A New York City food cooperative has become nasty after pro-Palestine members called for a ban on Israeli products.
Jewish members of the historic Park Slope Food Co-op have described how they have been hit with antisemitic comments for opposing the campaign to boycott any products from Israel amid the war in Gaza.
One woman was even allegedly told she smells ‘of Palestinian blood,’ according to a complaint filed by real estate developer Ramon Maislen that was obtained by the New York Post.
Maislen and others said that when they reported it to the co-op’s Dispute Resolution Committee they did not receive a response.
As a result, Maislen has now elevated his concerns to the New York State Human Rights Division.
The co-op was founded in 1973, and requires its 16,000 members to work two hour and forty five minute shifts every six weeks in exchange for the privilege to purchase heavily discounted groceries and vote on store policies.
It had previously faced another campaign to boycott Israeli products back in 2012, which was later denied – with the co-op 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 arose again on October 31, 2023 when a member suggested at a monthly general meeting that the co-op implement a Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions program.
The idea was initially ‘met with applause’ and members of the Park Slope Food Co-op Members for Palestine started canvassing in front of the store asking other members to sign a petition to join the BDS movement.
That sparked another group, known as the Coop Members for Unity, to hand out fliers urging ‘the rejection of the bigotry, divisiveness and animosity created by the BDS/Israel boycott campaign and its corrosive effects on our community,’ Forward reports.
For months afterward, the issue broiled over to the vote for the board of directors and to the pages of the co-op’s newsletter, with members accusing others of making the store an unwelcome place for Jews.
One woman even reported feeling afraid she would be yelled at when she bought Jerusalem-made matzah ahead of Passover.
Others, though, spoke of their guilt in eating Israeli food while children in Gaza starve, and at least one person accused the co-op of being unwelcome to Muslims for not having Ramadan foods on display and for fomenting anti-Muslim sentiment by printing letters that accuse BDS of antisemitism.
By February, the editors put a note at the top of its Letters section noting there would be a month-long pause in letters related to the Middle East in order to review its submissions policy.
Yet the issues continued to persist, with one Jewish woman claiming that as she was trying to inform those strolling past about the boycott effort in May, she was confronted by a shopper who called her a Nazi.
The hateful member began to walk away, but not before shouting ‘Sieg Heil’ at the 35 year old, according to Maislen’s petition.
‘I’ve had antisemitic stuff happen to me, but like that publicly, that brazen, with that language… I was really shaken up,’ the unidentified woman told the Post.
She said she has yet to return to the store or work there after her complaint to the co-op’s Dispute Resolution Committee was met with a half-hearted apology, saying the community grocery store is ‘not a welcoming space anymore, for Israelis, for Jews.’
Maislen also said he was harassed by an unhinged member outside the grocery store, who told him that Zionists ‘can’t have empathy,’ and in late June, an Israeli-Jewish co-op member who was discussing the pro-boycott candidates during her shift was harassed by another woman espousing antisemitic conspiracy theories – including that Jews celebrated young Palestinians being raped and killed.
The member said she couldn’t work or stand next to the Jewish woman because she smelled ‘of Palestinian blood.’
Sonda Shaievitz also told the JTA that at one point a man stood in front of her screaming, ‘She’s a Zionist to anyone who would listen.’
She and others have since said that the arguments over a potential boycott are violating the co-op’s history of spirited discussion and its commitment to ‘opposing discrimination.’
‘I used to wind up going there at least five times a week – a lot of people did that,’ Shaievitz recounted.
‘Now I try to go as long as I can without having to go back. I try to stock up when I go, and that makes me very sad.’
Jonathan Aranov also said that throughout the winter pro-boycott discussions ‘totally affected every interaction.’
‘Every time you want to go grocery shopping, you think, “Am I emotionally ready for this?”‘ he said.
‘I’ve had to remind myself that I’m living in Brooklyn, which is already going to be a very progressive neighborhood, and I’m going to the co-op, which is going to be an even more progressive institution.
‘Unfortunately, much of the progressive movement has shifted into this insidious anti-Israel movement.’
Meanwhile, the pro-boycott group, known as the Park Slope Food Co-op Members for Palestine, is continuing its petition to remove Israeli foods from the store – which currently only sells a handful of Israeli products, namely Sabra hummus.
Its petition has garnered more than 1,000 signatures, and the group is now putting plans in motion to hold a boycott vote.
It has also proposed several related actions, including pushing for the co-op to adopt ‘hybrid’ general meetings so space constraints don’t end up delaying major membership-wide votes and reducing the current 75 percent majority to approve a boycott to a simple majority.
Park Slope Food Co-op for Palestine insists that the boycott is necessary ‘to take a principled stance against the genocide’ and ‘to materially enforce economic pressure on Israeli companies complicit with apartheid,’ according to its website.
Supporters also hope that the co-op’s outsized fame will influence other food co-ops around the country to institute their own boycotts.
‘The co-op is a unique institution with an equally unique history as one of the largest and oldest food co-ops in the country,’ an open letter reads.
‘Adding our voice to this issue will not go unnoticed, and will set a positive example for other food cooperatives in and out of New York City.’
However, several Jewish members told the JTA they would resign from the co-op if a vote to boycott Israeli products were held.
DailyMail.com has reached out to the food co-op and the New York State Human Rights Division for comment.