Left-Wing Efforts Give Jews a Chance to Buy Israeli Products the Left Wants Boycotted

Mar 29, 2016 by Susan Rosenbluth

Left-Wing Efforts Give Jews a Chance to Buy Israeli Products the Left Wants Boycotted

By Susie Rosenbluth, susan@JewishVoiceAndOpinion.com

Medjool-Dates Great news! Our far-left wing brethren in Israel are at it again, publishing lists of companies in Judea and Samaria they would prefer consumers avoid. But these lists work both ways, and, for those who want to support economically the efforts of Jews in Judea and Samaria, such registries are a blessing.

The list, part of a lengthy screed against the communities in Judea and Samaria, can be accessed at https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/?ui=2&ik=a759a3ea04&view=lg&msg=153bdbb3ce909d86.

The list can be found about two-thirds of the way down in an article which, helpfully, is entitled “A List of Products from Israeli Occupied West Bank Settlers from Gush Shalom.”

It was produced by something called “The Network of Spiritual Progressives,” which is nothing but a new name for those who support the Palestinian Arabs but have found their position favoring boycotts only of products made in Judea and Samaria (including the Old City of Jerusalem), rather than in all of Israel, to be more palatable to the Jewish community as a whole.

Most of the work was done by Gush Shalom, which means “The Peace Bloc” but is seen by most Israelis and their supporters as a pro-Palestinian, anti-Israel group.

In this article, Gush Shalom seems especially proud of its efforts to ferret out companies which do not mention where their products are manufactured. Those who support the Jewish communities which Gush Shalom would like to see shut down can use all of this information to help those companies. Included are Achva’s hummus (whose kashruth is certified in Ariel), the Israeli branch of General Mills’ Pillsbury (Atarot Industrial Zone in Jerusalem), Mesek Zuriel dairy products (Shadmot Mehola in the Jordan Valley), and Medjool dates (from throughout the Jordan Valley Jewish communities).

While most of the article consists of information that provides nothing new to either those who support or oppose the Jewish communities of Judea and Samaria, it is amusing to see that Michael Lerner, editor of the far-left Tikkun magazine, has decided to use it as a way to ask for donations.

In producing this list, Gush Shalom is walking a tricky legal tightrope. Israel’s 2011 “Boycott Law,” which passed muster with the Jewish state’s High Court, stipulates that it is against Israeli law to call for a boycott against any Israeli company based on where it is located. While Israel cannot stop antisemitic European groups or nations from acting, the government has called a halt to such activities emanating from within Israel itself.

Although Gush Shalom does not hesitate to call this law “unfair and discriminatory,” it spokesman, Adam Keller, nevertheless, hastens to inform readers that “the action of gathering information about factories and businesses in [Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria) and publicizing same…is by no means an intention to call for the boycotting of [these communities’] products.

“The purpose of gathering and publicizing the information is to provide the most reliable and accurate consumer information that we were able to gather, in order to enable consumers – each and every one individually – to make wise and informed decisions according to their personal considerations,” writes Mr. Keller.

It works for the left and the right.