcoming space for Israelis, for Jews.” ‘
Maislen also said he was harassed by an unhinged member outside the supermarket who told him Zionists “cannot have empathy,” and in late June was harassed by another Israeli Jewish cooperative member discussing the pro-boycott candidates on her watch woman who espoused anti-Semitic conspiracy theories – including the claim that Jews celebrated young Palestinians being raped and murdered.
The member said she could not work or stand next to the Jewish woman because she smelled “of Palestinian blood.”
The store only sells a handful of Israeli products, such as Sabra hummus
Sonda Shaievitz also told the JTA that at one point a man stood in front of her and shouted, “She’s a Zionist to anyone who will listen.”
She and others have since said the arguments about a possible boycott run counter to the co-op’s history of spirited debate and its commitment to “anti-discrimination.”
“I used to go there at least five times a week, a lot of people did,” Shaievitz said.
‘Now I try to go as long as possible without having to go back. I try to stock up when I go, and that makes me very sad.”
Jonathan Aranov also said that the pro-boycott discussions throughout the winter “totally influenced every interaction.”
“Every time you want to go grocery shopping, you think, ‘Am I emotionally ready for this?’” he said.
“I had to remind myself that I live in Brooklyn, which is already becoming a very progressive neighborhood, and that I’m going to the co-op, which is going to be an even more progressive institution.
“Unfortunately, much of the progressive movement has turned to this insidious anti-Israel movement.”
Park Slope Food Co-op for Palestine insists that the boycott is necessary “to take a principled stand against the genocide” and “to apply material economic pressure on Israeli companies complicit in apartheid”
Meanwhile, the pro-boycott group known as the Park Slope Food Co-op Members for Palestine continues its petition to remove Israeli food from the store – which currently only sells a handful of Israeli products, namely Sabra hummus.
The petition has gathered more than 1,000 signatures and the group is now putting plans in motion to hold a boycott vote.
It has also proposed a number of related actions, including urging the co-op to organize ‘hybrid’ general meetings so that limited space does not end up delaying important votes among members, and reducing the current majority of 75 percent to approve a boycott to a simple action. majority.
Park Slope Food Co-op for Palestine emphasizes that the boycott is necessary “to take a principled stand against the genocide” and “to apply material economic pressure on Israeli companies complicit in apartheid,” the statement said. website.
Advocates also hope that the co-op’s outsized fame will influence other food co-ops across the country to institute their own boycotts.
“The cooperative is a unique institution with an equally unique history as one of the largest and oldest food cooperatives in the country,” reads an open letter.
“Adding our voice to this issue will not go unnoticed and will set a positive example for other food cooperatives in and beyond New York City.”
However, several Jewish members told the JTA that they would resign from the cooperative if a vote to boycott Israeli products took place.
DailyMail.com has contacted the food co-op and the New York State Human Rights Department for comment.