Frequently Asked Questions
What is PSFC Members for Palestine?
We are a group of PSFC member-owners organizing a boycott campaign in solidarity with Palestine. Our campaign builds on the previous efforts of the PSFC-BDS movement launched in 2012 and shares its main objective: to enact a targeted boycott of Israeli products as called for by the Palestinian-led Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement. Our campaign also involves the creation of educational and communal spaces where members can share knowledge and organize events aimed at forging solidarity around food justice and Palestinian liberation.
What is your relationship to BDS?
The BDS framework offers us clarity around the particularities of our boycott demands, and connects us to a global movement while otherwise enabling us to work autonomously and independently to address our specific context here at the Coop. In committing to BDS, we follow the lead of Palestinian trade unions, which have unanimously declared their support to the movement. If we believe Palestinians are agents in their own liberation and that we should support them, then we should take up their call to endorse BDS.
What products are you targeting?
BDS utilizes a targeted list, which includes SodaStream, Sabra, and Israeli produce such as peppers, carrots, and clementines. That is what we are calling for in the coming member pledge and eventual boycott.
Why now?
PSFC Members for Palestine was formed in response to the current genocide in Gaza that has killed, so far, more than 30,000 Palestinians, half of whom are children. We believe that it is absolutely imperative to reactivate pro-BDS efforts at the PSFC to both take a principled stance against the genocide, and to materially enforce economic pressure on Israeli companies complicit with apartheid. Among other forms of collective punishment, the Israeli government is deliberately starving an entire population. As an ethical food cooperative, we must take a stance and refuse complicity with governments that instrumentalize food to such appalling ends.
Didn’t the Coop already have a vote on a boycott of Israeli goods?
No. In 2012, there was a General Meeting in which Coop members voted on whether to vote on a boycott, but the idea of a referendum was rejected by a small fraction of Coop members. Previous organizing efforts never resulted in an actual vote. Our goal is to revive the campaign initiated by PSFC-BDS in order to enable members to democratically vote on whether the PSFC should sell the targeted Israeli products.
Why does this matter? What can a boycott accomplish?
Our government’s warmongering policies don't represent us. Polls show that the majority of Americans stand against this genocide. As constituents, what and how we consume can have a direct impact on companies that directly sustain the war in Gaza. Boycott is a powerful, non-violent tool we must use to end the genocide, as well as decades of impunity which have enabled Israel to stand above international law and commit crimes against humanity.
BDS was a critical driver of the end of apartheid in South Africa, a boycott that the Coop directly participated in. Boycotting has been used successfully in the US civil rights movement, the labor movement, and other social justice struggles. As Israeli companies and institutions become isolated, Israel will find it more difficult to oppress Palestinians.
Why can’t this be an individual boycott?
Individual boycotts aren’t as impactful as collective ones where efforts are coordinated towards a series of shared goals. Not only does collective organizing enable us to be more impactful, it also provides us with a public platform where Coop members can make their voices heard and form community.
What does success look like in this campaign?
Our desire to enact a boycott is a platform with a long duration, and is a way to speak to our large membership and to an audience beyond the PSFC. Some people want to see our store as a depoliticized space, when the reality is that through the sale of products from companies complicit in the Israeli occupation of Palestine, the PSFC has maintained a connection to the systematic oppression of Palestinians for decades. There has already been great success, such as 1K+ signatures on our petition of support. What we have achieved so far is exciting and motivating! If you’d like to join our organizing efforts, please reach out to us!
Header image: Corridor in Jerusalem. Photo by Nour Tayeh. Source: Unsplash